Five rural start-ups receive funding to spark growth
October 27, 2022; 2:00 p.m.: Middle Musquodoboit, NS — Five of Nova Scotia’s innovative new businesses have won a total of $180,000 through the Spark Nova Scotia 2022 startup competition. The names were announced at a winners’ workshop held on Monday afternoon.
The 2022 program — supported by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and delivered by Nova Scotia’s Community Business Development Corporations (“CBDCs”) — offered business training to nearly 40 applicants across the province. Ten finalists advanced to one-on-one pitch training and in-person pitch competitions in Bridgewater and New Glasgow. The Cape Breton competition, which will provide an additional $90,000 in funding, will take place in Spring 2023.
Independent judges selected winners and corresponding award amounts in two regions, as follows.
NS Southwest Winners
- Axtion Independence Mobility
- VITIS Vines
NS North Winners
- Scient Analytics
- Hydro Kars
- Divo’s Solutions
“This competition continues to uncover different and compelling examples of rural activation,” said Erinn Smith, Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Association of CBDC’s. “We had such a variety of strong finalists this year. Selecting winners was challenging to say the least.”
Spark Nova Scotia is an initiative of Nova Scotia’s CBDCs, emphasizing community-based business learning. Supported by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), the competition focuses on Nova Scotia communities, and ensures support and programming for startups outside metropolitan Halifax. Sponsors are Cox & Palmer, Grant Thornton, OKR Financial, Innovacorp and Nova Scotia Business Inc. Winners also receive support packages from Amazon Web Services.
CONTACT: Sandra Goodwin: Sandra@SparkNovaScotia.com.
