STARTUPS AND

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

ONENS COALITION

GAME CHANGERS

Focus on Growth-Oriented Enterprises: We need

more companies – big and small – that are in

potentially high growth sectors. We need more

startups and we need them to grow, employ more

people, and participate in out-of-province trade.

Promoting Entrepreneurship: The private sector

needs to be engaged and to lead from the start, with

some government support. Ecosystem development

should be concentrated on the areas of the economy

with the greatest growth potential. “If resources are

limited, programs should try to focus first on ambitious,

growth-oriented entrepreneurs who address large

potential markets”.

Finding a Committed Federal Partner

GOALS

• Goal 4: The Nova Scotia economy will be generating 4,200

new business start-ups per year, a 50% increase over the

current 10 year average.

• Goal 5: Nova Scotia will have increased the total annual

value of exports (international and inter-provincial), currently

in the $14 billion range, by 50% to exceed $20 billion.

• Goal 6: The number of Nova Scotia firms participating in

export trade will have increased by 50% over the current

level of 850

• Goal 13: The five-year average for per capita venture capital

investment, which was $24.80 over the 2007 to 2011 period,

will be equal to or better than the Canadian average

(currently $41.10).

• Strategic Priority on Business Start-ups and Growth

Oriented Enterprises.

LET’S GET STARTED

Today March 2015

• “Early wins”

• Directly address OneNS goals

and game changers

• Coalition led and Tactical

• Iterative

• Target: ICT and Education

• Long term strategy

• Province-wide engagement

• The ‘voice of the

entrepreneur’

• Target: Broad ecosystem

STRATEGY

EARLY WINS

IF NOVA SCOTIA INCREASES ITS SHARE

GDP FROM THE ICT SECTOR TO THE

CANADIAN AVERAGE, IT WILL REPRESENT

A $556 MILLION NET INCREASE.

THAT IS AN ADDITIONAL 2% INCREASE IN

NOVA SCOTIA’S GDP EACH YEAR

GAME CHANGER VII

EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Just as Nova Scotia businesses must compete in a global

marketplace, so too must the educational outcomes for our students be

measured against a world standard.

• Further innovations in curricula and teaching methods should be

explored, including the introduction of computer programming skills

as a core competency at the junior high level.

(ONENS REPORT PG. 71)

GAME CHANGER III

PRIORITY ON GROWTH ORIENTED ENTERPRISES

[ . . ] come together around a strategy to increase start-ups of new

businesses, and retention and expansion of existing enterprises,

whose business models centre on growth, innovation, research and

development, and external trade.

• Increase equity tax credit to $250,000

• Startup NY model

• Better access to venture capital and other financial instruments

• “sandboxes” to support developing investor-ready ventures, seed

funding, incubator space and classes to support market

development, investor readiness and funding, and managing growth.

(ONENS REPORT PG. 65)

GAME CHANGER IX

PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Nova Scotia needs more entrepreneurs. More young people need to

come out of their education and training programs not just looking for

a job, but with the knowledge, skills and confidence to create jobs for

themselves and others

• Ecosystems need to be built around local conditions, assets and

strengths.

• The private sector needs to be engaged and to lead from the start.

Government can support.

• Ecosystem development should be concentrated on the areas of the

economy with the greatest growth potential.

(ONENS REPORT PG. 71)

PLAYBOOK

THE ENTREPRENEUR

We must fuel the growth and development of entrepreneurs

at all stages of the lifecycle

Youth

Post-

Secondary

StartupsUIT

BRILLIANT

LABS

Volta

EARLY WINS PLAYBOOK

A movement to grow creativity and the entrepreneurial spirit in our youth and in our

schools

Genesis• Creativity and entrepreneurialism are key to fueling the growth

of Atlantic Canada’s knowledge economy;

• Industry indicates that a significant skills gap persists in our high school and PSE graduates;

• Recent PISA scores demonstrate a need for Atlantic Canadian schools and students to ameliorate in STEM strands.

• Enrolment in PSE STEM disciplines by Atlantic Canadians are stagnating while opportunities related to these fields are burgeoning;

• General consensus that teaching practices need to evolve to respond but resources, time, political cycles and change fatigue act as barriers to systematic change.

What’s missing?

• Easily accessible seed funding for our best and most innovative schools and teachers to implement their ideas.

• A portal and collaboration space for industry and communities to identify, support and participate in projects and initiatives.

• Creative and collaborative spaces to provide new experiences to teachers and students and demonstrate the power of new and old technologies.

• A platform to share best practices and celebrate the success of our schools, teachers and students to identify and scale most impactful initiatives.

What is Brilliant Labs?

o A platform to accelerate the entrepreneurial spirit and movement to integrate new technologies and teaching practices in our schools and local communities;

o Powered by a collective impact model and a coalition of industry and NGO’s which have an interest in growing STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Entrepreneurship, Arts and Mathematics) in our schools and communities;

o Brilliant Labs, Brilliant Projects, and our Common Engagement Platform will support students, teachers and schools and enable new transformative learner centric initiatives by leveraging access to new technologies across the province and the Atlantic region.

Brilliant ProjectsBrilliant Labs partners with passionate NGO’s and leverages private-sector partnerships to deploy a series of rapid response application based grant opportunities at a provincial

level to support innovation and motivate teachers.

