NBIF sees resurgence in NB startups

This post appeared in the NBIF website on June 17, 2025

From Jeff White, President & CEO of New Brunswick Innovation Foundation

There’s a shift happening in New Brunswick’s startup ecosystem – one that’s not always visible from the outside, but it’s real and accelerating.

At NBIF, we’re seeing signs of renewed energy. The number of new companies coming to us has picked up since the start of the year, and portfolio companies that weathered the past two years are now raising growth rounds, winning customers and attracting capital. In fact, we’re seeing the highest portfolio demand we’ve had in more than two years.

We discussed this last month at the New Brunswick Startup Outlook 2025 event in Fredericton, where Peter Moreira of Entrevestor presented his 2024 Atlantic Canadian Startup Data Report.

While his numbers showed clear challenges across Atlantic Canada – particularly around company formation and early-stage funding – they also helped highlight an important contrast. The data revealed that New Brunswick has a strong concentration of elite and scaling companies in the region, and from where we sit, the momentum is building.

Signs of recovery

Since the beginning of this year, we’ve seen a renewed flow of promising new ventures entering our pipeline – a reversal of the slowdown we experienced through much of 2023 and 2024. The increase in pipeline activity matters because it’s a leading indicator that confidence, creativity and entrepreneurial drive are resurging in New Brunswick.

Jeff White, President and CEO of NBIF

But perhaps more striking is what’s happening within our portfolio.

We currently have five to six companies in active fundraising mode, raising significant growth rounds – a level of activity we haven’t seen since 2021-22. These aren’t brand-new ventures. These are companies that weathered the capital market headwinds of recent years and are now emerging stronger, with validated products and maturing teams. They are entering scaling mode, attracting attention from co-investors and showing real potential to grow into national and international players.

This combination of new pipeline activity and portfolio momentum represents the most encouraging environment we’ve seen in several years.

Why now?

There are two key dynamics at play here.

• First, immigration and international student recruitment have played a quiet but powerful role in fostering new company formation. More than 50 per cent of the companies in NBIF’s portfolio are founded by first-generation Canadians. Many of these founders came through New Brunswick’s post-secondary institutions, bringing global perspectives, deep technical skills and an ambition to build something new. Entrevestor’s report reinforces this trend, showing that immigrant-led companies comprise about 31 per cent of startups in New Brunswick – a significant driver of entrepreneurial activity. It’s a powerful reminder that talent attraction and retention are economic drivers.

• Second, several companies in our portfolio – particularly in areas such as cybersecurity and climate technology – are hitting the right market moment. They’ve spent four to seven years refining their technologies and building their teams, gaining customers and revenues. Now, their products are being embraced by the market. They’re ready, and the market is ready for them.

Scaling strength

The strong concentration of scaling companies is showing up in our work, with these firms driving demand for follow-on investment and pushing to expand their teams and customer bases.

While New Brunswick saw a net decline of 21 startups in 2024, it retained and grew a resilient core of scale-ready companies. These are the businesses that generate the strongest revenue growth, attract the most investment and create the highest-value jobs. That’s the foundation we’re building on.

The broader data shows early-stage funding remains constrained across the region, with angel investment down significantly. In this environment, NBIF’s role as a consistent early-stage investor becomes even more critical. We invest before companies have customers because we believe in the long game – in helping build the next generation of globally competitive companies headquartered right here.

What’s next

We’re realistic about the work ahead. We still have companies facing challenges, and we continue to support them through difficult stretches. But the centre of gravity is shifting. There’s a cluster of companies in our portfolio that are ready to grow. They’ve made it through challenging market conditions and are positioned to deliver real returns – both financially and in terms of impact here in New Brunswick.

Our approach remains consistent: identify four to six promising new companies annually while supporting existing portfolio companies until they reach product-market fit, which brings customers and revenues, and can attract mainstream investors. The goal is always to help them scale as far as possible within New Brunswick.

While some may focus on startup setbacks or funding challenges, based on our experience, we’re seeing something different from inside the ecosystem: founders pushing forward, companies raising capital and New Brunswick’s technology sector building real momentum.

This resurgence is built on strong business fundamentals, strategy and relentless execution with adaptability – exactly the qualities that define successful entrepreneurship.

And that’s the kind of momentum worth writing about.

Jeff White, FCPA, CA, ICD.D, is President and CEO of the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF). He is also on the Board of Springboard Atlantic.