David Sears [39], Founder & Developer, PartnR

Company headquarters: Eastern Passage, N.S.
Founded: Summer 2026
Corporate status: Sole proprietorship
Number of employees: none

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David Sears had a golfing problem. If he had a free weekend or unexpected day off could mean sending 50 messages to friends looking for someone to join him for a game. The 39-year-old geologist, who returned to Nova Scotia with his wife in 2019 after more than a decade in Alberta, decided to do something about it. In early July, he began building PartnR, a free app to connect golfers and organize rounds.

Working alone, Sears has added optional scoring tools, a directory of more than 2,000 Canadian golf courses and a digital passport with collectible stamps he says now cover every course in the country. At the time of the interview, PartnR had just over 70 users, most of them in Nova Scotia. Sears has no employees and no established revenue model. He wants to keep the app free while building an audience large enough to make the business pay.

What is PartnR?

“It’s a golf app … it’s meant to help people find playing partners … you might have time to golf but your usual friends aren’t available … I came up with this idea to make it easier to connect with other golfers rather than just have to stop you from playing or just playing with whoever you get paired up with at the course. It also brings the round together in one place. … There’s] no requirement from the courses. … You can’t book the [tee] times directly through my app. It’s meant to advertise rounds that you maybe already have booked, advertise rounds that you are open to playing at a certain time or duration … or you’re just looking for an open round that someone else has listed.”

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