Volta Cohort
Helping early stage, high calibre founders attract and secure venture capital sooner
This program provides mentorship, resources and investments of $25,000 through a microfund co-founded by Volta, BDC Capital, Innovacorp and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.
Along with funding, Cohort companies are given space at Volta and access to a board of mentors comprised of CEOs and founders of Volta’s Resident and Alumni companies. The board will meet with each company every two months and hold the company accountable for agreed upon milestones and metrics. Between meetings, the companies have access to all relevant programming and support Volta provides. Dedicated workshops specific to the needs of Cohort companies are also arranged throughout the cohort year. For companies outside of Halifax, the Volta team will look to to arrange support with partnering organizations in other cities across Atlantic Canada.
In addition to a $25,000 convertible note, Volta Cohort recipients receive the following for a one-year period:
- Space to work at Volta with meeting room access
- Volta programming (office hours, workshops, events, socials)
- Dedicated programming specific to the needs of Volta Cohort companies
- Board of mentors
Cohort companies who have been in the program for at least six months have the opportunity to receive an additional investment of $25,000. This means the potential amount of investment per Cohort company is $50,000. To receive the follow-on investment companies must meet various criteria, be active participants in the program and be hitting milestones. Additional investments are not guaranteed, and will not be distributed if criteria is not met.
The next Volta Cohort Pitch Event is taking place on Wednesday, May 19 at 5:30pm.
The application period runs from February 23 until March 29, 2021 at 11:59pm. Successful applicants will be notified on or before April 20, 2021.
How to Participate
Determine eligibility
Applicants must be a technology-based, early stage startup with an ambitious idea. Startups must also be based in Atlantic Canada and not yet received investment (i.e. have not closed a financing round).
Submit an application
Apply before the deadline. Note that the selection committee will consider the following: ambition of idea; disruptive level of the technology; ability of the team to execute; and impact $25,000 will have on the company.
Perfect your 3-minute pitch
Select participants will have time on the day of to practice their three-minute pitch. Then, that evening, it’s the real deal. Pitch your heart out for a shot at mentorship, resources and $25,000 in investment.
Network while judges deliberate
After the pitches are complete, judges will leave the room to deliberate, selecting up to five pitch participants for the program. Meanwhile, audience members have time to network and discuss their predictions about the next Cohort.
Winners are announced
As you can imagine, there’s a lot of excitement as audience members await the cheque presentation! Judges return to announce up to five select participants, who will receive mentorship, resources and $25,000 in investment.
Timeline for the next Cohort intake:
- Applications open: February 23, 2021
- Applications close: March 29, 2021 at 11:59pm
- Company review + selection process: April 3 to April 18, 2021
- Successful applicants contacted: on or before April 20, 2021
- Volta Cohort Pitch Event: Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at 5:30pm
Apply to pitch at Volta Cohort on Wednesday, May 19, 2021!
Submit your application before March 29, 2021 at 11:59pm.
The Volta Cohort Application is approximately 35 questions. There is no option to save and return to the application, so please download the questions ahead of time to familiarize yourself with the questions before completing it. If you’re ready to apply, please complete the application below.
Download the Application Questions
Gabrielle Masone (Elliott-Bouchard)
Co-Founder and CEO / Coloursmith Labs
Volta Cohort is the best first step you can possibly take to establish yourself as a business in Atlantic Canada.
Paul Doerwald
Founder / Clockk
When I started Volta Academy, Clockk was just a promising idea. By the end, thanks especially to in-class discussions with the facilitators and other attendees, I had the necessary tools and knowledge to make a winning pitch at the first ever Volta Cohort competition.
Cohort Companies
Adorify
Focus: Beauty
Adorify is creating a two sided platform; one side offers a mobile application to users that simplifies cosmetic ingredients, and on the other side, it provides market assessment to beauty manufactures.
Granville Biomedical
Granville Biomedical (St. John’s, NL) is a women’s health tech company, specializing in the design of anatomical models to enhance health care training, advance patient education, and innovate device demonstration.
Habit Forming Technologies
Focus: Health
Habit Forming Technologies is creating a growth management system using persuasive technology, sentiment analysis + human interaction, to provide individualized solutions that melds physical + mental health.
KorrAI
Focus: Artificial Intelligence
KorrAI Technology Inc. is a technology company that enables mining companies to make smarter exploration and extraction decisions using AI.
MICC Financial
MICC Financial (Charlottetown, PEI) is a collaborative platform that helps groups of people save money, access capital and build credit.
Pocket Finance
Pocket Finance (Halifax, NS) is a personal finance management mobile application minimizing waste, highlighting banking fine print, and improving financial literacy.
SmartMed
Focus: Medtech
SmartMed has created SmartShift, a tool that helps auto-schedule 800 shift positions in one minute, saving time and money.
Smooth Meal Prep
Smooth Meal Prep (Dartmouth, NS) delivers healthy fitness-focused meals provided by the community conveniently to your door.
Swiftsure Innovations
Swiftsure Innovations Inc. (Pasadena, NL) develops products that benefit frontline workers, patients, and healthcare institutions overall.
VMOpro Inc.
Focus: Health
VMOpro Inc. is a remote physiotherapy solution that enables patients to self-manage their injuries and conditions at home. The platform combines smart PhysioBalls that communicate with a mobile app and is monitored by physiotherapists through a clinical dashboard.