Jason Cianchette acquires local data firm, Tilson closes Series D, Meredith joins Introspective as new CTO, and more...

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Happy Friday. 

I want to begin by thanking Maine Startups Insider's newest Sustaining Member: Luke Nielson, founder of Seasonal Maine, a Maine-themed, subscription-box service. Sustaining Members help me keep the lights on continue providing the news, insights, and stories for and about 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...
 

Jason Cianchette acquires local market research firm

After a short hiatus from the startup scene, Jason Cianchette has bought back in—literally. Cianchette, who has experienced both success and failure as a startup founder, has acquired Group MarketShare, a local, but little-known, market research and data company that serves the insurance industry. He plans to relaunch the company with a more modern data-mining platform. 
Read more at Maine Startups Insider >>

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Tilson Technology closes $5M Series D

Tilson Technology, the rapidly growing IT-services firm in Portland, announced this week that it has closed its $5M Series D round. Maine Startups Insider reported about this round of financing in early November when the company had raised $3.5 million of the total. Rand Capital Corp., a Buffalo, N.Y.-based VC firm, led the round with a $1.5 million investment. It was a follow-on investment for Rand Capital. In total, the company has invested $2.5 million in Tilson over three rounds. Here's the company's news release.
 

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Roster Report

Shaun Meredith now CTO at Introspective Systems

Shaun Meredith has joined Introspective Systems as its chief technology officer. Meredith is former co-founder and CTO at Chimani, the Portland startup that has made a name for itself building apps for national parks around the country. Meredith left Chimani in September 2016 and joined Introspective Systems in July 2017. He's also a former U.S. Navy officer who served on nuclear submarines and holds an advanced degree in nuclear engineering.
 

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Briefly mentioned

Dubyak reflects on his time at WEX - Michael Dubyak, who served as president and CEO of WEX for 15 years, has written a book about the experience: The Road to WEXcellence: Leadership with Integrity. In an interview with Mainebiz, he reflects on his time at the company, the process of writing the book, and what's next for him. Read the Q&A.

Aquaculture accelerator - Here's more from Mainebiz on the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs' new aquaculture-focused Top Gun accelerator cohort in Brunswick. Read the article.
 

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!

+ Group MarketShare, a data and market research firm serving the insurance industry, is hiring a full-time senior developer to help Jason Cianchette relaunch the company's legacy platform with a modern solution.

+ Tidestone Solutions, an ERP software developer in Portland, is hiring a software sales executive.

+ Likeable Local in Portland is hiring a React Engineer. 

+ 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 director of electrical engineering, a R&D test engineer, and a senior software engineer.

+ Certify, the expense-management software company recently acquired for $100 million, is hiring an inside sales rep.

+ Vets First Choice in Portland is hiring a software developer, a digital/email marketing specialist, and a graphic designer.

+ Garmin, which acquired DeLorme a few years ago, is hiring for a number of tech positions in Yarmouth. Specifically, it's hiring an Android software engineer, 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. 

+ Dream Local Digital in Rockland is hiring for a host of positions.
 

Calendar

Game Hack Night
Tues., Dec. 19, 7-10 p.m. — Big Rooms Studios, Thompsons Point
Hack Portland hosts Game Hack Night, an event for anyone interested in developing video games, mobile games, new tabletop games, hacking old tabletop games, modding old-school game consoles, remixing game midi tracks, etc. More details.

WordPress experts answer your questions
Wed., Dec. 20, 6-8 p.m. — Automattic East, Dana Warp Mill in Westbrook
Did you know Automattic, the company behind Wordpress.com, has one of its two physical offices in Maine? It does. In Westbrook. And the experts at Automattic are hosting a free event on Dec. 20 for people to bring their most pressing Wordpress questions. More details.

Please send me your event or calendar item for possible inclusion. 
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