STARC Systems raises $3.4M, MCED unveils new name and logo, and much more...
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Happy Friday; hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving last week. Can't believe it's December already.Â
Quick thanks to Maine Startups Insider's newest Sustaining Members: Tim Agnew of Masthead Venture Partners and Jonathan Gilbert, director of e-commerce and partner development for Qualpay, a California-based payments company. Sustaining Members help me continue to provide news and insight for Maine's startup community. 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...
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STARC Systems raises $3.4M from Virginia investment firm
STARC Systems, a five-year-old building products company in Brunswick, has raised $3.4 million from Virginia-based Blue Heron Capital and a related entity. The company, which manufactures containment systems for the construction industry, will use the investment to expand its sales and marketing efforts. The investment triggered nearly $1.7 million in refundable tax credits (50% of the total investment) for Blue Heron Capital Fund I LP and a related entity, BHC St Co-Invest LP, through Maine’s Seed Capital Tax Credit program.
Read more at Maine Startups Insider >>
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MCED rebrands as Maine Center for Entrepreneurs
The Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development celebrated its 20th anniversary Wednesday night with the unveiling of a new name and logo. The organization, founded in 1997 to help train entrepreneurs, will change its name to the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs.
Read more at Maine Startups Insider >>
Roster Report
Susan Ruhlin is leaving the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs, where she's worked since 2009, to become employee #9 at Portland-based Introspective Systems, a promising high-tech startup working in the field of collaborative AI.Â
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Briefly mentioned
State of Women-Owned Business - Maine has ranked No. 1 in the country for revenue growth among women-owned businesses, and No. 2 for job growth, according to the seventh annual State of Women-Owned Businesses Report. Read the article from the Portland Press Herald.
Crowdfunding Juice - 4Pure, a company in Cumberland with a line of organic lemonades sweetened with maple syrup, is trying to raise $500,000 through Seed Invest, an equity crowdfunding platform. It's raised $2,500 so far.Â
Net Neutrality - Fletcher Kittredge, CEO of GWI in Biddeford, was a guest on a Chicago radio show arguing in support of maintaining net neutrality. Listen to the 15-minute clip.
VC Overrated - Don Gooding, former executive director of the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs, compared the top 200 companies on the most recent Inc. 500 list with fundraising data on Crunchbase to figure out how many have reported receiving venture capital. The verdict? Only 23% of the 200 fastest growing private companies in the country used VC to fuel their growth. Read Don's post on his blog, Four Colors of Money.
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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!
+ Tidestone Solutions, an ERP software developer in Portland, is hiring a software sales executive.
+ Likeable Local in Portland is hiring a React Engineer.Â
+ The Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development is seeking a subject matter expert in the food/beverage/agtech space to lead its new Food Accelerator initiative. If interested in learning more and/or applying, send an email to MCED Executive Director Tom Rainey.
+ NBT Solutions in Portland is hiring a geospatial developer and a senior developer (in Q1 2018) to support the company's VETRO FiberMap product expansion.
+ Pika Energy in Westbrook is hiring a VP of sales and marketing, a director of electrical engineering and a senior software engineer.
+ Certify, the expense-management software company recently acquired for $100 million, is hiring an inside sales rep.
+ Forager, an early-stage tech startup that's developed an online platform to facilitate business between farmers and grocers and restaurants, is hiring an account manager.
+ 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 visual designer.
+ 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 and a customer success associate. 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.
+ Big Room Studios, a software and web development firm in Portland, is hiring a project manager and an agile project management lead.Â
+ 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
VR Hack Night
Tues., Dec. 5, 7-10 p.m. — Big Room Studios office in Portland
Hack Portland hosts VR Hack Night at Big Room Studios' office on Thompsons Point in Portland. Open to anyone interested in working with VR or AR. More details.
Big Gig pitch event
Tues., Dec. 5, 5:30-7 p.m. — Governor's in Old Town
Big Gig is the Bangor region's business-pitch competition. "Like Shark Tank, but nicer." Pitching on Tuesday evening will be Tyler Cote of Lorraine's Cakes, a vegan and gluten-free cake bakery; Kalli Kirkpatrick of Kaliope Equestrian, a line of active wear for equestrians; and John Laperle of Johnny's Hardwood Cutting Boards & Care, a provider of hand-crafted cutting boards. The winner will receive $500 and a chance to win $5,000 in the finale. For more information and to RSVP.
Please send me your event or calendar item for possible inclusion.Â
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