A program in Cape Breton is aiming to increase the success rate of startups by matching up entrepreneurs with experienced mentors.

Marcy Watkins is an illustrator at Artisync, a Cape Breton startup that helps comic book artists and writers find one another via an online platform.

“In the comic book industry, it really is only the top three publishers that are out there that kinda control the market and there's so much talent that's out there and so many great ideas,” says Artisync CEO Rob Parsons.

Parsons wanted to find a way to bridge the gap between artists and writers. Artisync was an idea he worked on for a number of years, but it really took off after he and his co-founder won an Innovacorp Spark Award last year.

“It allowed us to have a little play money to start getting more money invested into the company and we moved in here,” says Parsons.

Artisync was able to set up a work space and hire some employees, but when it came to legal documents, such as non-disclosure agreements, the founders realized they needed some expertise.

They reached out to Mentor Connect, a program run by the Cape Breton Partnership. It's based on a similar program that was developed at MIT and it launched here last November.

“The goal is to form teams of mentors around new ventures as they start up,” says Keith MacDonald, of Cape Breton Partnership.

There are 30 mentors involved in the program right now and about a dozen businesses.

“Some of our mentors that don't have a wealth of experience in the IT or digital sector certainly have a great wealth of experience on the proper steps to take in forming your business,” says MacDonald.

Glenn Turner is a mentor who's working with Artisync on things like goal setting.

“In this case, it's been more around how to organize a business in a logical sequential way,” says Turner.

“If you don't know what you're trying to achieve, you won't really get anywhere and it can help kind of clarify that and nail down those priorities,” says Darrell Cormier, co-founder of Artisync.

Artisync's founders hope to expand their studio in the coming years and perhaps one day, they'll mentor another startup.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Sarah Ritchie