Genesis

06/02/2026

Startups 101 is now free for any group in Newfoundland & Labrador, and Genesis brings it to you.

If you're running a class, leading a student club, or organizing a conference, you can book a Genesis facilitator to run a live, interactive session on the fundamentals of entrepreneurship: finding a real problem, talking to customers, and testing assumptions before building anything.

It's not a lecture. It's a conversation shaped by your group. In person anywhere in the province, or virtual if that works better. One hour, 90 minutes, or two hours. No fee.

Book a session for your group: https://www.genesiscentre.ca/startups-101

05/28/2026

Applications for the summer '26 cohort of Evolve close tonight.

Eight weeks of customer validation, built for early-stage founders in Newfoundland & Labrador who want to know if they're working on the right problem.

You'll run real customer interviews, use AI tools to make sense of what you hear, get one-on-one coaching, and work through the program with a group of peers keeping each other moving. Virtual, three hours a week. Free for current students, $200 for everyone else.

Evolve won't end the work. It'll tell you whether there's work worth doing.

Apply: https://www.genesiscentre.ca/evolve

05/19/2026

05/12/2026

There's a problem you can't stop thinking about. Something you've seen up close, a gap you keep noticing, or something that frustrates people every day. You think technology has a role in solving it. You've talked to a few people, started shaping a solution, looked at what's already out there. Now what?

Evolve is the Genesis program built for exactly this moment.

Eight weeks of customer validation. No classroom theory, just real conversations with real customers, challenging what you think you know, and figuring out whether the thing you're working on is worth building.

What the program covers:
✅ Defining the real, solvable problem
✅ Identifying your customer, then interviewing them to find out what they actually need
✅ AI-powered analysis of those interviews, so you can decide where to take it
✅ Building an MVP with the Genesis AI Garage
✅ Presenting what you learned, what you decided, and where you go from here

The summer cohort is fully virtual and starts in June. Participants will spend three hours per week with the group, plus conducting customer interviews and receiving one-on-one coaching. $200 to join, free for current students.

Got a problem worth solving? Evolve is the place to figure out what comes next.
Apply by May 28 👉 https://www.genesiscentre.ca/evolve

05/04/2026

Join us for a practical, hands-on session delivered through a collaboration between Empowerment Bridge Program and Genesis. This interactive workshop is designed for aspiring entrepreneurs, students, newcomers, and community members who have an idea but may not have coding skills.
Participants will be introduced to no-code tools and platforms that make it possible to design, test, and build early-stage solutions quickly and efficiently. Through guided demonstrations and hands-on activities, you will learn how to turn your ideas into tangible prototypes, validate your concepts, and take the first steps toward launching your own startup - without writing a single line of code.
📅 May 14, 2026 | 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
📍 Room A1043, Arts and Administration Building, Memorial University
🔗 https://lnkd.in/eMANMEyb

This session is part of the Empowerment Bridge Program, a partnership between Expertise Hub Cooperative, International Education NL, and funded by the Jobs, Growth and Rural Development NL.

05/01/2026

It's Friday. You could have a startup launched by Monday.

In March at Build48, teams did exactly that. 48 hours from zero to launched product, no technical co-founder needed.

Our President & CEO, Ed Martin, wrote the DIY playbook so you can run the same weekend from your kitchen table. Find every prompt, every tool, and every link you need to start your startup: https://www.genesiscentre.ca/blog/the-turbo-guide-to-launching-a-tech-startup-before-the-window-closes.

Pick a problem, build the thing, see what happens.

04/23/2026

What happens when a startup incubator has a dedicated builder on staff?

We're about to find out.

Genesis is hiring its first-ever Builder-in-Residence. You'll work directly with our CEO to build internal tools, automate workflows, and make Genesis sharper and faster. Then turn around and bring those same skills to the founders in our programs, helping them go from concept to working product in days, not months.

You don't just know these tools exist. You use Lovable, Bolt.new, Claude Code, and Cursor daily, you have opinions about them, and you have a portfolio of things you've built to show for it.

Full-time, 6-month contract with potential for extension. Apply by May 6: https://www.careerbeacon.com/en/job/2223407/genesis/builder-in-residence/st-john-s-nl

04/23/2026

Don't miss your opportunity to showcase your company at the 2026 Atlantic Venture Forum in Halifax (June 17–18).

AVF will bring together 350+ founders, investors, and ecosystem leaders, creating real opportunities for capital, partnerships, and growth. If you’re building and ready to get in front of investors, apply now: https://criticalpathgroup.formstack.com/forms/avf2026. Applications close April 30.

04/21/2026

Building without identifying a real problem and avoiding customer validation are two of the biggest mistakes early founders make. Working through those steps isn't glamourous. Nobody posts about it or brings it up at meetups or demo nights. But the founders who actually make it? They all did it.

If you don't know what to tackle first or you need to hack your lack of motivation, start with Startups 101. This 2-hour virtual workshop covers the basics: spotting strong opportunities (and ditching weak ones), figuring out what makes a startup idea worth pursuing, and using AI tools to validate and sharpen your thinking.

Then keep going with Evolve. 8 weeks of testing your assumptions, talking to real customers, and reshaping your idea into something people actually want. A group of peers in it with you and a schedule keeping you moving. Most people leave building something completely different than what they started with.

This is the foundational work that makes everything else possible. Sign up for Startups 101 at https://www.genesiscentre.ca/startups-101. The next session is April 23, 12–2pm or 6–8pm, $15, free for students. Evolve starts May 28. Apply at https://www.genesiscentre.ca/evolve.

04/17/2026

Last night, techNL held the fifth annual Industry Awards at the JAG Soundhouse. A sold-out room, five categories, and a lot of deserved recognition for the work happening across Newfoundland & Labrador's tech sector.

Three companies with Genesis ties took home awards. 🏆

Startup of the Year went to atlantiq AI. This Genesis member company is building an AI platform for ship design teams. A second big win for their team after being named Most Promising Startup at the Atlantic Canada Aerospace & Defence Association (ACADA) Industry Excellence Awards late last year.

Genesis alums Solace Power Inc. and Genoa Design won the Diversity in Tech Advocate Award and Champion of Youth Award, respectively. Two companies doing the work that makes this sector better, not just bigger.

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners. And a special shoutout to the techNL team for five years of giving this community a reason to stop and celebrate its own. 👏

📸: Ritche Perez - Photographer / techNL