NBIF and Innovacorp Announce Details on Shared $250K Investment in Propel ICT Accelerator Program for Regional Impact
Thursday, April 9, 2020
The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF) and Halifax-based Innovacorp announced today a combined $250,000 investment in five Atlantic Canadian start-ups from Propel's Incite Accelerator.
More than 30 companies participated in the program. It's the second time the two organizations have collaborated on investments, following a successful partnership in 2019.
"This partnership and this investment are about seeing Atlantic Canada as a total system, rather than as separate regions," said Thomas Bird, NBIF investment associate. "This was a way of unifying the Atlantic region and building closer ties with our partners in Nova Scotia."
The selected companies will each receive an investment of $50,000 shared equally between NBIF and Innovacorp. This funding is vital to early stage start-ups, as it allows them to conduct market testing. It helps establish their niche in the market and distinguish themselves from potential competitors.
Companies were chosen based on their market potential, and investment funding is shared equally between NBIF and Innovacorp. The companies receiving investment are:
- FoodByte, Nova Scotia — An online platform allowing food processors to quickly generate and manage food safety plans
- Simbi, Nova Scotia/British Columbia — Educational technology that gives more than 45,000 students a reason to read, leveraging the power of each learner's voice to create interactive storybooks that promote global stewardship in the classroom and at home while improving reading skills.
- Safa, Newfoundland — Evidence-based algorithms for better employee retention
- SnapAP, New Brunswick — A fintech solution for streamlining the Purchase To Payment cycle within organizations, resulting in significant time and money savings from adoption of its innovative SnapAP processing approach
- TotalIQ, Newfoundland — An expertise management platform for distributed engineering teams that leverages collective project experience to increase proposal wins and profitability.
"Partnering with NBIF allowed us to leverage our shared resources, expertise, and understanding of how we both look at investment opportunities," said Ben McDade, investment associate at Innovacorp. "This was something that benefited both of our organizations, as well as the companies we invested in."
"Our partnership with NBIF and Innovacorp plays a very important role in the support Propel provides to start-ups," said Barry Bisson, CEO at Propel. "Not only do the start-ups benefit from much needed capital, they gain experience in the process of raising capital that will be valuable when they raise future rounds of investment."
About Propel
Propel aims to be a leader in fostering successful global technology companies headquartered in Atlantic Canada. Find out more at propelict.com.
About Innovacorp
Innovacorp is Nova Scotia's early stage venture capital organization. It works to find, fund and foster innovative Nova Scotia start-ups that strive to change the world. Early stage investment is at the core of Innovacorp's business model. It also gives entrepreneurs access to world-class incubation facilities, expert advice and other support to help them accelerate their companies. Target industries include information technology, life sciences, clean technology and ocean technology. Find out more at innovacorp.ca.
About New Brunswick Innovation Foundation
Since its launch 16 years ago, the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, an independent, non-profit corporation, has invested over $100 million in New Brunswick start-ups and researchers and leveraged $457 million more from other private and public sources. Those strategic investments have helped launch over 100 companies and funded nearly 500 applied research projects. Profits from NBIF's investments go back into the foundation for reinvestment in other start-ups and research initiatives that drive innovation, attract investment and create jobs in New Brunswick. Find out more at nbif.ca.
For more information, please contact:
Propel
Derek Latham
derek@propelict.com
902.430.2430
NBIF
Angela Pyne
angela.pyne@nbif.ca
506.452.7208
Innovacorp
Dawn House
dhouse@innovacorp.ca
902.424.8670 x1189
Halifax, Nova Scotia, April 9, 2020