Startup Maine Stories

In this series, Startup Maine's President, Katie Shorey, discusses valuable insights with thinkers and doers from across Maine. This session she is joined by David Douglas Stone, Executive Chairman and Founder of Forager

In this series, Startup Maine's President, Katie Shorey, discusses valuable insights with thinkers and doers from across Maine. This session she is joined by Helkin Berg, CEO of Strimo.

In this series, Startup Maine's President, Katie Shorey, discusses valuable insights with thinkers and doers from across Maine. This session she is joined by Chris Wolfel, Director of Entrepreneurship at the Roux Institute

In this series, Startup Maine's President, Katie Shorey, discusses valuable insights with thinkers and doers from across Maine. This session she is joined by Chip Terry, CEO & Co-Founder of Oyster Tracker.

As bluShift Aerospace crosses the halfway line to its crowd equity funding goal of $1.07 million, the Brunswick-based company is betting on its development of a small, dedicated launch service to break into a crowded field of companies eyeing the lucrative commercial space flight market.

Twenty years ago, I was the only immigrant involved in the Maine tech startup ecosystem. The fact that still remains largely true, despite the growth of the state's startup community and large influx of immigrants to the state in the intervening years, is a problem.

UpStart Maine, a coalition of entrepreneur-support organizations in the Bangor region, says the recent award of a $20,000 in grant funding will help the alliance officially launch two business growth programs that were piloted this spring.

A bucketload of money is arriving in Maine from federal and state funding sources — including at least $100 million through the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan — to expand broadband access.

HighByte, a fast-growing Portland industrial software startup aiming to win what one of its founders calls a war for tech talent, won the $50,000 grand prize in Gorham Savings Bank's 2021 LaunchPad competition on Tuesday.

The Cubby, a Waterville startup that helps college students sell art work, won Maine Center for Entrepreneurs' Top Gun Showcase award on Wednesday night.

Kebotix Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based technology startup, is partnering with Northeastern University's Roux Institute in Portland to establish an office and research footprint in Maine and to hire local talent.

At the ripe age of 24, KinoTek Inc. co-founder and CEO Justin Hafner has received a national award for sports-business movers and shakers under 25 — with big growth plans for his 3-year-old software startup.

Eight entrepreneurs have been selected to compete as finalists in the statewide Top Gun Showcase on May 26 for a chance to win $25,000.

Coming in the wake of an historic rocket launch earlier this year, BluShift Aerospace, a startup rocket company based in Brunswick, recently launched an equity crowdfunding campaign to raise the capital necessary for its next phase of development.

Maine Venture Fund, the state’s quasi-governmental venture capital fund, announced this week that it has chosen its internal candidate, Joe Powers, to be its next managing director.

The latest edition of a prestigious annual study says Maine is doing better than last year — and better than most states this year — in fostering the beginnings of businesses.

DAVO Technologies, a software company based in Westbrook that helps small businesses automate the collection and payment of sales tax, has been acquired by a Seattle-based software firm focused on the tax space.

The Roux Institute Techstars Accelerator has named Lars Perkins, a veteran tech founder and software executive, as its first managing director.

A former software entrepreneur, angel investor and consultant for startups in California has been named managing director of Portland's new Roux Institute Techstars accelerator, it was announced Tuesday morning.

In this series, Startup Maine's President, Katie Shorey, discusses valuable insights with thinkers and doers from across Maine. This session she is joined by Patrick Breeding, CEO and founder of Marin Skincare.

In this series, Startup Maine's President, Katie Shorey, discusses valuable insights with thinkers and doers from across Maine. This session she is joined by Krystal Williams, Founder & Manager of Providentia Group and Founder of the Alpha Legal Institute.

In this series, Startup Maine's President, Katie Shorey, discusses valuable insights with thinkers and doers from across Maine. This session she is joined by Brian Rahill, CEO & co-Founder of CourseStorm.

In this series, Startup Maine's President, Katie Shorey, discusses valuable insights with thinkers and doers from across Maine. This session she is joined by Kristina Cannon, Executive Director of Maine Street Skowhegan.

In this series, Startup Maine's President, Katie Shorey, discusses valuable insights with thinkers and doers from across Maine. This session she is joined by Amy VanHaren, CEO & Founder of pumpspotting.

In this series, Startup Maine's President, Katie Shorey, discusses valuable insights with thinkers and doers from across Maine. This session she is joined by Justin Hafner, CEO & co-founder of KinoTek Software.

In this series, Startup Maine's President, Katie Shorey, discusses valuable insights with thinkers and doers from across Maine. This session she is joined by Kristine Logan, Executive Director of TechPlace in Brunswick.

In this series, Startup Maine's President, Katie Shorey, discusses valuable insights with thinkers and doers from across Maine. This session she is joined by Torey Penrod-Cambra, Chief Marketing Officer & co-founder of HighByte.

In this series, Startup Maine's President, Katie Shorey, discusses valuable insights with thinkers and doers from across Maine. This session she is joined by Nick Rimsa, Founder of Eariously, Owner of Tortoise Labs, and program designer of the Propeller program at CEI Women’s Business Center.

CoAmplify is a Portland-based startup seeking to give deaf kids "the freedom to just be kids," starting with a winter hat designed to hold cochlear implants in place.

Techstars, an organization that runs dozens of startup accelerators all over the world, is teaming up with Northeastern University’s Roux Institute to launch a global accelerator program in Portland.

Venture capital-backed companies across the U.S. last year raised nearly $130 billion, up 14% from the 2019 total and setting a record high despite the economic downturn. But VC investment in Maine companies nose-dived during 2020, according to a new report by consulting firms PwC and CB Insights.

Snowmobilers generate about $600 million a year for Maine's economy, with about a third of them coming from out of state. Now a Thomas College student thinks Maine can do more to attract out-of-state snowmobilers. He's created a website that modernizes trip planning for sledders from in-state and away.

KinoTek Inc., a Portland-based developer of a digital health platform that uses computer-vision technology for body-motion assessment, said Tuesday that it has raised $600,000 in a pre-seed funding round that was oversubscribed.

Colby College announced Thursday the creation of the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence, a new academic program that it expects will make the Waterville campus a prominent center for the teaching and research of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Kristina Cannon spoke with Startup Maine President Katie Shorey in a half-hour on-screen interview, the latest installment of Startup Maine Entrepreneurs and Ecosystem Builders virtual speaker series. Cannon was honored on the 2019 Mainebiz Next list, while Shorey was honored in 2020.

As president of volunteer-run organization Startup Maine and director of engagement for Live + Work in Maine, Katie Shorey is plugged in to the fast-moving tech and startup scene — and committed to sharing its business success stories with a wide audience. Mainebiz caught up with Shorey to get the lowdown on Startup Maine, and what entrepreneurs should know about launching a business here. From Renee Cordes at MaineBiz.

Friday, the Portland-based startup building software for remote teams, announced today it has raised $2.1 million in an equity round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, one of the oldest and most well-known venture capital funds in the country. From Whit Richardson at Maine Startups Insider.

An app developed in Maine provides a subscription service designed to help small businesses get cash upfront while delivering discounts to customers on products and services they routinely buy. From Laurie Schreiber at MaineBiz.