Halifax, Nova Scotia, November 22, 2007 - The I-3 Technology Start-Up Competition is heating up as InNOVAcorp today announced the finalists from across Nova Scotia selected to move on to the final round of the competition.

 Three entrepreneurs in each of the five geographic zones have been chosen to present an oral pitch of their start-up business plans to the I-3 judging panels in mid-December. Two entrepreneurs from each zone will be selected as the first and second place zone winners and receive a combination of cash and in-kind contributions to be used towards the further development of their start-up ventures.

 “The I-3 competition has been very well received by the business community across the province,” said Dan MacDonald, president and CEO of InNOVAcorp and I-3 judge. “We look forward to the final round pitches and shining the light on Nova Scotia innovation.”

 The I-3 competition finalists are:

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

AMMONIA PRO - Jim Shand - Truro

BioNovations Inc. - Joe Boudreau - Antigonish

EvacuAir Inc. - Robert E. Stewart - Truro

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

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

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

Millennium Hemp - Norman Naime - Annapolis Royal
MorSwift Machines Inc. - Roland Swift - Digby
Performance Telemetry - Colin Brent - Newport

 Zone 4 (Halifax Regional Municipality):

EcoGenomics - Sina Adl, Jason Hofman, Daryl Lingley, Glen Munroe – Halifax
Simulogic Inc. - Sergey Missan – Halifax
Skillz Systems - Tim Burke, Dean Dachyshyn, Stephen Hankinson – Halifax

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

Avitas - Thomas P. O’Keefe - Glace Bay

Marcato Digital Solutions - Darren Gallop - Sydney

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

 For descriptions of each of the I-3 finalists, visit www.innovacorp.ca.

 The three finalists in each zone were chosen from among five semi-finalists selected from the 121 original submissions from across Nova Scotia. Finalists were chosen based on a detailed business plan submission. Plans were evaluated for market feasibility, commercialization potential, ability to attract future investment, and the entrepreneurs’ management strengths.