CashStar acquired for $175M, Chimani competing in Startup of the Year competition, and more...
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Good afternoon, MSI readers. Quick housekeeping note: I'll be on vacation next week and so, unless some major news breaks, it's unlikely I'll be sending out a newsletter on Friday. (I am, however, looking for a freelancer to cover next week's Venture Hall Demo Day event for MSI while I'm away. Know someone?)
On to the news...
CashStar cashes in: Most of you received the breaking-news alert I sent out on Wednesday regarding Blackhawk's $175 million all-cash acquisition of Portland's CashStar. I've since updated my article with comments from CashStar CEO Ben Kaplan and previously undisclosed financial details about CashStar's performance.
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If you don't want to read the full article, here's what you need to know about the CashStar deal to sound like an expert around the water cooler:
Who's doing the acquiring? Blackhawk Network is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: HAWK) operating in the prepaid gift card and digital incentive space. It's based in Pleasanton, Calif., and had $1.9 billion in annual operating revenues in 2016.
Why'd CashStar sell? CEO Ben Kaplan said CashStar was on track to pursue an IPO within the next couple years and was actively pursuing capital-raising opportunities when Blackhawk approached the company. The board determined an acquisition was a superior option to entering the public markets for a number of reasons, including the ability for CashStar to leverage Blackhawk's international presence to expand globally and thereby avoid making the major investments it was facing to expand on its own.
What'll the impact be in Portland? According to Kaplan, the impact to the local workforce and company presence will be minimal. CashStar will remain based in Portland, and will retain the name (at least for now). CashStar and Blackhawk are in fundamentally different markets (while both companies handle gift cards, CashStar's focus on "first-party" digital gift cards is a new area for Blackhawk), so the overlap among workforce that would need to be settled during consolidation will be minimal, Kaplan said.
Why this is good news. Milestone events like acquisitions are good for the startup community because they send positive messages to outside observers about the calibre of the innovative companies being built in Maine. "This is a great proof point and a great reflection on the tech community in Maine," Kaplan said. "It's important to note the value of what they're acquiring is based in Maine. The intellectual property, the engineers, the client teams...all of it is in Maine, and staying in Maine and we’re excited about that."
Ben Kaplan, CashStar CEO, speaks in 2015 at the company's annual conference for clients and partners. (Photo/CashStar)
Chimani a semi-finalist for Startup of the Year contest
Chimani, the Portland-based developer of mobile app travel guides for national parks, has been selected as one of 100 semi-finalists in Tech.Co’s Startup of the Year competition. CEO Kerry Gallivan will pitch his company and its products next month in San Francisco.
Read more at Maine Startups Insider >>
David Roux: "Envisioner, investor"
This profile of David Roux, Maine native and co-founder of Silver Lake Partners, the world’s largest tech-focused private equity firm with $23 billion in assets under management, is three years old, but I just read it for the first time and wanted to share one small segment. It was published by The Jackson Laboratory after Roux, who maintains a summer home in Harpswell, gave $5 million to the organization. Asked what personal traits he attributes to his success as a tech investor, Roux replied:
"I have really only three skills,” he says. “I’m very comfortable forming an opinion about how complex technologies and markets will evolve.
“The second thing is I have an ability to pick out from complexity and chaos a few things that are important . . . and to concentrate on those.
“The third thing – and it may be the most important – is that I have a good eye for talent, and I enjoy working with, developing, motivating, incenting young talent. I like the mentoring relationship. I’ve always liked building teams. I’m very proud of the fact that dozens of people who have worked for me have gone on to be CEOs and lead their own companies. I get a big kick out of their success.”
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 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 a director of electrical engineering.
+ Big Room Studios, a software and web development firm in Portland, is hiring a project manager.
+ NBT Solutions in Portland is hiring a geospatial developer to support its VETRO FiberMap product expansion.
+ Academic Merit, an educational software startup in Portland, is hiring a software engineer.
+ 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 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.
VR Hack Night
Tues., Sept. 5 — 7-10 p.m. at Big Room Studios in Portland
Hack Portland hosts VR Hack Night. More details.
Venture Hall Demo Day
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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