The Importance of Innovation Startups on the Road to Recovery

 

By Alex McCann, Executive Director - ONSIDE

ONSIDE exists because of three foundational beliefs:

  1. Innovation-driven entrepreneurship can have a deep impact in transforming society and creating prosperity;

  2. That the innovation economy must be shared, diverse, and inclusive;

  3. That significant change requires collective action.

A commitment to action in pursuit of these beliefs, in our current and future pandemic context, will be a big part of a possible future renaissance. Startups are incredible drivers of job growth, and ensuring that innovation-based startups thrive will be critical to our economic recovery. This has never been more important than it is right now, with 2 million Canadians out of work, and the expectation that up to 4 million may be in the future. With this in mind, we are focused on working with others to amplify the impact of innovation-driven entrepreneurship in our province.

Boy solves a Rubik’s Cube at the Discovery Centre in Halifax, NS

Boy solves a Rubik’s Cube at the Discovery Centre in Halifax, NS

This will be hard but the potential is great. Consider:

  • Nothing is guaranteed. Survey results released by Concrete Ventures last week offered a snapshot, and indicated that while there is optimism within the Atlantic Canada startup community, close to 75% have a financial runway of 12 months or less. We cannot afford to lose these drivers of growth. Smart investors are needed to literally invest in our future.

  • Innovation-based startups create jobs. The newly formed Innovation Economy Council, which includes Canadian accelerators like MaRS and DMZ conducted a study which “found that innovation companies create an outsized share of new jobs and grow at a much faster rate than the overall economy.” Supporting high potential startups and scale ups is an essential component of recovery. Furthermore, MIT REAP’s, Fiona Murray recent presentation on Rebuilding Economy Post-Covid-19 Through Innovation, suggests that following the last recession in 2008, net new jobs creation was driven startups and scale ups, while older businesses floundered.

  • Innovation, research and new product development are not a nice to have, they are a must. Technology and new business model adoption by traditional industries help our companies be more competitive, export more, and become more resilient. As difficult as it may seem, investing in R&D and new ways of doing things are critical short and long-term sustainability.

  • Right now, there is not only a hunger and an urgency in our region towards tackling Covid-19, but also an entrepreneurial energy that has been unleashed in our province. This kind of momentum needs to be sustained as, we expect that the businesses and start-ups that emerge through these difficult times will be more robust and offer shared value for us all.

  • Covid-19 has brought more to light and validated real inequalities in our society, from lack of rural internet, which impacts business and educational opportunities, to health inequalities suffered by African-Nova Scotian and Indigenous communities, to the extra burden faced by women who are more likely to have lower paying, precarious work, and also be care givers. As innovation-based startups create new opportunities, we must make sure we have an inclusive recovery. The road to prosperity must be shared. 

We have never needed new ways of thinking and doing things than we do now as we head in to uncharted territory….the next normal. We hope you feel this sense of urgency and want to co-create a bright future for our region.

 
Atlantic Digital