Launch36, the regional tech accelerator, plans to branch out to Newfoundland and Labrador in 2014 as part of its goal to build at least one billion-dollar ICT company in Atlantic Canada.

The accelerator operated by PropelICT graduated its third cohort Tuesday night at the New Brunswick Innov8 awards in Saint John. Launch36 has graduated companies from the three Maritime provinces and wants to nurture Newfoundland companies so it will become a truly regional enterprise. Three members of Startup St. John's attended the Launch36 DemoDay and other events in Saint John this week.

“What we’ve been doing is reaching out to people who are involved in the startup community there, and we plan to do more in 2014,” said Scott MacIntosh, the chair of PropelICT. “The details have yet to be worked out but we’re moving forward.”

As well as the move into Newfoundland, MacIntosh said the organization is making strides by proclaiming its intention to build up billion-dollar companies. He said it gets all the parties working together on a common objective.

The forty-eight hour celebration of Propel’s 10^th anniversary and the Innov8 conference re-enforced how effective PropelICT has become in developing the startup community in the region.

The organization began 10 years ago as Propel Saint John, driven largely by Gerry Pond and his group of tech executives who had worked at New Brunswick Telecom before it merged into Aliant.

By 2011, the organization was province-wide and it launched its boldest initiative yet: it formed an accelerator with the goal of launching 36 startups in three years. What’s more, they would allow – nay, encourage – startups from around the region to participate.

Two years later, Launch36, as it was called, has launched 26 companies, and the latest six-company cohort set sail Tuesday night. The pitches were tremendous.

Every single one of these businesses has revenue, and many of the clients are multinational corporations. In total, they have $2 million in revenue. Their development is simply light-years ahead of the two previous cohorts as of graduation day, and those cohorts had great companies.

For example, Ozge Yeloglu left DemoDay and immediately caught a flight to Calgary, where she is pitching to the National Capital Angel Summit. Her company, Halifax-based topLog, is one of six companies pitching at the national event.

Another of the companies, GetGifted, has such potential that Astree Goguen left her job as an administrator at PropelICT to join the startup. She will soon be helping the company, which helps retailers market themselves by giving gifts to customers, to spread into Halifax.

In a tight race, the 200-plus attendees awarded the People’s Choice award for the evening to FoodTenders, an online marketplace for restaurants and their suppliers. It received $3,600 in cash from the Government of New Brunswick.

Launch36 was also an award winner, receiving an Innov8 Award from the province for its role in nurturing innovation.