Today, Dal Innovates welcomed 23 student-led entrepreneurial teams into Launch, its flagship summer accelerator. The 2026 Launch cohorts span AI2Market, Campus2Market and Lab2Market and represent 13 post-secondary institutions across Canada. The teams will spend 16 weeks building ventures that address real-world challenges across healthcare and wellness, applied artificial intelligence, education, and sustainability.
“Dal Innovates is helping connect Canada’s research enterprise with the skills, mentorship and market pathways needed to turn promising ideas into real-world innovation,” said Dr. Graham Gagnon, vice-president research and innovation at Dalhousie University, where Dal Innovates is located. “That work matters for Nova Scotia and Canada. By supporting research-driven venture creation, Launch is helping build the enterprises, talent and solutions we need to strengthen our economy, improve resilience and contribute to Canada’s long-term sovereignty.”
“Dal Innovates is headquarters for a suite of programs uniquely designed to equip students with the skills to take their solutions to market,” said Jeff Larsen, assistant vice-president, innovation, entrepreneurship, commercialization and partnerships at Dalhousie University. “This year’s Launch accelerator brings students and researchers together across disciplines into an ecosystem where founders are supported at their earliest stages of venture creation and we can’t wait to see them take off.”
This summer also marks the first pilot of AI2Market Launch, expanding the flagship program to support students developing high-impact AI-driven ventures.
“When talented students have access to the right support, networks, and resources, they can turn strong ideas into real economic and social impact. ACOA is proud to support Dalhousie’s AI2Market, Campus2Market and Lab2Market Launch programs, creating conditions for innovation and strengthening the pipeline of early-stage startups led by diverse founders emerging from post-secondary research,” said Shannon Miedema, Member of Parliament for Halifax, on behalf of the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.
For the participants, Launch offers an opportunity to focus full-time on venture creation while learning directly from expert facilitators and industry mentors.
“I’m looking forward to the hands-on training, coaching, and mentorship to pressure-test our idea for making solar energy systems smarter and to learn what it takes to launch a startup,” said Abdussalam Mohamed, PhD candidate in Engineering, co-founder of NovaFlux AI, and part of the 2026 AI2Market Launch cohort.
“I’m looking forward to the hands-on training, coaching, and mentorship to pressure-test our idea for making solar energy systems smarter and to learn what it takes to launch a startup,” said Abdussalam Mohamed, PhD candidate in Engineering, co-founder of NovaFlux AI, and part of the 2026 AI2Market Launch cohort.
About Launch
The Launch streams of AI2Market, Campus2Market, and Lab2Market are full-time educational accelerators based on MIT’s delta v accelerator model. Lab2Market, Canada’s national network for innovation, commercialization, and entrepreneurship training, piloted its Launch stream from 2020 to 2024 at Dalhousie University, and has helped support the creation of 133 companies by equipping students and researchers to transform research-based ideas into real-world impact.
Campus2Market Launch, introduced as Collide in 2024, supports post-secondary students across Atlantic Canada as they develop early-stage ventures into market-ready businesses. Building on the momentum of Lab2Market Launch and Campus2Market Launch, 2026 marks the first pilot year of AI2Market Launch in partnership with Shiftkey Labs and Dalhousie’s Faculty of Computer Science.
Each Launch stream serves a distinct founder audience.
- Lab2Market Launch supports research driven teams commercializing academic discoveries
- Campus2Market Launch supports student founders developing solutions rooted in their lived experience and emerging market needs
- AI2Market Launch supports student teams who are building a novel AI-first product addressing real-world problems across sectors
The Launch program offers each team:
- Up to $10,000 in funding
- Tailored instruction from industry experts
- One-on-one coaching and mentorship from entrepreneurs and industry experts
- Access to Atlantic Canada’s broader innovation ecosystem, and national accelerator pathways
Meet the teams accepted into the 2026 Launch Accelerator:
2026 AI2Market Launch Cohort – 8 teams
| AI2Market Launch Venture Descriptions | Founders | Academic Institutions |
| ADPTIV AI – Empowering people to stay on track with an AI fitness coach that adapts nutrition and training plans—backed by kinesiology and NASM standards—to fit users’ schedules, cravings, and setbacks. | Ahmed Elouby, Bassam Kamal, and Youssef Ahmed | University of Prince Edward Island |
| Agrivanna – Enabling farmers to manage grazing operations more efficiently through virtual fencing, AI recommendations, and offline-first hardward built for working ranches. | Amirhossein Foroughi | University of Calgary |
| CurioSeed – Helping kids build confidence and reinforce thier learning by teaching it back to a personal AI buddy, an AI-native learning companion. | Yuhan Fu and Muhammad Faisal | Dalhousie University, University of Ottawa |
| Locus Fit – Fixing broken training analytics for paddle sport coaches with a platform that turns GPS, heart rate, and strength data into accurate fatigue and technique insights. | Jackson Chambers | Dalhousie university |
