You may not see a storefront or a flyer for these businesses. Unless you need their services, you may never hear of them at all, but they’re leading Nova Scotia towards the top of Canada’s information and communication tech industries. These are three women-led, Halifax-based tech companies you should know about as they’re part of a cluster of startups attacking common business problems with innovative solutions.
Laurie Sinclair is the co-founder and CEO of Halifax-based Finazz, a startup that has developed an online financial analysis software that provides financial insights and helps guide decision making for small businesses. Contributed photo – Saltwire
The problem: How can I make the right financial decision for my small business?
The solver: Laurie Sinclair, CEO of Finazz
“It comes out of a passion to help grow our entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
– Laurie Sinclair
“I work all the time with entrepreneurs in many different capacities and I have learned that this is a big pain point for many,” Sinclair says of the financial decisions business owners face. “We built this very much in response to a need that I literally see every day with all the entrepreneurs that I work with. It comes out about a passion to help grow our entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
Finazz aims to take the mystery out of financial statements for small business owners, says co-founder and CEO Laurie Sinclair. (Co-founder Karen Lightstone is an accounting professor at Saint Mary’s University and they have a third partner who is an IT security specialist.)
The company’s cloud-based financial analysis software for small businesses takes financial statements uploaded to the online tool and a sophisticated algorithm analyzes the data and provides insights. The software examines the current month and also provides a month-to-month analysis to help guide decision making. The online tool is compatible with most accounting software, as well as Excel spreadsheets.
“Our market is entrepreneurs everywhere,” Sinclair says. In addition to targeting small business owners, she says the software is also ideal for bookkeepers and business consultants who work with entrepreneurs.
Christine Ward-Paige, founder and CEO of Halifax-based eOceans – Riley Smith photo
The problem: How can I find out what I need to know to guide my ocean research?
The solver: Christine Ward-Page, CEO of eOceans
“I would show up at docks anywhere in the world and people would say, ‘Oh, you’re sampling in the wrong location.’ But they’d tell me the locals had all the information.”
– Christine Ward-Page
“It’s a platform to speed up ocean science,” says eOceans company founder and CEO Christine Ward-Paige. “It’s for everyone who goes to sea.” Described as a marine-based hybrid between social networks Facebook and Strava, eOceans is developing an online platform for gathering ocean data, allowing users to log observations and track activities.
The mobile app is aimed at ocean explorers around the world, from a tourist on a whale watching trip to a scientist studying marine biology. It has a free version and a pro enterprise version, and the data collected can be either open- or closed-source as well as used by teams to collaborate.
After the data is logged, it can be analyzed, searched and filtered based on species, areas and issue. The real-time nature of the data provides insights that can help mitigate or adapt to ocean changes or recognize successful conservation efforts.
The eOceans platform has been chosen to be part of the U.S. Maritime Blue Innovation accelerator. Ward-Paige says she’ll be travelling to Seattle in April to live-demo the mobile app. During June, she says the startup aims to have 30 people in 30 countries using the app at once, to create the first global map of real-time ocean observations. Her goal is for eOceans to reach a billion observations in one day and one million analytics in a month.
Liz O’Connell, president of Arolytics – Contributed
The problem: How can I measure my energy company’s emissions?
The solver: Liz O’Connell, president of Arolytics
“These new regulations sparked tons of innovation.”
Liz O’Connell
The three founders of Arolytics were working out of St. Francis Xavier’s Flux Lab, a gas measurement research group, when new emissions regulations were announced for the energy sector. Oil and gas companies would have to reduce methane emissions by 45 per cent by 2025.
“Methane is really important because it’s a much more potent greenhouse gas compared to carbon dioxide,” says president and co-founder Liz O’Connell.
O’Connell says Arolytics’ online platform improves both the cost and efficiency of tracking emissions. The company has developed a cloud-based software that organizes and analyzes atmospheric emissions data from the energy sector. The startup aims to help oil and gas companies measure, track and understand their greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to the AROviz software, the company provides consulting and advice for designing emissions monitoring programs.
They now have offices in Calgary and Halifax and O’Connell says the software is ready for trials. Arolytics will be piloting the first version of the software with some energy companies. The startup is also consulting for some of the country’s largest oil and gas companies, helping them plan for the new regulations.
O’Connell says there are opportunities to expand to the rest of North America and to other sectors, like the pulp and paper industry and fossil fuel power generation.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
