Two of the leading organizations in the Nova Scotia startup world have new bosses.
Innovacorp, the province’s innovation agency, said Friday that it had appointed Stephen Duff, the former Co-CEO of Precision BioLogic of Dartmouth, as its new President and CEO. And Digital Nova Scotia announced that Ulrike Bahr‐Gedalia has been named to the newly created position of President and CEO.
Duff worked for 30 years with Precision BioLogic, which makes innovative blood diagnostic products and has a staff of 60 people.
It would be a stretch to say Duff must bring stability to Innovacorp because the agency has been on a role lately. Last year, it announced 10 venture capital deals, held two competitions, cashed in on the exit of GoInstant and oversaw the creation of the Regional VC Fund.
But Duff will be the fifth person in the CEO’s office in three years, and the government is said to be looking for some permanence. There have also been other personnel moves lately. The VC team lost Patrick Keefe, who left to head the regional fund, and has seconded Investment Director Greg Phipps to portfolio company Livelenz for several months. Innovacorp recently hired a new investment officer, Dawn Umlah, a veteran of Research in Motion and DHX Media.
Bahr‐Gedalia brings a remarkable list of accomplishments to the new position: she is fluent in six languages and has worked on four continents. The native of Germany comes to the position at a time when the ITC industry is looking for greater participation by women and immigrants, and when the growing tech companies in the region need more international sales experience.