Fifteen Nova Scotia start-ups have won $850,000 total, in cash and services, to further develop their knowledge-based companies.
The I-3 Technology Start-Up Competition winners announced by Innovacorp today, Jan. 21, boast innovations that could increase safety for road construction workers, reduce risks associated with rentals for landlords, and help diagnose neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.
“The winning start-ups were chosen because of their novel products and services, and their potential for rapid growth in global markets,” said Stephen Duff, president and CEO of Innovacorp. “The quality of entrepreneurs in this year’s competition impressed the private-sector judges, making their work both exhilarating and challenging.”
The competition was held in five geographic zones across the province. Each zone winner receives $100,000 in cash and in-kind business building services. Second place zone winners take home $40,000 in cash and services.
In addition, the best overall submission in each of the following sectors receives a $25,000 award package: information technology, life sciences, clean technology, ocean technology, agricultural technology and waste diversion technology.
The zone and sector winners are:
Zone 1 (Cumberland, Colchester, Pictou, Antigonish and Guysborough counties)
1st Place: Lootbag – Daniel Code-McNeil, Jason Young and Neil Grewal, Antigonish
2nd Place: AgSeed Technologies (Canada) Inc. – Sandra Newbold and Trevor Newbold, Bible Hill
Zone 2 (Lunenburg, Queens, Shelburne and Yarmouth counties)
1st Place: Sustane Technologies Inc. – Peter Vinall, Javier De La Fuente and Robert Richardson, Chester
2nd Place: WoodsCamp Technologies Inc. – Alastair Jarvis and Will Martin, Mahone Bay
Zone 3 (Digby, Annapolis, Kings and Hants counties)
1st Place: Airline Employee Travel Inc. – Donna Lavallee and Colin Lavallee, Elmsdale
2nd Place: Manzer Apiary Inc. – Brian Manzer and Owen Manzer, Digby
Zone 4 (Halifax Regional Municipality)
1st Place: Site 2020 Inc. – Mitchell Hollohan and Cole Campbell, Halifax
2nd Place: MouseStats – Kousha Nakhaei and Ehsan Nakhaei, Halifax
Zone 5 (Victoria, Cape Breton, Inverness and Richmond counties)
1st Place: Orenda Software Solutions, Tanya Collier MacDonald, Sydney
2nd Place: MacCormick Inc. – Bonnie Lyn de Bartok, Sydney
Information Technology Sector:
Zora – Milan Vrekic, Dartmouth
Life Sciences Sector:
Treventis Diagnostics Ltd. – Sultan Darvesh, Chris Barden, Mark Reed and Scott Banfield, Halifax
Clean Technology Sector:
SATELLIGENT Telemetry Solutions Inc. – Arjun Warrier, Bedford
Ocean Technology Sector:
Turbulent Research Inc. – Chris Loadman, Dartmouth
Agricultural Technology Sector:
Allendale Technologies Inc. – Guy Tipton, Cyril Meagher, Ben Pooley and Elizabeth Pooley, Lockeport
Waste Diversion Technology Sector:
Sustane Technologies Inc. – Peter Vinall, Javier De La Fuente and Robert Richardson, Chester
A brief description of the zone and sector winners is available at https://innovacorp.ca/news/i-3-zone-and-sector-winners-2015-2016 .
The five first place zone winners and six sector winners will move on to the provincial round on Feb. 3, to compete for a $100,000 seed investment from Innovacorp.
The winners were selected through two rounds of competition. In the second round, the finalists pitched their start-ups to the judges. Companies were evaluated based on the quality of the product or service, industry knowledge and management experience, barriers to competitive entry, market size and credibility of plans to reach key milestones.
Innovacorp ran a pilot I-3 competition in Cape Breton in 2006, and its first provincial competition in 2007-2008. This is the fifth provincial I-3 competition. It attracted 188 start-up submissions, reflecting the high level of entrepreneurship across Nova Scotia.
For additional information on the I-3 competition, visit www.innovacorp.ca .
Source: Release