| Nova Contracts – Modernizing local B2B commerce by providing a secure platform for small businesses to list and bid on everyday contracts. | Starla Burns | Dalhousie University |
| NovaFlux AI – Optimizing solar energy systems for operators and owners by integrating solar panels, charge controllers, inverters and batteries into a unified AI-driven platform that automatically adjusts to changing weather and load conditions. | Abdussalam Mohamed and Hamed Aly | Dalhousie University |
| PetBuddy – Helping pet owners monitor their dog’s health by building an AI-enabled smart collar (an Apple Watch for pets) that tracks daily patterns and sends simple alerts when something seems off. | Rabjot Kaur and Parth Bindra | Dalhousie University |
| Recordium – Enabling B2B salespeople to remember, organize, act and automate the management of many customer conversations through a single app. | Max Mascini , Harpreet Jaggi and David Campbell | Dalhousie University |
2026 Campus2Market Launch Cohort – 9 teams
| Campus2Market Launch Venture Descriptions | Founders | Academic Institutions |
| Align – Helping young professionals build better habits by combining AI-powered planning with accountability through friends and shared communities. | Kaila Hamawi and Victoria Fauzel | Dalhousie University |
| BeSociable Medias Inc. – Connecting students by matching them with peers who share common interests, through an online platform that makes it easier to attend campus events together. | Jason Phonchareon and Olivian Sanderson | University of New Brunswick Saint Mary’s University |
| CheapyEats – Lowering food and delivery costs through a limited selection of popular items, batch preparation by restaurants, and consolidated delivery by drivers—so users can enjoy delivery at dine-in prices. | Guanxiang Wang and Yifan Huang | Dalhousie University |
| Gluten Free Living – Helping those living with a gluten-related dietary restriction by building an app that acts as a hub for information and resources. | Emma McGill | Saint Mary’s University |
| Lokd Technologies Ltd. – Taking on the digital distraction crisis by empowering students, parents, and professionals with valuable tools to reclaim their attention in the spaces where focus matters most. | Gabriel Shimoon and Jacob Shimoon | Dalhousie University |
| NeuraSpectra Technologies Inc.- Bridging the gap between neural activity and actionable intelligence via portable, AI-native BCI systems designed to help researchers decode the human brain in real time. | Sarthak Soni | Nova Scotia Community College |
| Prescription Tenders – Transforming Canada’s pharmacy landscape by building a two-sided platform that powers last-mile prescription delivery and connects neighbouring pharmacies to redistribute inventory, ensuring no patient waits and no medication goes to waste. | Chidozie Michael Nzekwe and Omerole Izuchukwu Darlington | Cape Breton University |
| Referro – Enabling students and recent grads to land job referrals by using an AI networking coach that finds the right people to reach out to, writes personalized messages, and prepares users for coffee chats. | Ahmed Abdelmoaty and Mohamed Hiba | Dalhousie University |
| Your Academic Choice – Connecting students who feel uncertain about their future with experienced peers to make confident, informed decisions about majors, graduate programs, and career pathways. | Ibrahim Haddad and Anthony Safatli | Dalhousie University |
2026 Lab2Market Launch Cohort – 6 teams
| Lab2Market Launch Venture Descriptions | Founders | Academic Institutions |
| AllerEase — Helping people with food allergies make safer grocery decisions through a personalized product-filtering system that reduces uncertainty and cognitive load. | Yiran Xie and Kedar Gaikwad | NSCAD University, Saint Mary’s University |
| CareAssist – Helping chronic disease management teams capture patient values before the visit and turn complex treatment options into clear tradeoffs, so decisions are aligned, timely, and easier to follow through on. | Ahmad Rezaie Mianroodi | Dalhousie University |
| DeepSimu – Enabling non‑technical users to learn and apply artificial intelligence (AI) more easily, quickly, and affordably through a coding free deep learning framework. | Amir Zarei and Peyman Setoodeh | University of New Brunswick |
| Mavia – Streamlining patient intake and clinical documentation for healthcare professionals by automating patient anamnesis through an AI-powered medical pre-consultation platform. | Abderraouf Haddouni | ETS Montreal |
| Nourify AI – is a secure, explainable AI-backed automation platform that streamlines the administrative workflow for real estate brokers. Enabling real estate brokers to streamline administrative work by automating routine tasks through a secure, explainable, AI‑powered workflow platform. | Hajer Mejri | University of Montreal |
| Pure Air Nova – Redefining air purification with a smart, quiet, customizable, and low-maintenance system for diverse indoor needs. | Aliakbar Isari and Hatef Yousefian | University of British Columbia |
About Dal Innovates
Since 2020, more than 1,200 students and faculty from over 50 colleges and universities across Canada have participated in Dal Innovates programs. Alumni have gone on to raise $20 million in private and public funding and have advanced through accelerators such as Emera ideaHUB, Creative Destruction Lab, and others worldwide.
Dal Innovates’ Launch cohorts are made possible with support from the Government of Canada through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Mitacs, NSERC, the Province of Nova Scotia, Springboard Atlantic, and Morrison Park Advisors.