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Startups in Atlantic Canada raised $176 million in venture capital in 2024, their weakest performance in four years, according to new data from the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.On Wednesday, the organization known as the CVCA released its VC data for 2024 showing the funding for the four East Coast provinces fell 15 percent from the previous year. The one bright spot for the region was that Newfoundland and Labrador booked $81 million in VC funding on nine investment rounds.Nova Scotia was a close second with $79 million on 18 deals. New Brunswick booked $15 million on 15 deals, and Prince Edward Island logged a single VC investment worth $1 million.Source: CVCA“Atlantic Canada saw a decline in total investment, with every province except Newfoundland and Labrador experiencing a reduction of half of the levels observed in 2023,” said the CVCA in the report. “Newfoundland and Labrador was the standout, with investment nearly tripling from 2023, reaching $81M across nine deals, mirroring the levels set in 2021.”The financing deals on The Rock were led by St. John’s-based CoLab Software’s $28 million funding round and a raise of $11 million by Mysa Smart Thermostats.The Atlantic Canadian VC total for the fourth quarter was $23 million. By province, this broke down as two deals worth $12 million in Newfoundland and Labrador; three deals worth $10 million in Nova Scotia, and three deals worth $1 million in New Brunswick.The CVCA figures, published in 2024 Venture Capital Market Overview, include only year-to-date totals, not quarterly numbers

We’d like to start 2025 with a piece of news we missed late last year: Site 20/20 of Dartmouth and WeyMedia of Dieppe, N.B., were both named to Deloitte’s prestigious Technology Fast 50 list of Canada’s quickest-growing startups.Site 20/20 placed 31st on the list of meteoric Canadian startups doe 2024, with revenue growth of 686 percent in the past four year. It was the second year in a row the Site 20/20 had made the list. In 2023, it captured sixth place on the back of remarkable 2,392 percent revenue growth over four years.The fintech company WeyMedia, which is best known for its CreditcardGenius product, was named to the Fast 50 for the first time when Deloitte announced the winners in November. It was the 46th fastest growing company in the country over the four-year period with revenue growth of 431 percent.Led by CEO Mitch Hollohan, Site 20/20’s flagship product is the Guardian SmartFlagger — a piece of equipment designed to replace the human “flaggers” who direct traffic at construction sites. It includes a portable stoplight and a barrier that can be lowered to block traffic flow.Hollohan founded the business in 2015 and launched the Guardian in 2017, under a revenue model whereby Site 20/20 leased the equipment to customers on an hourly basis. A single worker can control up to four of the machines using an iPad and video-monitoring software.WeyMedia was co-founded by Stephen and Maria Weyman launched CreditcardGenius in 2017 to give consumers an online tool for comparing different credit cards