Emergence
ALERT
Subscribe
Atlantic Canada's Bioscience AcceleratorAugust 2026 Edition

New Member

Emergence welcomes SeaGreen Solutions

SeaGreen Solutions Joins the Emergence Program!

SeaGreen Solutions is a Fredericton-based ocean technology company turning Atlantic Canadian seaweed into OceanChar™, a biochar-like substance for use in agriculture, landscaping, stormwater systems, and emerging low-carbon materials. Their mission is to harness the ocean's power to heal the earth.

Learn More →

In this issue

  • RingRescue Shares TEAM Mentoring Experience
  • Company in Focus: Tunistrong Technologies Inc.
  • Great ready for Fall with a full update on Events, Trade Missions, and Funding Opportunities

Company Updates

  • Congratulations to Infusd Nutrition on their recent US commercial manufacturing expansion with the construction of a new 60,000 sq ft. production facility in Geneva, New York. This state-of-the-art facility has integrated quality control, testing, packaging, and logistics capabilities. Learn More →
  • Chinova Bioworks achieved a commercial milestone as their Chiber™ Mushroom Extract product was certified as organic in Canada and in the United States for food and beverage applications. This positions Chiber™ as one of the few 100% organic-certified preservative ingredients available for food and beverage applications.
  • 7 Fathoms Skincare, with research partners at Holland College and the Marine Institute (MI), released a five-year study exploring the impact of seaweed extracts on skin health. This further validated the company's founding premise on the healing properties of seaweed, with results showing a 50% reduction in inflammation-related enzyme activity. The study's findings will help guide future product development for the company.
  • PhyCo Technologies received a Shift Browser's 2026 Impact Grant of $25,000 USD. It will help PhyCo's continued commitment to scale and commercialize seaweed-based biomaterials for application within the agriculture industry.
  • Profillet Foods CEO, Greg Potter joined the Manitoba Sustainable Protein Research Symposium as a panelist, sharing his expertise on how to build, fund, and scale sustainable protein innovation. Hosted by the University of Manitoba as part of the Manitoba Strategic Research Chair in Sustainable Protein, the symposium gave Profillet the opportunity to participate in conversations with professionals, academics, and experts across the field.
  • BioLabMate co-founder and CEO Dr. Sarika Kumari presented to students at Shad Canada (MUN) about the environmental footprint of single-use plastics in research labs, discussing how their company is exploring seaweed-derived biobased materials as a more sustainable alternative.
  • WellFish Tech and Salmon Group entered into a partnership to bring systematic fish health monitoring across Norwegian salmon and trout production. This marks their most significant commercial arrangement in WellFish Tech's history! Learn More →

Emergence Updates

▸

Emergence congratulates Bioteem40, SEVO Bioscience, and Theranib Inc. on their selection to join the TEAM Mentoring program, which pairs high-growth companies with expert mentors for practical, stage-relevant guidance. The Emergence team is excited to support their next chapter with hands-on strategy and expertise through our mentor network, resources and projects.

▸

Infusd Nutritionals recently participated in Emergence’s new ACOA RTRI sponsored Marketing and Sales service offering with Johanna Brown and had a very positive experience to share:

"As demand for clean-label, functional food and beverage products accelerates, Infusd is helping drive that change for customers in the space," says Jack MacDonald, CEO Infusd. "Emergence has been a partner in that growth - their Sales & Marketing advisor, Johanna Brown, helped us build the sales forecasting model we needed to plan with confidence, guided our CRM adoption so our pipeline data means something, and pointed us toward the right AI sales tools for a team our size. Emergence's market diversification report also gave us a clear, ranked view of which geographies to expand into next. Together, this is helping us build scalable structure into our sales process without slowing us down."
▸

Ring Rescue graduates from the TEAM Mentoring program, having built a strong product while navigating the challenges of scaling into a mature medical company. Hear from CEO, Kevin Spencer, in his own words how the program helped them grow.

Company In Focus

Matthew Dunlop, founder and CEO of Tunistrong, on the staircase at UPEI's K.C. Irving Chemistry Centre
Matthew Dunlop, founder and CEO of Tunistrong is pictured on the staircase inside UPEI's K.C. Irving Chemistry Centre, where the company's journey began.

Local Innovators Turning Invasive Species into Solutions

A Charlottetown-based biotech company is building a business of high-performance biomaterial application in commercial products out of an unlikely raw material: invasive tunicates that are a major nuisance for the region's mussel farms.

Tunistrong Technologies Inc., the brainchild of researcher Matt Dunlop, has successfully developed a cellulose nanomaterial he named "Nature's Rebar" that can be sold to other manufacturers as an additive to improve the performance of materials like concrete and adhesive products. Dunlop explains that the moniker aptly describes the material because nanocellulose particles have a tensile strength ~8x stronger than steel, with the added benefit of a significantly reduced environmental footprint.

Tunistrong addresses this problem and converts the tunicates into a novel nano-material which has applications across a broad spectrum of industries.

"I think there's something uniquely valuable about this particular product," shares Matt Dunlop, CEO of Tunistrong, as he sat down to talk with us from the Chemistry department lounge at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI). "It's a real-world demonstration of ways to create value (from waste), circular economy thinking and sustainability, in a very clear-cut manner."

Events

Funding & Programs

  • Ocean Supercluster – Innovation Ecosystem Projects & Activities (Ongoing, project must close by October 2027)Info
  • CanExport GAC-Led Delegations — Funding for eligible TCS trade missions/delegations (Open, closing November 2029)Info
  • NPC Programs Recently Updated: Proof of Concept Program (Ongoing, Rolling Intake)Info

Events & Conferences

  • Regenerate Symposium 2026 – Closing the Omega-3 Nutrition Gap, September 17, 2026 (Halifax, NS)Register
  • BioPort Atlantic 2026, September 22–24, 2026 (Halifax Convention Centre, Halifax, NS)Info
    BioPort Atlantic 2026 — Halifax Convention Centre, Sept 22–24, 2026
  • Global Start-Up Expo, October 5–7, 2026 (Osaka, Japan)Info

Upcoming Trade Missions

  • 70th IAEA General Conference (Life Sciences track), September 14–18, 2026 (Vienna, Austria, Application closing on September 9, 2026)Register
  • Indonesia Hospital Expo 2026 (Life Sciences), October 7–10, 2026 (Jakarta, Indonesia, Application closing on August 18, 2026)Register
  • Team Canada Trade Mission to India, October 12–17, 2026 (Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, India, Application closing on August 30, 2026)Apply

Atlantic Provinces Resources

  • Innovation PEI Trade CalendarView
  • Invest Nova Scotia Trade MissionsView
  • Opportunities New Brunswick Trade EventsView