Today we are launching our annual survey of Atlantic Canadian startups -- a key component in allowing us to provide you with news on the East Coast startup community. 

We're asking each Atlantic Canadian startup that was active in December 2015 to complete this confidential survey for the good of Entrevestor and the community it reports on. If you believe, as we do, that Entrevestor helps in the development of the Atlantic Canadian startup community, this is your chance to support us. Just as PBS has its funding drives, Entrevestor has its annual data campaign. We're not asking for money. Our only ask is that you take three minutes to fill out our 23-question survey. 

You can fill out the survey here.

There are two reasons why you should take the time to do so. First, our data gives all of us a greater understanding of what is happening in the startup community. We publish aggregated data (never data from individual companies) in our quarterly Entrevestor Intelligence reports, so everyone can understand what is happening in the startup world. This is a rare benefit for a startup community of our size. We also produce a 40- to 50-page report that we sell to interested parties. These include government departments, accelerators, venture capital funds and regulators. This means decision-makers gain an understanding of the community, which leads to better programs. 

The second reason to participate is our databank allows us to continue reporting on what you do. It's no secret that monetizing news is difficult. There's a market for our data. When you complete our survey, you're helping us to stick around. It's like a crowdfunding campaign -- only it costs you no money and helps us to improve our product. 

We are looking for companies that meet three criteria:

- They must be locally owned;

- They must be commercializing proprietary technology;

- And they must be producing at least one product for the global market. 

Age is insignificant. We have a couple of companies that date back to the 1990s. We're interested in new companies, but we want active teams that are actually developing their product and business. It's got to be beyond the idea stage. 

We have collected a list of 355 companies in Atlantic Canada that meet our criteria. We'll be contacting them by email next week. It would be great if you could complete the survey now and save us the trouble of bothering you. Remember, everything you tell us will be absolutely confidential. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Peter at 902 401 2048 or peter@entrevestor.com. 

Many thanks in advance, 

Peter and Carol Moreira