Portland biotech co. raising $4M, why Maine needs more startup mentors, Dream Local raises cash, and more...
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Portland biotech co. Abogen raising $4M round
Abogen Inc., a Portland-based biotech company, is in the process of raising $4 million in equity financing, according to a filing made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on July 31. The company, which has developed a method to replace the need to draw blood with gathering saliva in order to conduct a blood test, has to date raised $1.6 million in seed financing from the Maine Technology Institute and angel investors.
Read more at Maine Startups Insider >>
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Why Maine needs more startup mentors: A conversation with Kerem Durdag
The last we heard from Kerem Durdag, he shared his thoughts on why his previous company, Biovation, had failed and what he had learned from the experience. You can read that interview here.
Today, I bring you another interview with Kerem, this time about the insight he gained over the course of 15 months serving as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Maine Technology Institute, during which time he worked with 16 separate startups.
In short, Maine's innovation ecosystem desperately needs more experienced mentors to help guide first-time entrepreneurs from the startup phase to a sustainable business model.
Read the interview on Maine Startups Insider >>
Dream Local Digital prepares to close $100K investment
Dream Local Digital, a digital marketing agency in Rockland, is preparing to close a Series A equity round of at least $100,000, according to its founder, Shannon Kinney. This comes on the heels of the company converting 10 investors involved in previous convertible-debt seed rounds totaling nearly $1 million to equity stakeholders.
Read more at Maine Startups Insider >>
Jobs
Seeking a full-stack engineer? A technical co-founder? A sales or biz dev superstar? Send me your job postings to make this a great resource!
+ Guideline Technologies, a venture-backed fintech startup that is headquartered in California but has a dev office in Portland (where CTO Mike Nelson is based), is hiring a senior ruby engineer, a senior JS engineer, a customer success associate, and a product designer. All these positions are full-time, available in the Portland office, and come with the potential for equity in the company, which raised a $7 million Series A last summer.
+ Welnys, a tech startup that's developed a wellness marketplace and dashboard for employers, is seeking a Head of Engineering. Tech skills required are Node.js and SQL. Familiarity with React, tech ops, APIs, web services, cloud, and security are bonus. Non-technical skills: ability to advise CEO on trade-offs and timelines, familiarity with agile/scrum, self-directed. Will work with existing part-time team of front-end developer, UX designer and project manager. Welnys is a post-product, post-revenue startup (current clients include PayPal and Stanley Black & Decker) that's planning to raise funding in September. Compensation is equity-based to start with salary upon funding. Very flexible regarding hours/remote work pre-funding. Welnys, while based in Texas, is a member of Venture Hall's inaugural accelerator cohort in Portland. For more info about this job, email heather@welnys.com.
+ Forager, an early-stage tech startup in Portland with a B2B platform for sourcing local food, is hiring an account manager.
+ Pika Energy in Westbrook is hiring an office manager and a director of electrical engineering.
+ Big Room Studios, a software and web development firm in Portland, is hiring a project manager.
+ CourseStorm is looking for a software engineer. Bangor-based is preferable, but the company is open to a remote worker if the right candidate was to come along.
+ Rapport is looking to hire a Senior Sales Rep and a Ruby/SQL developer in Portland.
+ BetterLesson, a Cambridge-based edtech startup, is hiring for a few sales and marketing positions. The right person does not need to be based in Boston, according to BetterLesson's Chief Revenue Officer, Betsy Peters, who lives in Freeport. The company is hiring a Director of Sales, Director of Marketing, and an Inside Sales Account Executive.
+ Certify in Portland is hiring a full-stack developer and several sales and marketing positions.
+ NBT Solutions in Portland is hiring a geospatial developer, a technical SaaS sales lead, and a marketing programs coordinator to support its VETRO FiberMap product expansion.
+ BlueTarp Financial in Portland is hiring an engineering manager.
+ Academic Merit, an educational software startup in Portland, is hiring a software engineer.
+ Environetix Technology Corp., a wireless sensor manufacturer in Orono, is hiring a RF engineer/RF technician.
+ Dream Local Digital in Rockland is hiring for a host of positions.
+ Vets First Choice still has job listings for several positions at its Portland office, from a UX/UI design to a director of e-commerce.
+ CashStar is hiring a UX designer and full-stack software engineer, among other positions.
Calendar
NOTE: In an effort to make this calendar of events more accessible, I've created a shareable Google calendar that I hope to keep updated. You can find the calendar here. Feel free to share it. As always, send me your event or calendar item for possible inclusion.
Civic Hack Night
Tues., Aug. 8 — 7-10 p.m. at Mechanics Hall in Portland
Hack Portland hosts Civic Hack Night. Civic Hacking is the idea of applying rapid prototyping and modern, open technology to the solution of common civic problems such as voting, budgeting, parking, transit, and community engagement. More details.
Fireside Chat with Google's Rich Miner
Thurs., Aug. 17 — 7 p.m. at Cloudport in Portland
Venture Hall hosts an informal discussion with Rich Miner, co-founder of Android and a pioneer in the mobile technology space. Rich, based in Cambridge, Mass., is currently working on an education-focused startup within the walls of Google. More details.
Venture Hall Demo Day
Thurs., Sept. 7 — 6-9 p.m. at Cloudport in Portland
Venture Hall's summer accelerator program culminates in Demo Day. Come watch the seven startup teams who have been working in Portland since mid June present their business models. More info and tickets.
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