Finalists Announced For $25,000 Volta Cohort Pitch Competition
HALIFAX — Some of Atlantic Canada’s most exciting new startups will put their big ideas to the test this month as they compete for a place in Volta’s Cohort program.
The program, which Volta runs twice a year, gives early-stage startups a team of mentors, office space, and $25,000 of funding to help get their ideas off the ground.
To make it into the cohort, prospective members have three minutes to pitch a panel of industry vets on why they should take a chance on them.
Generally, five companies are accepted into the program at each event. This year, there are 16 finalists vying for one of those spots.
The Volta Cohort was first launched in 2017 as a way to inject more money into Nova Scotia’s startup economy.
Since then, it’s awarded more than $700,000 to 29 different companies, including well-known success stories like Trip Ninja.
The first intake of the program, which together was awarded $475,000, has gone on to secure more than $5-million of investment. This latest event will be the seventh intake of the Volta Cohort program.
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Thanks to the program’s success, Volta partners BDC Capital and Innovacorp have now expanded the fund to allow for follow-up investment beyond the initial $25,000.
Up to six high-growth Cohort participants can now receive follow-up investment if they meet specific criteria like being in the program for at least six months. This brings the potential investment amount up to $50,000.
“We are always looking at ways to improve our program and service offerings to better support entrepreneurs and startups in the innovation ecosystem,” said Martha Casey, Volta CEO. “By expanding the Cohort fund, we are thrilled to be able to make follow-on investments in high-performing companies participating in the program.”
The pitch competition to decide the next group of cohort intake will take place virtually, on Wednesday, November 25, beginning at 5:30 pm.
Anyone interested can watch for free by RSVPing on Eventbrite.
More information on the finalists is listed below:
Cohability (Halifax) eases the anxiety and guesswork of finding roommates by matching lifestyles and suggesting the best roommate – in the least amount of time.
Cultivated EcoSystems Ltd. (Egerton) is a women-led biotech company with the initiative to create a better, more sustainable life by increasing soil and global health.
Dear Life (Halifax) is an online platform used to help you tell your story as beautifully as the life you lived. They make it easy to document and showcase meaningful moments for generations to come.
Essvai (St. John’s) merges the power of artificial intelligence and solid mathematical algorithms to provide novel solutions for design, optimization and support of drilling processes.
Granvill Biomedical (St. John’s) is a women’s health tech company, specializing in the design of anatomical models to enhance health care training, advance patient education, and innovate device demonstration.
Haven Villages (Dartmouth) is building modern eco-villages: close to nature, reimagined to empower remote work.
Macro Movements Inc. (Sydney) is an innovative biomechanics company. They offer a platform for clinicians and athletes to monitor and improve important movements in users’ lives.
MICC Financial (Charlottetown) is a collaborative platform that helps groups of people save money, access capital and build credit.
Nextcheck Software Inc. (St. John’s) is a cloud-based aircraft maintenance tracking software.
Owlya Inc. (St. John’s) is an artificial intelligence-powered assessment platform.
Parados Cerebral Solutions Inc. (Fredericton) is taking a quantitative approach to solving the concussion epidemic in sports.
Pocket Finance (Halifax) is a personal finance management mobile application minimizing waste, highlighting banking fine print, and improving financial literacy.
Scarcity Analytics (Halifax) leverages environmental models to help agriculture dependent businesses preempt environment driven price spikes, improving the climate resilience of their supply chains.
Smooth Meal Prep (Dartmouth) delivers healthy fitness-focused meals provided by the community conveniently to your door.
Subait Inc. (Dartmouth) takes a scientific approach to develop a superior, sustainable lobster bait substitute, based on seafood co-products replacing environmentally challenging commercial bait fish species.
Swiftsure Innovations Inc. (Pasadena, NL) develops products that benefit frontline workers, patients, and healthcare institutions overall.