Technology, Coding and Robotics

Entrepreneurial Spirit

Innovative Teaching

Arts and DesignEnvironment and

Life Sciences

Brilliant Labso The Brilliant Lab is a Makerspace.

o These technology enhanced workshops will be equipped with everything from basic woodworking and fabrication tools, arts and crafts supplies, textiles, electronics and robotics, to 3D printers and audio / visual equipment;

o They could be open to other schools, organizations and the community at-large during evenings, weekends and holidays;

o They would be staffed as much as possible by community volunteers, teachers and student mentors.

Common Engagement Platformo Celebrates students and teachers across our educational system.

o Engages teachers, students, communities and the private sector through crowd Funding.

o Motivates teachers by sharing best practices, providing resources, and an opportunity to collaborate.

UIT Cape Breton

Gavin Uhma and the Shannon School of Business at Cape Breton

University have launched UIT, a startup immersion pilot program that

is a first in the world of technology and business education.

UIT teaches students the methods behind the world’s most

successful startups.

UIT Cape Breton

The open source curriculum is designed by proven

entrepreneurs and technology professionals from around the

globe.

The 11-month program, will teach students technology and business

skills leading up to the launch of their own product.

Graduates of the program might start a company, join an existing

company, or pursue a Bachelor of Business Administration.

UIT Cape Breton

13 students (6 females and 7 males) have been enrolled in the first

year.

Students range from ages 19 to 39 with varying levels of experience

in business and technology.

All students were awarded free tuition (a private sector donation).

5415 Spring Garden Road.

Halifax, NS

The Volta Story

• Volta Effect - the difference of potential observable

between two dissimilar metals when placed in

contact with one metal becoming positive and the

other negative —called also contact potential.

• Volta is a startup house where community comes

together to create an environment where

Entrepreneurship is celebrated and taking over

the world is expected.

Who is part of Volta?

14 Resident (in-house) Companies

74 Network Member Companies

28 Mentors in the Mentor Network

5 Graduated Companies

Now let’s talk impact

• $15.8 Million Dollars in equity financing raised by Volta

companies to date.

• Volta companies and Alumni employ 82 Full time

employees earning an average salary of $68,000.

• 1 exit (Compilr acquired by US based Lynda.com

for reported $20 Million)

• 112 educational events delivered on business and

technology related topics.

Things move fast at Volta

All that was accomplished in just 1 year with limited resources.

Companies are allowed to stay at Volta as tenants until

they hit one of the following milestones:

• 500,000 in revenue

• 1 Year at Volta

• 6 Employees

We want them to succeed (or fail) fast!

Soaring Employment in the ICT sector

According to the Atlantic Canadian publication that covers

early stage technology startups - entrevestor.com, employment

numbers in startups are soaring:

“The 162 startups responding to our Survey, employed a total

of 1,453 in December 2013, up from 1,019 from a year earlier.”

Average salary in the sector is $68,000 as opposed to the

$48,000 that is provincial average.

People rarely loose their jobs in ICT.

Current Situation

• Volta’s existing lease is month-to-month

• Building operating costs are rising quickly and are

unpredictable

• Our current building is slated for demolition in the

coming year

• Short time horizon makes investment and growth

impossible

Volta 2.0 Vision

30,000sq. ft of space to house new startup companies establish a hardware lab

more services and support to the general community.

Office space for investment ready companies to help nurture companies throughout

their lifecycle.

Can be renovated cost effectively, relatively quickly (approx. 6 months) with low risk

Requires private and public sector support

26

Volta 2.0 Metrics

5 year goals:

• create well over 500 growth-oriented new startups.

• spur the employment of over 2100 people.

• directly support at least 250 million in VC financing.

COALITION NEXT STEPS…

Youth

Post-

Secondary

Startups

UITBRILLIANT

LABS

Volta

An Opportunity!

PRESS RELEASE OR NEWS

CONFERENCE WITHIN 10 DAYS

• Support Volta Labs, a private sector led accelerator for ICT startups, and

call upon the private sector and all levels of government (municipal,

provincial and federal) to support and sponsor Volta’s current operations

and its planned expansion to a permanent home (potentially at the HRM

library) and to become a foundational pillar of the ICT startup ecosystem

in Nova Scotia and a catalyst for us have a world-class startup ecosystem

• Endorse the role of K-12 education, universities and accelerators as key

ingredients in fostering a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation and

building a resilient startup ecosystem

• Support, and call upon the public and private sector to support and

sponsor programs such as Brilliant Labs and UIT as a private sector led

driver of innovation and entrepreneurship amongst K-12 students and

post-secondary

LONG TERM PLANNING

March 2015

• Startups and Entrepreneurship Working Group will

report back in March on how entrepreneurs can

work collectively to lead a vigorous startup and

entrepreneurship community

• Support the creation of a “New Entrepreneur

Manifesto”, to be developed and led by the oneNS

committee on Startups and Entrepreneurship.

ICT Makes Sense

•The top 10 jobs with the largest projected salary gains are all related to software development

Source: Robert Half

ICT Makes Sense

Sources: National Science Foundation, Bureau of Labor Statistics,Sources: the College Board, Bureau of Labor Statistics

President Bill Clinton: “At a time when people are saying ‘I want a good job - I got out of college and I

couldnt find one,’ every single year in America there is a standing demand for 120,000 people who are training

in computer science.

Mark Zuckerberg: “There just aren't enough people who are trained and have these skills today.”

Bill Gates: Learning to write programs stretches your mind, and helps you think better, creates a way of

thinking about things that I think is helpful in all domains.”

Steve Jobs: “I think everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer because it teaches

you how to think.”

THANK YOU!