Start-Up East

President and CEO Mark Masotti shares the start-up story of the new bioeconomy company, AlterBiota. AlterBiota has developed a proprietary way to produce graphene that is not only more efficient but also better for the environment. The company is in the process of moving operations to Cape Breton in order to have better ability to scale, with the support of the Verschuren Centre and Innovacorp.

Mark grew up in the business of concrete, so when he began working as an engineer it did not take him long to come back to his first passion and innovate it.

For more information visit: https://innovacorp.ca/

Matthias Bierenstiel and Tuma Young are co-founderd of Maskwiomin, a traditional Mi'kmaw medicine that they have developed for commercial production as a skin ointment. Maskwiomin is made from the oil of birch bark and is used to treat skin conditions such as rashes, eczema and psoriasis. Still in the early stages of developing the company, the birch bark oil soap has rave reviews from early clients.

Matthias Bierenstiel is a chemist who teaches at Cape Breton University. There he met Tuma Young, a lawyer, and together they found themselves to be accidental entrepreneurs as they develop their company. 

For more information:

http://www.innovacorp.com

After becoming a mom, Nisha Sarveswaran wanted to jump into entrepreneurship and Kraken Sense was born. Kraken Sense provides real time pathogen detection in food production. They are challenging the long-standing standard of pathogen detection and helping to provide a better solution for keeping food and water safe. 

For more information:

https://www.krakensense.com/

http://www.innovacorp.com

Follow Kraken Sense:http://www.twitter.com/krakensense

http://www.instagram.com/krakensense

Phycus Biotechnologies makes biome friendly ingredients for cosmetics. Phycus’ main focus is replacing the use of crude oil in the production of cosmetics and providing a safer product to consumers with a friendlier production process for the environment. Christian Euler joined the team as a recent PhD graduate and has since become Director of Research and Development with the company. He is the first on the team to relocate to Cape Breton and has been settling in well. 

For more information:

https://www.phycusbio.com/

http://www.innovacorp.com

Follow Phycus:

https://twitter.com/PhycusB

Gavin Andrews is the co-founder and CEO of Mabel Systems, an inventory tracking solution that has been in development for 2 years. Recently rebranded from Tracker Inventory Systems, Gavin has worked through the pandemic to develop a camera that helps monitor inventory flow in a non-intrusive manner. Having built his career in R&D manufacturing roles around the world, he was ready to take the plunge with his own business to solve a pain he had seen firsthand. 

For more information visit:

https://www.mabelsystems.com/

https://innovacorp.ca/

Follow Mabel Systems:

https://twitter.com/MabelSystems

https://www.facebook.com/MabelSystems

Follow Innovacorp:

https://www.facebook.com/innovacorp

https://twitter.com/innovacorp

From being on the path to becoming a teacher to switching to physiotherapy, Paul Travis never considered entrepreneurship. Fast forward and after identifying a pain in the health sector, Paul is now almost three years into building his tech company. Here is Paul's start-up story.

For more information visit: https://innovacorp.ca/

Todd Chant has run multiple companies over his career. Unafraid to dive in and solve a market pain, Todd still owns a company that he opened based on the market research his 16-year-old son had done. Today, Todd is building a tech company based on years of experience. Here is Todd's start-up story.

For more information visit: https://innovacorp.ca/

After building a successful career in the public sector, Tara Milburn knew she was ready to do something for herself. Almost three years after registering her company Ethical Swag, Tara took the leap to run her company full time. Here is Tara's start-up story.

For more information visit: https://innovacorp.ca/

Start-Up East is a podcast highlighting the Nova Scotian start-up community, brought to you by Innovacorp. We find, fund, and foster innovative Nova Scotian start-ups that strive to change the world. And we love a good start-up story! This series features stories from entrepreneurs building technology companies in Nova Scotia, Canada. 

Thanks for listening!

Darren Gallop grew up in an entrepreneurial family so there was no doubt that he would build his own company one day. Darren will walk you through his entrepreneurial experience from running a bike repair company as a child to building his second tech start-up after exiting his first. Here is Darren's start-up story.

For more information visit: https://innovacorp.ca/