Dalhousie University’s Norman Newman Centre for Entrepreneurship has issued the following press release:

AGRIFOOD STARTUP WEEKEND IN TRURO A BIG SUCCESS

January 21, 2015 (Truro) - Last weekend, students and professionals from across Nova Scotia came together on Dalhousie University’s Agricultural Campus for Startup Weekend Truro. The event was co-hosted by Dalhousie University’s Norman Newman Centre for Entrepreneurship (NNCE) and the agricultural campus’ new sandbox, Cultiv8.

Startup Weekend has been hosted in 300+ cities in 100 countries. Colin Conrad, a student entrepreneur and a participant in last weekend’s event, calls Startup Weekend: “The ultimate crash course in entrepreneurship”. In only 54 hours participants pitched ideas, formed teams, and launched startups. This year eight teams were formed, including students from Dalhousie University, St. Mary’s University, Acadia University, and the Nova Scotia Community College. Dr. Mary Kilfoil from Dalhousie University’s NNCE facilitated the experience.

This Startup Weekend had a focus on Agrifood. Dr. Ed Leach the director of the NNCE thinks the event was a huge success saying, “This year’s Agrifood Startup Weekend had 80+ participants, more than triple that of 2014. There’s a clear appetite for entrepreneurship and innovation in Nova Scotia’s more rural communities and the agriculture sector in particular, which is well known for its scientific and social innovations.”

In addition to learning how to launch a business, teams competed for a share of a $13,000 prize pool to advance their startup. First place Agri-Scene Cuisine will receive $6,500 in cash and in-kind services, second place The Golden Lobster will receive a $3,900 prize package, and third place Hop Station will receive a $2,600 prize package to advance their startup.

•             Agri-Scene Cuisine is a mobile app used to connect urbanites who don’t like to cook with home-cooked meals from urbanites who do like to cook.

•             The Golden Lobster is an export business to meet the demands for luxury seafood from foreign markets.

•             Hop Station is a hop yard that aims to supply pelletized hops to Atlantic Canadian breweries.

Last Friday also marked the kick-off of Cultiv8, an agricultural sandbox.

Truro’s Startup Weekend event was possible because of the support of the public, and private sectors, and community sponsors. Thank you to our sponsors: TD Canada, PwC Canada, McInnes Cooper, Innovacorp, CBDC Atlantic, Build Ventures, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the Nova Scotia government.

Startup Weekend events are one of the ways the Norman Newman Centre for Entrepreneurship at Dalhousie University and their collaborators are supporting the creation and development of entrepreneurs and innovators to build a vibrant, resilient community.