Volta Announces Finalists For Tenth Cohort Intake
HALIFAX–A group of Atlantic Canada’s most exciting young startups will test their big ideas next month when they compete for a spot in the Volta Cohort program.
Volta runs the program twice a year for early-stage startups. Usually, five companies are accepted into the program each intake. On May 25, ten Atlantic Canadian startups will compete for that honour.
They will do that at the Volta Cohort Pitch Event. The event is often one of the early rungs on Atlantic Canadian startups’ climb to success.
Past winners include Milk Moovement, Trip Ninja, and Tribe Network.
At the pitch competition in May, each of the ten finalists will have three minutes to convince a panel of industry veterans to take a chance on their idea.
The winners gain access to a team of mentors, office space, and $25,000 of funding to help get their ideas off the ground.
Volta Cohort was designed to address resource gaps and give early-stage investment to startups in Atlantic Canada. The program is a collaboration between Volta, ACOA, BDC Capital, and Innovacorp.
Next month will mark the tenth intake of the Cohort program since it was created in 2017.
Since that time, 44 startups have been funded through the program. As a whole, they have raised more than $20-million in equity financing, secured more than $5-million in revenue, and are currently responsible for about 200 full-time jobs.
The ten startups that will compete in the May 25 Pitch Event are:
- CandidateHub – CEO, Brad DiPaolo (Moncton, NB). A recruitment marketing automation platform that allows recruitment teams to capture who is engaging with their content online, and provides personal candidate experiences at scale.
- CleanBands – CEO, Dave Iwankow (Charlottetown, PEI). A hand washing compliance system for public-facing workers and the companies they work at. Their business has built systems that make handwashing visible, trackable, and marketable.
- dependbuild – Co-Founders, Conor O’Brien and Dr. Tom Cooper (Halifax, NS). Helps municipalities and infrastructure developers identify, assess, and track their risks with their cloud-based risk management software solution.
- Easy Platter – Founder, Mandhir Singh (Halifax, NS). A platform that connects you with a local chef for your weekly, in-home meal prep.
- iFormit Solutions Inc. – Co-Founders, Abdulganiyu Onabanjo and Paul Adeola (Bedford, NS). Passionate about simplifying smart metering infrastructure using the sub-metering approach to help promote clean utility consumption.
- Mompowerment LTD, Inc. (Mommy Mundo) – Founder and CEO, Janice Villanueva (Halifax, NS). An e-learning platform made especially for mothers. They gather global experts and advocates in the field of parenting, deliver information, and support the needs of moms in all stages of motherhood, from pregnancy to parenting.
- MotionBed Inc. – Founder and CEO, Dr. Ken Raj Leslie (Kentville, NS). Developing novel dream enhancement technology, featuring REM sleep detection and stimuli playback that allows users to direct their dreams to realize unique experiences.
- PragmaClin Research Inc. – Co-Founders, Bronwyn Bridges and Gord Genge – (St. John’s, NL). Transforming neurological disease monitoring, by using innovative digital tools to manage movement disorder assessments from home.
- spokesfan – Founder and CEO, Yasir Gafar (Halifax, NS). A research tech startup creating an insights platform. They help customer experience teams track word-of-mouth recommendations with real-time digital analytics.
- Zipp Cart – Co-Founders, Jeremy Meade and Fouad Matar (St. John’s, NL). An innovative grocery delivery service that allows customers to get their items delivered to their doorstep.