Municipay, Vets First Choice make Inc. 5,000 list, Android co-founder Rich Miner speaks in Portland, and more...
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Municipay, Vets First Choice make the Inc. 5,000 list
Municipay and Vets First Choice, two tech-driven companies I've previously written about in Maine Startups Insider, made Inc. magazine's list of the fastest growing private companies in the country. They were among 12 Maine companies that made the list. Other companies included Tilson Technology Management, Sound Rink, Winxnet, and Coria.
Read more at Maine Startups Insider >>
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Android co-founder Rich Miner at Venture Hall
Rich Miner, who co-founded Android and later established Google Ventures' East Coast operations, was in Portland on Thursday evening to discuss innovation and building disruptive, bleeding-edge technology. The discussion, hosted by Venture Hall and available to watch here, was well attended and touched on a number of topics:
Pen-based computing, which was the topic of Miner's PhD thesis in the late 80s;
Voice-based personal assistants (the focus of Miner's first startup, Wildfire);
SmartPhones and whether their days are numbered as the rest of our world becomes connected (your watch, car, refrigerator, etc.);
How technology is changing how we educate people (this is where Miner focuses his time these days, but couldn't offer specifics of the projects he's working on);
The difference between corporate VCs that have strategic motives and those with financial motives, and why to be wary of the former; and
The pieces a community needs to build an innovation ecosystem (hint: influx of talent, strong university-based computer science program, available capital, mentors, and some good anchor companies).
Rich Miner (right), co-founder of Android and former partner at Google Ventures, speaks with Venture Hall's Jess Knox about building high-growth companies.
Crunching the numbers on the Inc. 5,000 list
Don Gooding, a local angel investor, mentor, and former head of the Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development, has been keeping track of Maine's standing in the Inc. 5,000 list since 2007. He crunched some numbers and shared four findings on Facebook. He gave me permission to also share them here:
Maine is back up to 12 companies appearing on the list, which is the typical number, up from just 8 last year.
The median ranking for Maine companies this year was #1315 out of 5,000, by far the strongest ever. The median ranking of the previous 10 years was 2415 or roughly 2X lower, which means...
The median growth rate was 322% for the 12 companies, versus 145% for the previous 10 years.
The median revenue was $16.7 million, down a tad from 2016, but way higher than the 10-year median of $9.2 million.
Don's conclusion: "More, larger, faster growing companies in Maine. That's awesome!"
Briefly mentioned
+ Maine Venture Fund got a nice shout out in the Portland entry on this list of the Best Small Cities in America to Move to Before They Get Too Popular.
+ The Portland Press Herald profiled GO Logic, the residential architecture company behind GO Lab, which is developing its own wood-based insulation board.
+ The Bangor Daily News tackles the question of how to foster innovation-based economic development rather than the 60s-era strategy of "chasing smokestacks."
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 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.
Robot Hack Night
Tues., Aug. 22 — 7-10 p.m. at Big Room Studios in Portland
Hack Portland hosts Robot Hack Night. More details.
Venture Hall Demo Day
NOTE THE CHANGES
Fri., Sept. 8 — 3-7 p.m. at USM's Hannaford Hall 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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