Atlantic Canadian start-ups

I keep going back to the November 2005 (Volume 12 No. 9) issue of Progress magazine. It is, without doubt, my favourite issue to date. I want to mention a couple of companies referenced in the issue. The first is Q1 Labs which is a fascinating story of success. A brief summary: in the summer of 1999 a student at the Fredericton Campus of the University of New Brunswick, Canada (Chris Newton) decided to analyse the performance of the University's network. Eventually this inquisitiveness turned into a company with 76 people and 30 million dollars in funding (to date). The company now has its headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts and sales offices in London, England and seven USA cities. I encourage you to peruse their website and to read the November 2005 issue of Progress magazine for a much more thorough description of this company’s incredible story. Needless to say it is an excellent example of what can happen when the pieces come together.

While I'm at it I should note a couple of other success stories that I had not yet mentioned. Rutter Inc.  out of Memorial University (Newfoundland, Canada) is a leader in the development, manufacturer in support of degraded products in solutions including voyage data recorders, marine certified electronics interfaces, high resolution radar processing etc. 

Also out of Memorial University is North Atlantic Biofarma (I could not find a website). The company has, among other things, developed a new medicinal use for seal oil and seal by-products. The company is developing a seal oil based total parenteral nutritional emulsion to deliver much needed nutrients to traumatic and post surgery patients. It has filed patent applications in various jurisdictions and is currently conducting pre-clinical and clinical trials. I think it is also important to note that the company has received support (both financial and otherwise) from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation, and the National Research Counsel Industrial Research Assistance Program. Well done!