EyeRead Changes Name to Squiggle Park

EyeRead, the Halifax startup dedicated to helping children learn to read, has changed its name to Squiggle Park.

A spinout from the Halifax web development company Norex, Squiggle Park uses the camera facing the reader on a laptop or other device to track the eye as the child reads. By tracking the eye, the software can detect where the child is having trouble in reading a passage. Educators can then use the information to customize a personalized learning routine for the child.

Co-Founder and CMO Julia Rivard Dexter said in an email that the company has changed the name for two reasons: first, Eyeread was causing search issues and typos for its users, and the company was able to acquire the URL SquigglePark.com.

Second, the founders wanted to highlight that their product is a game, so they chose a name connoting the joy and fun that children can find with their game. Squiggle Park is also the name of an actual park not far from the company’s offices.

“This is a timely change with the launch of our free fall pilot for teachers in Pre K-1 classrooms,” said Rivard Dexter.

Sentinel Alert Partners with NLC

Sentinel Alert, a St. John’s startup developing worker safety software, has signed a pilot agreement with the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation, focusing on the hazards created by lifting and moving heavy products.

Sentinel Alert has created safety software that uses data analytics to detect and predict worker accidents. It said in a press release today the pilot is designed to help NLC proactively identify hazards linked to overexertion in an effort to design the safest processes and environment for its workforce.

According to Liberty Mutual Research Institute, overexertion and lifting are the leading cause of workplace injury in North America.

“Maintaining a high standard of safety for our team is core to NLC’s mission,” said Kevin Kelly, Vice-President of Human Resources and Corporate Administration with NLC. “Continually improving safety processes is key, but it’s difficult to manage what we can’t measure. Sentinel Alert provides this insight and helps us uncover hidden safety risks to design safer work environments for our team.”

Sentinel Alert recently raised $525,000 in financing through Newfoundland and Labrador’s Pelorus Venture Capital and Killick Capital. It is using the funding to grow its team and open-up its private beta to interested customers, in addition to early partners like Pennecon, Crosbie Group, and NLC.

Brightspark, OurCrowd To Host Seminar

Brightspark and OurCrowd are hosting a seminar in Halifax on their investment models, which have broken away from traditional venture capital to create new investment opportunities for individual investors.

The event will take place Sept. 8 from 11:45 am to 1:20 pm at Volta Labs in the Maritime Centre. You can register here.

Brightspark is a Toronto-based VC firms that allows accredited investors to invest in the companies in its portfolio. OurCrowd is a world-leading equity-based crowdfunding platform, built for accredited investors to provide VC funding for startups. The fund started in Israel and is now making investments around the world.

The session will be led by Sally Ng, the East Coast Community Lead at Brightspark, and David Shore, the Director of Investor Relations at OurCrowd Canada.

Ashley Joins Sequence Bio Advisory Board

Sequence Bio has named Euan A. Ashley to its Scientific Advisory Board.

The St. John’s startup said in a press release that Ashley is Associate Professor of Medicine and Genetics at Stanford University and Co-Founder of Personalis Inc, a genome scale genetic diagnostics company.

Ashley will offer his expertise in human genomics towards advancing innovative therapeutic discovery and more personalized clinical care through Sequence Bio’s 100,000-person genome project in Newfoundland and Labrador.

“I am very excited to welcome Dr. Ashley to Sequence Bio’s Scientific Advisory Board,” said Sequence CEO Tyler Wish in a statement. “As one of the pioneers and leaders in this field, his experience will accelerate our vision to advance both drug discovery and precision healthcare. The entire Sequence team is honoured to work with Dr. Ashley and are excited about the impact he will make.”

Sequence, which recently announced US$3 million in venture capital funding, is leading a 100,000-person genome research project. It will engage people from across the province to provide samples of their genes. Sequence will analyze this data and use the findings to produce new cures and develop better, safer medicines.

“By leveraging the proven power of population genomics and its potential for drug discovery, Sequence Bio has unlocked a one-of-a-kind opportunity in Newfoundland and Labrador that will generate new insights into human biology, therapeutic discovery, and healthcare,” said Ashley in the statement. “I look forward to working with them on this ambitious and project with global reach.”

Curbza Launches University Marketplaces

Curbza, a Dartmouth startup making a peer-to-peer commerce mobile app, has announced the launch of its university marketplaces. Each university in Nova Scotia now has a network on Curbza, offering students a marketplace to buy, sell and trade items to other students at their school as well as vendors within the area.

The latest version of the app provides users with the ability to create and manage customizable networks. The customizable networks feature allows users to create networks based on location, types of items or social groups. Users have the ability to make networks public or private to control who can view items. A network for each university and college in Nova Scotia has been created by Curbza.

“We created networks to give users the ability to make decisions when buying and selling online,” said CEO Scott Theriault in a statement. “Now users can choose if they sell to everyone, or a small group of friends. It's a great safety feature too.”

Students can easily join their school's network by opening their store and viewing all networks. When a student is on campus and the phone's location services are activated, the school's network will be the first to appear under the networks feature.