The FounderFuel meeting in Halifax on Tuesday will give Executive Director Ian Jeffrey a chance to explain the program to entrepreneurs and hopefully meet a few of the young businesses that will apply.

Jeffrey said in an interview this week that the agenda for the meeting Jan. 22 at the Karma Gaming headquarters will be very simple: He will take a few minutes to tell the attendees about the Montreal-based accelerator program, and then take time to meet one-on-one with entrepreneurs who are serious about applying. There will not be a formal pitching session.

“We require people to apply online but there’s nothing like meeting people in person beforehand,” he said over the phone from Montreal.

This is a trip to Halifax that Jeffrey didn’t expect to make a month or so ago. FounderFuel, one of the country’s leading accelerators, announced in December that it would take its roadshow to the main tech centres in Ontario and Quebec. But then Lewis noticed people tweeting that he should come to Atlantic Canada as well.

He liked the idea. He’d begun to notice the activity in this part of the world with the exits of Radian6, Q1 Labs and GoInstant, and he understood that the Atlantic Canadian market was worth a look. The arrangements fell into place to meet with local entrepreneurs at the Karma Gaming office at 1498 Lower Water Street at 5 pm on Jan. 22. You can register here.

Jeffrey plans to use the meeting to dispel some myths he believes exist about FounderFuel, such as the perception that participants are locked into a rigid series of events that interfere with working on their business. “Yes, there is a series of events we like people to attend, but 80 to 90 percent of the time is spent working on the businesses,” he said.

FounderFuel has graduated 28 companies in three cohorts since mid-2011. Sixty percent of these companies have raised money; one has been sold; and two have gone out of business.  

In selecting companies, the accelerator looks for a team that is well past the concept stage and has begun to develop its product, and favours teams rather than individuals.

“We look very, very closely at the team,” he said. “I know it might sound like a cliché, but we know everyone who comes to FounderFuel will pivot.” He is looking for teams that are open-minded enough to realize they should pivot, and have the resiliency to withstand the highs and lows of going through an accelerator.

Jeffrey also said he is interested in meeting possible mentors for the FounderFuel program. Mentors must be in Montreal for a few key dates, such as Mentors Day at the outset of the program and Demo Day at the end, but most other meetings can be conducted through Skype.

If an Atlantic Canadian company is accepted into the next cohort, it will not be the first from the region to enter FounderFuel. That honour belongs to Centerside of St. John’s, which was set up to create adaptive web presences. The company no longer exists, but its founder and CEO Angus Woodman joined another FounderFuel alumnus, the Montreal-based social media engagement platform, Ooomf.