Smoked seafood, a ride-hailing app and a hop farm are some of the business ideas that received start-up funding this year from the province's Ignition Fund.
"It’s been such a hard year for so many Island businesses, so it feels really good to be able to make such a positive announcement today. I was a business owner in the past so I know how important it is to help local entrepreneurs get their innovative ideas turned into reality," said Matthew MacKay, minister of Economic Growth, Tourism and Culture.
Ten P.E.I. businesses each received a $25,000 grant in this year's round of funding. The Ignition Fund began in 2014, and since then, has helped 68 businesses.
According to the province's website, eligible applicants must be the founders and majority owners of a P.E.I. business, and the product or service must have the potential to be sold off-Island.
This year's grant recipients are:
- Dave Iwankow for CleanBands, a company that develops wearable technology and integrated application for hand hygiene monitoring.
- Megan and Murray MacLeod for Cape Reef Seafood and Smokehouse Limited, a company that intends to expand and include the production of P.E.I. smoked seafood products.
- Walid Mazyan, Kevin Downe, and Osama Abdoh for Element Extraction Technology Inc. which designs, builds and tests commercial scale subcritical water extraction units for natural products producers.
- Josh Mayich for The Island Hop Company Ltd. to expand hop farming operations to include processing and packaging.
- Matt MacLeod and Len Currie for the company Kari and developing a mobile on-demand app with a focus on ride-hailing service using a fleet of independent drivers.
- Daniel Wilson for Pegasus Biotech, a company that offers contract research and consulting services for vaccine and biopharma process and analytical development.
- Michael Mayne for Remidose Aerosols Inc. and the production of cannabis inhalers, oral sprays and topicals for use in the medical and recreational cannabis markets.
- Tracey Gairns-Brioux for Reset: Breathe Corporate Innovation and the development of an online platform for employers to help their employees focus on personal movement and wellness to increase team engagement.
- Terry Nabuurs for Terry’s Berries to manufacture and expand a product line of vodka-based canned beverages using P.E.I. ingredients.
- Nicholas Cameron for TopServe to develop an app for contactless, in-house dining.