SaaS startup wins pitch contest, funding updates, and more...
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Good afternoon.
Maine's startup community is small enough that I personally know most, if not all, of MSI's sustaining members. I love it when people who know me want to support what I'm doing. But it's also extra special when people I don't know see what I'm doing and want to support it. That's what happened last week when Jackson Haskell, a Maine native currently living and working in South Carolina, became MSI's newest sustaining member. Haskell wants to move back to Maine and discovered MSI while exploring the opportunities. Here's to enticing him back!
Sustaining members help me continue to provide news and insight for Maine's innovation ecosystem. If you appreciate what I'm trying to do and have the wherewithal to help out, please consider becoming a sustaining member.
On to the news...
Employee-engagement software startup wins pitch contest
Friday Feedback, a SaaS company that helps managers improve employee engagement and better foster a happy workplace, has won the inaugural Startup South Portland pitch contest. Founder Luke Thomas impressed the panel of judges with his customer acquisition and retention, and the company's early revenue figures.
Read more at Maine Startups Insider >>
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Funding News
+ Advanced Concepts & Engineering, a Gorham-based company that has designed a portable, automated testing laboratory for the aggregate industry (i.e, concrete), has raised $225,000 of a $1 million offering in the form of debt and equity from five investors, according to a Sept. 21 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
+ Ocean Approved, a Saco-based aquaculture company that markets kelp as a premium food product, has sold $366,000 worth of Series A preferred stock out of total offering of $565,000, according to a Sept. 28 filing with the SEC.
+ L&K Manufacturing, a 3D printing company in Orono, has raised $150,000 of a $1 million offering in convertible debt, according to its recent SEC filing.
Briefly mentioned
+ There's still time to vote to bring Steve Case and the Rise of the Rest tour back to Portland. Votes are being collected through Oct. 12. Vote early and vote often.
+ CoVort, the coworking space in Bangor run by Jason Harkins and Lisa Liberatore, received the "Innovator of the Year" award from Fusion: Bangor, the young professionals group in the greater Bangor region.
+ Venture Hall released a video that highlights how its partnership with Unum and MaineHealth made this summer's accelerator program a 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!
+ Garmin, which acquired DeLorme a few years ago, is hiring for a number of tech positions in Yarmouth. Specifically, it's hiring a senior hardware engineer, a web developer, and a full-stack .NET developer.
+ Launch Security, a cybersecutiy firm in Portland, is hiring a front-end web developer and a UX designer.
+ 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.
+ Pika Energy in Westbrook is hiring a director of electrical engineering and a senior software engineer.
+ 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.
+ 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.
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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., Oct. 10 — 7-10 p.m. at Mechanics Hall in Portland
Hack Portland hosts Civic Hack Night. What is Civic Hacking, you may ask? 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, community engagement, etc. More details.
Workshop on MTI's Maine Technology Asset Fund 2.0
Wed., Oct. 11 — 3-4 p.m. at KVCG in Fairfield
The Maine Technology Institute host a workshop for people interested in potentially applying for some of the $45 million available from the Maine Technology Asset Fund 2.0. To register.
Ecosystem training with MTI and Village Capital
Tues., Oct. 17 — 12:30-3:30 p.m. at CEI's offices in Brunswick
Maine Technology Institute and Village Capital, a DC-based investment fund and venture training program, host a workshop on how startup community stakeholders and investors can better support local entrepreneurs. For more information and to register.
WordPress Meetup
Wed., Oct. 18 — 6-8 p.m. at Automattic's Westbrook office
Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, hosts a general WordPress Meetup at its Westbrook office for beginners and other interested WordPress users. More details.
Fusion: Bangor's Annual Extravaganza
Fri., Oct. 20 — 6-9 p.m. at the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce
Fusion: Bangor, a young professionals group in the greater Bangor area, hosts its annual celebration and awards ceremony. For more information and to purchase tickets.
Movie screening and discussion: She Started It
Thurs., Oct. 26 — 6-8 p.m. at Cloudport in Portland
Venture Hall hosts a screening of She Started It, a documentary that follows five female entrepreneurs over two years as they pitch VCs, build teams, bring products to market, fail and start all over again. The event will also include a discussion and introductions to women organizations and support structures in Maine. For more info and to purchase tickets.
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