Halifax, Nova Scotia, October 22, 2007 – Entrepreneurs from across the province confirmed that entrepreneurship in Nova Scotia is alive and well with their strong response to InNOVAcorp’s I-3 Technology Start-Up Competition.

“We received 121 formal submissions to the competition, far exceeding our initial expectations,” said Dan MacDonald, president and CEO of InNOVAcorp. “We have identified numerous compelling business start-up opportunities, and look forward to learning more about them in the next round of the competition.”

After the success of the pilot I-3 competition in Cape Breton last year, InNOVAcorp recognized the opportunity to take the competition province-wide. The purpose of the competition is to foster and support the entrepreneurial spirit in the business community across Nova Scotia and to encourage the formation of new technology start-up companies. The competition is being run simultaneously in five geographic zones.

The following I-3 participants from across Nova Scotia have been invited to compete in Round Two of the competition:

Zone 1 (Cumberland, Colchester, Pictou, Antigonish and Guysborough counties):

AMMONIA PRO – Jim Shand – Truro

BI Diagnostics – Neil Foshay – Antigonish

BioNovations Inc. – Joe Boudreau – Anitgonish

EvacuAir Inc. – Robert E. Stewart – Truro

X-Flux Environmental Technologies – Dave Risk – Antigonish

Zone 2 (Lunenburg, Queens, Shelburne and Yarmouth counties):

Atlantic Direct Aether Power Technology (ADAPT) Inc. - Raymond Peddle - Blockhouse

CleanCount Inc. - Michael Jarvis and Brent Fay - Chester

Nova Scotia Crumb Rubber LLC - Andy Butler - Chester

Pida Infant & Maternity Products - Pierrette d' Entremont – Middle West Pubnico

Quadratechnology Incorporated - Tyler Hayden – Mahone Bay

Zone 3 (Digby, Annapolis, Kings and Hants counties):

ENVIROBLOCK – Vinton Lloyd – Brigdetown

Gaiamatics Solutions Inc.  – Trevor Milne – Lawrencetown

Millennium Hemp – Norman Naime – Annapolis Royal

MorSwift Machines Inc. – Roland Swift – Digby

Performance Telemetry – Colin Brent – Newport

Zone 4 (Halifax Regional Municipality):

CVPing.com – Dennis Campbell - Halifax

EcoGenomics – Sina Adl, Jason Hofman, Daryl Lingley, Glen Munroe – Halifax

Simulogic Inc. – Sergey Missan – Halifax

Skillz Systems – Tim Burke, Dean Dachyshyn, Stephen Hankinson (Quark Engineering and Development Inc.) – Halifax

Stitch Media – Evan Jones - Halifax

Zone 5 (Victoria, Cape Breton, Inverness and Richmond counties):

Avitas – Thomas P. O’Keefe – Glace Bay

Caylogic – Dale Gass – Glace Bay

Eastern Star Lighting – Stephen Manley and Ed Riby – Sydney

Marcato Digital Solutions – Darren Gallop – Sydney

Stack-A-Buoy Marine Products Inc. – Blair Gotell – Arichat

Entrepreneurs selected to move on to Round Two are required to submit a full business plan, to be reviewed by the six-person judging committees in each zone. The Final Round shortlist will be announced on November 22.

Each first place zone winner will receive a $100,000 prize package of a combination of cash and in-kind contributions and each second place zone winner will receive a $40,000 prize package of a combination of cash and in-kind contributions to be used towards the establishment or further development of their start-up ventures.

Prize packages in each zone will include support and services in the form of expertise from the I-3 competition partners. Visit www.innovacorp.ca to learn more about the competition’s legal, accounting, marketing, human resource and other consulting partners.

At the end of the competition, one provincial winner will be selected from among the five first place zone winners, and will be awarded a $100,000 seed investment from InNOVAcorp’s HPi™ Microfund.

The breakdown of submissions from across the province included 14 submissions from zone 1 (Cumberland, Colchester, Pictou, Antigonish and Guysborough counties), 17 submissions from zone 2 (Lunenburg, Queens, Shelburne and Yarmouth counties), 18 submissions from zone 3 (Digby, Annapolis, Kings and Hants counties), 55 submissions from zone 4 (Halifax Regional Municipality) and 17 submissions from zone 5 (Victoria, Cape Breton, Inverness and Richmond counties).

For more information on the participants moving on to Round Two and for a complete list of competition partners in each zone visit www.innovacorp.ca