Welcome to october at venn

Fall is officially in full swing, and there is plenty happening inside Venn and across Atlantic Canada’s technology community.

September gave us a lot to celebrate. Tech Connect reached the finish line with another group, Civic Tech Moncton marked its second anniversary, and our team joined conversations taking place well beyond Venn, from the future of AI in Canada to the economic opportunities ahead for Atlantic Canada.

Applications are opening for the next group of Tech Connect participants, Small Business Week gives us an opportunity to introduce you to more of the founders building through Venn Garage, and October 8 will be a particularly busy day at Venn with two very different opportunities to learn and connect.

Here’s what’s happening at Venn, where we’ve been in the community, and what’s coming up.

Celebrating Tech Connect

More than 60 people. One timely question: what does it actually mean to lead a business in the age of AI?

Before we welcome the next group, we had a big reason to celebrate.

In September, participants, employers, mentors, partners, and members of the technology community came together at Venn for our Tech Connect Wine & Cheese, marking the completion of the 16 weeks for another group.

Over the course of the program, participants strengthened their technical and workplace skills, gained practical experience, worked with mentors, and built relationships within Southeast New Brunswick’s technology community.

The evening was an opportunity to recognize how far the group had come, but graduation is not really the finish line.

Congratulations to everyone who completed the 16-week program, and thank you to the employers, mentors, partners, and supporters who helped make it possible.

Tech Connect Is Accepting New Applicants - October 15th deadline

Applications are open until October 15th, and the program runs from November 30, 2026 to March 26, 2027.

Civic Tech Moncton Turned Two

What do pizza, cake, community projects, volunteering, networking, and a room full of people trying to make their community better have in common?

They were all part of Civic Tech Moncton’s second birthday.

September’s anniversary Open House at Venn brought volunteers, community members, partners, and newcomers together to celebrate two years of Civic Tech Moncton and look ahead to what comes next.

Here’s to year three.

Small Business Week: Meet the Companies Building at Venn

Small Business Week is coming, and this year we’re putting the spotlight where it belongs: on the founders building companies through Venn Garage.

Throughout the week, we’ll be sharing a series of quick conversations with Garage founders.

What are they building? What problem are they trying to solve? What have they learned? And what comes next?

These won’t be lengthy profiles. Think of them as a quick introduction to some of the entrepreneurs and technology companies building right here in New Brunswick.

Stay tuned to Venn Innovation’s social channels throughout Small Business Week to meet the founders and discover what they’re working on.

Four Years of ALL IN: Watching the AI Conversation Change

Venn’s Kyle Murray Zelmer has attended every ALL IN conference since it began in 2023, giving him a front-row view of how quickly the conversations around AI have evolved.

Looking back, Kyle saw a different idea come to the forefront each year. In 2023, it was the hope of what AI could make possible. By 2024, those capabilities were reaching far more companies and founders. The conversation shifted toward risk in 2025, while this year felt increasingly focused on how organizations can put AI to work responsibly and at scale.

Kyle has shared his reflections, along with some of the companies, technologies and conversations that stood out along the way, in a new post on the Venn blog.

Founders’ Café with Dr. Pascale Michaud - Oct 7th

What would you ask a founder?

On Wednesday, Founders’ Café returns with Dr. Pascale Michaud, Co-Founder and CEO of AgroGene Solutions.

🏆 NBIF Breakthru: Accelerating Cleantech winner, with a $50,000 investment
🏆 InnovateNB Emerging Innovator Award winner
🏆 Spring Invest Together in Women-Led Impact People’s Choice Award
🏆 Startupfest Best of the Fest winner, with a $100,000 investment

But Founders’ Café isn’t a keynote or a formal presentation. Pascale will open the evening by sharing some of her entrepreneurial journey. Then the floor opens to the room. No predetermined questions. The conversation goes where the room takes it, giving founders, entrepreneurs, innovators, and curious community members an opportunity to ask what they actually want to know, exchange experiences, and learn from one another.

Come for the story. Stay for the conversation and connections.

Employing Immigrant Talent in New Brunswick - Oct 8

How can New Brunswick employers do a better job of attracting and retaining immigrant talent?

