southern new brunswick

Five southern New Brunswick entrepreneurs took home top prizes at the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation’s Breakthru Startup Pitch competition.

More than 140 entrepreneurs across 80 companies took part, with NBIF awarding three companies during the live finale on March 19. Two of the winners were led by entrepreneurs from the Saint John area, Moncton and St. Andrews.

NBIF’s Breakthru connects entrepreneurs with capital, mentorship and exposure to help scale startups in the province. The competition’s winner receives $100,000 in equity investment, while the two runners‑up each receive $50,000.

This year’s grand prize went to Infralytix, founded by Saint John native Ethan McLeod. According to an NBIF news release, the company was recognized for its technology that measures the weight of vehicles travelling over bridges.

In an interview with Acadia Broadcasting on Tuesday, McLeod said the technology also measures how the bridge itself is performing.

“That information can be used to extend its service life, hopefully, and to make sure everything is performing how it should be,” he said.

McLeod said winning the competition was validating. He has been working on the technology for eight years and said it still feels “a little surreal” to see his research moving toward commercialization.

He said the idea began during a summer internship with the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, where he was tasked with determining how heavy trucks were crossing a rural bridge. That work later evolved into his PhD research.

He added the research would not have been possible without the department’s support and said he hopes to continue working with them as the province’s infrastructure ages.

“I think it’s a time where we really need to be looking to innovation to help the government make the best decisions they can,” he said.

Infralytix also received the $2,500 Viewer’s Choice Award after earning the most in‑room votes during the finale.

McLeod said the company plans to use the prize money to make its sensors smaller, easier to use and easier to ship to clients.

While no official deals have been finalized, McLeod said the company has been in talks with the government about adopting the technology. As Infralytix transitions from research to commercialization, he said the potential deal remains in progress.

“We look forward to continuing those conversations,” he said.

The first runner‑up was Urai AI Corp., led by Shanthi Shanmugam and Vagmi Mudumbai, for its programmable AI platform designed to make AI agents simple, interpretable and cost‑effective for “AI‑forward” companies.

Golf training technology start‑up wins second runner‑up

Golf training technology company Mulli Swing Solutions took the second runner‑up prize.

The company — led by Alex Khosbakhtian of St. Andrews, Matt Ryan of Rothesay, and Brycen Munroe and Ethan Belliveau of Moncton — won for its custom sensor‑embedded golf grip that allows golfers and coaches to measure how players interact with the club.

The four engineers met at the University of New Brunswick. According to CEO Alex Khosbakhtian, the product was born during their capstone design project, when they decided to pursue their own idea instead of selecting one of the recommended projects.

Khosbakhtian said some team members played golf, and while researching the market they realized there was no training technology that measured the inputs of a golf shot.

He said many existing tools, such as simulators, track the outputs of a shot, but not the inputs.

With their product, he said, they hope to help golfers understand the forces that determine where the ball goes.

“They are actually determining where their golf ball is going,” he added.

Khosbakhtian said the team was excited about the win. Like the first runners‑up, Mulli Swing received $50,000 in equity investment, which he said will help set up their next steps.

The team plans to use the prize money to get the technology market‑ready and available for customers.