Fredericton, Halifax Region Lead Atlantic Class Of CANIE Award Winners
OTTAWA – Eight organizations, startups and entrepreneurs from Atlantic Canada received Innovators and Entrepreneurs Foundation‘s (IEF) first annual Canada Innovation and Entrepreneur (CANIE) Awards.
The Atlantic regional winners were announced from Ottawa, with the digital ceremony broadcasted through Facebook and Twitter.
Martha Casey, COO and interim CEO of Volta Effect, said in her opening remarks that the award is about “bringing together our country’s innovators to celebrate successes, share stories and create new memorable ones.”
“Innovation and entrepreneurship is particularly important in times of uncertainty and our collective support is important to show how much we value the innovation community in Canada,” she said.
Dartmouth-based SimplyCast won the Global Entrepreneurship Award. The company has 100,000 users worldwide and provides marketing, engagement, sales and emergency communication software to clients around the world.
President and CEO Saeed El-Darahali said in his speech that it’s important to see more local support for startups.
“We need more Canadian – both government and large corporations – to continue to support startup companies and become their first customers because it does provide access to reference customers,” he said. “Because it will help us get to the next step.”
Other winners of the Atlantic regional awards are:
- Enterprise Support Award: Planet Hatch (Fredericton, N.B.)
- Product Innovation Award: Chinova Bioworks (Fredericton, N.B.)
- Social Innovation Award: Ignite Labs Inc. (Stellarton, N.S.)
- Women Entrepreneur Award: Dallas Mercer, president of Dallas Mercer Consulting Inc. (Mount Pearl, N.L.)
- Indigenous Support Award: Keith McIntosh, CEO and President of Plato Testing (Fredericton, N.B.)
- Youth Impact Award: Ariel Gough, co-founder of Bailly Cosmetics Inc. (Halifax, N.S.)
- Entrepreneur of the Year Award: Karen Campbell, president of Totally Raw Pet Food Inc. (Dartmouth, N.S.)
IEF is a national charity dedicated to educating and promoting innovation and entrepreneurship among aspiring and well-established business owners.