The Province of Nova Scotia and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) have teamed up to provide C$920,000 ($740,000) of support for Nova Scotia start-ups in the ocean and clean technology sectors.
Six business acceleration programs will be delivered this fall, including a new Blue Solutions competition, to find innovative ways to address problems in the ocean sectors, said the manager for the programs Innovacorp.
The calls for submissions will be made throughout September, and the initiative will also provide business guidance for the companies.
Geoff MacLellan , Nova Scotia’s Minister of Business and Energy, said: “We’re investing in these programs to build on the tremendous ocean technology and clean technology development happening across Nova Scotia. Our investments will help innovators and start-ups move their projects forward, helping us create opportunities for young Nova Scotians.”
The combined funding of $920,000 from the two governments will support start-ups through six initiatives, including:
Of the C$920,000, the government of Canada is providing a C$500,000 non-repayable contribution to this initiative under ACOA’s Business Development Program, while Nova Scotia , through Innovacorp, is providing the remaining C$420,000.
“This project is going to develop and attract new ocean-based companies into a robust cluster of highly-advanced ocean sector technology firms contributing significant economic growth to the region,” said Halifax MP Andy Fillmore , on behalf of Navdeep Bains, Minister responsible for ACOA. “Innovation and clean growth are pillars of the Atlantic Growth Strategy to grow our economy, create good jobs and improve the quality of life across our region.”
To remind, The C$800,000 Spark Innovation Challenge has also been launched in Nova Scotia last month to support new technology companies, with an emphasis on those in clean and ocean technology sectors.
“The ocean competitions are totally different from Spark Innovations Challenge. There are different eligibility criteria for all the different programs, but as long as start-ups fall within the criteria of the program they can absolutely apply to them both for support, and we encourage it,” said Michaela Meltzer Gardner from Innovacorp.
Innovacrop is Nova Scotia’s early stage venture capital organization that works to find, fund and foster innovative Nova Scotia start-ups.