On October 8, Venn will host Employing Immigrant Talent in New Brunswick, a complimentary interactive forum organized by the New Brunswick Multicultural Council (NBMC) in partnership with the Immigrant Employment Council of Canada (IEC-BC).

The morning will bring employers, HR professionals, business leaders, and community partners together to share experiences and explore practical approaches to hiring and retaining immigrant talent.

Participants will have an opportunity to discuss challenges and successes, learn about resources available to employers, and exchange ideas with other New Brunswick organizations working to build stronger and more inclusive workplaces.

Atlantic Technology Summit 2026 - Nov 18

AI is giving organizations the ability to move faster. The harder question is how to do that without sacrificing security, trust, good decision-making, or the ability to create lasting value.

That conversation will be front and centre when the Atlantic Technology Summit returns on November 18, and Venn is pleased to be partnering with the Summit again this year.

ATS 2026 will bring founders, executives, IT and security leaders, builders, and innovators together to explore practical AI adoption, cybersecurity and digital trust, cloud and cost management, talent development, and the realities of building and modernizing organizations in Atlantic Canada.

New this year is The Founders Floor, a dedicated space for entrepreneurs building the region’s next generation of technology companies to showcase what they’re working on and connect with customers, partners, mentors, investors, and fellow founders.

Celebrating the People Building What’s Next in New Brunswick

New Brunswick’s innovation community will come together in Fredericton this November for the 2026 InnovateNB Awards.

The annual celebration recognizes people and organizations making an impact across New Brunswick’s technology, business, research, public-sector, and innovation communities. Awards span areas including emerging innovators, startups and scaleups, innovative products and services, research, public-sector transformation, inclusivity, and economic impact.

It’s also a chance to bring the wider ecosystem together and celebrate the founders, researchers, teams, and organizations helping move the province forward.

Finalists will be announced ahead of the event, with this year’s winners revealed on November 26.

A New Vision for Atlantic Canada’s Economy

What would Atlantic Canada look like if four provinces thought more like one economy?

That is one of the central ideas behind the Atlantic Economic Panel’s final report, which has now been released following months of consultation across the region.

The independent, private-sector-led Panel gathered input through more than 50 written submissions, over 35 regional presentations, close to 100 CEO conversations, and survey responses from more than 1,000 Atlantic Canadians. Its final report looks at the opportunities and conditions that could shape the region’s next period of economic growth.

For anyone interested in the future of Atlantic Canada’s competitiveness, productivity, investment, talent, innovation, and ability to grow as a region, the final report offers plenty to consider.

Small Business Investor Tax Credit

Last week, Venn joined founders, investors, and ecosystem partners at NBIF’s Portfolio Showcase, highlighting some of the companies and ideas growing across New Brunswick.

During the event, Luke Randall, Minister responsible for Opportunities NB, also drew attention to the province’s Small Business Investor Tax Credit, which is designed to encourage investment in eligible New Brunswick businesses. Recent changes increased incentives for investment in strategic sectors, including information technology and scientific research and development.

For founders raising capital, and for investors looking to support New Brunswick companies, it is a program worth knowing about.

Got an Idea for New Brunswick’s Next Tech Company? - Deadline Nov 9

NBIF Breakthru is back, and applications for 2027 are now open.

Breakthru is NBIF’s founder-development program and startup pitch competition for early-stage, technology-driven entrepreneurs who want to turn an idea into an investment-ready company.

Over four months, participants work through the fundamentals of building a startup with workshops, mentorship, investment-readiness guidance, pitch development, and opportunities to connect with investors and New Brunswick’s broader startup community.

This year, participants will compete for more than $300,000 in potential NBIF equity investment and in-kind prizes, including investment opportunities of $150,000, $100,000 and $50,000, subject to NBIF’s due diligence and investment approval requirements.

See You Around Venn

October has a little bit of everything.

We’re welcoming applications for Tech Connect, celebrating the founders building through Venn Garage, creating spaces for entrepreneurs and employers to learn from one another, and staying involved in the bigger conversations shaping technology and economic growth across Atlantic Canada.

Some of those conversations will happen inside Venn. Others will happen around the region.  And during Small Business Week, you’ll find plenty of them in your social feed.

Wherever we connect this month, we hope you’ll be part of it.