An exit, a raise, and two pitch contests
☀️ Good morning. Welcome to the 268th edition of Maine Startups Insider.
Here’s a round up of news and goings-on in Maine’s startup community over the last month, including Forager’s acquisition by a Canadian firm, a teacher-student duo building an EdTech startup win Top Gun’s pitch competition, and Eskuad raises $1.65 million.
-Whit
PS - If you don’t already, subscribe to receive this newsletter in your inbox.
/News
Forager acquired by Canadian firm
Forager, the Portland-based startup that built an online marketplace to connect local farms with grocery stores, on June 21 announced its acquisition by Local Line, a Canadian company with its own sales platform for local farms. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Since its launch in 2014, Forager’s online and mobile marketplace platform has helped local farmers, cheesemakers, and other producers to sell $20 million worth of food to grocery stores and other retail outlets, according to the company.
Forager will remain in Portland, according to the announcement. David Stone, Forager’s founder, said he pursued the opportunity to be acquired to gain access to the resources and larger customer base reach and transform the food industry.
Read more at Maine Startups Insider »
🙏 MSI is sponsored by Eaton Peabody, a Maine law firm with particular expertise in structuring startup investment transactions—from early seed investment, friends/family and angel investors, through later stage venture capital funding. Meet Jen, a member of the team.
Eskuad raises $1.65M
Eskuad, a startup with Portland ties that’s built a mobile-first data platform for businesses with employees in field operations, has raised $1.65 million to scale its business.
The company was a member of the inaugural cohort of the Roux Institute Techstars Accelerator in Portland. It put down roots in Maine after graduating from the accelerator in 2021, though is now co-headquartered in Atlanta and Portland.
The Outlander VC, a New York-based generalist venture capital firm, led the round. Other investors include Mis Inversiones, a Chilean Family office; Behind Genius Ventures; C2 Ventures; and angels from the Techstars network, Start-up Chile, and Tampa Bay Wave.
Read more at Maine Startups Insider »
ReachMyTeach & Croft win respective pitch contests, each win $25K
Two Maine-based entrepreneurship programs recently held their capstone pitch contests.
ReachMyTeach, a school-home communication and translation platform founded by a teacher-student team, won the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs’ Top Gun pitch competition on May 25. It received a $25,000 cash prize. Read more at MSI.
Croft, a Rockland-based eco-friendly building company, won the Dirigo Labs’ pitch competition held in Waterville in early May. It also received a $25,000 cash prize. Read more at MSI.
Maine Startup Challenge returns for a second year
The Maine Startup Challenge, a business plan competition designed to encourage entrepreneurial thinking across all ages and foster the next generation of Maine entrepreneurs, will return in October 2023 for its second year.
The competition—organized by Maine Venture Fund—will have four tiers again this year: K-8, High School, College, and the Open tier. Each tier will have two cash prizes.
Applications will open in September. Find more info here.
/ Briefly Mentioned
📝 Bite-sized news items from Maine’s startup community and beyond
Eternal Mind Inc., a Kennebunk-based startup, has signed a lease to locate quantum computers at the former Loring Air Force Base in Limestone that will provide computing power needed by the boom in AI, according to a report from local TV station WAGM. Avery Thomas, Eternal Minds’ president and CEO, told the station the data center will be one of the first of its kind in the country.
Dovetail Bats, a Maine company that produces baseball bats for professional ball players at all levels, recently unveiled a new remote bat scanner, which can transmit data about any baseball bat to the company’s facility in the Piscataquis County town of Shirley for immediate production of a bat made from Maine maple or birch, according to Mainebiz. Newfangled Solutions, a company based in Livermore Falls, developed the scanning technology. A patent is pending on the innovation.
Obinna Okani, a Portland-based entrepreneur and former member of the Roux Institute’s entrepreneurship team, has been selected as inaugural director of Entrepreneurship for All Maine, a new business accelerator focused on aspiring entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups. Lowell, Mass.-based EforAll is the nonprofit offering the accelerator. In March, it was announced that the nonprofit would be offering its programming in Maine for three years thanks to funding from the Maine Technology Institute.
Martin Grohman is stepping down from his role as executive director of the Environmental & Energy Technology Council of Maine—aka E2Tech—after four years on the job, according to Mainebiz. The organization is currently seeking a new director.
Fork Food Lab, an incubator for food- and beverage-related startups, is moving to new digs in South Portland this summer. The larger space will enable it to keep up with demand for its services and add 30 new businesses to its 60 existing members, according to the Press Herald.
Tyler Tech recently announced the winners of this year’s Maine App Challenge, where Maine students compete at building the best mobile applications. Students at Scarborough and Yarmouth high schools won the top three prizes, and received a combined $10,000 in college scholarship. The winning app helps students graph mathematical equations, while the 2nd and 3rd place apps create custom resumes and help users prepare for a colonoscopy procedure, respectively.
This edition of MSI is sponsored by Gorham Savings Bank and its new podcast, Beyond Launchpad. Listen to the latest episode, featuring an interview with Jen Levin, CEO of True Fin.
/ ICYMI
Roux Institute launches Future of Healthcare Founder Residency to boost Maine’s healthtech industry
BlueTrace raises $4.3M to scale its seafood traceability software business
Healthcare startups take home top prizes at Maine Startup Challenge
Finetune, a Maine Venture Fund portfolio company, is acquired
/ Jobs
If you apply for a job you see here, let them know you saw the opportunity in Maine Startups Insider.
+ CourseStorm, a SaaS company building course-registration software, is hiring a senior software engineer.
+ VETRO Inc., a SaaS company in Portland, is looking for a Product Marketing Manager and a Senior Software Engineer, among other roles.
+ The Maine Angels is hiring a part-time Operations and Investment Associate.
+ HighByte, an industrial software startup, is hiring a Software Developer, Sales Engineer, and an Account Executive.
+ Theory and Principle, a legal-tech product design and development startup in Portland, is hiring a Software Project Manager and a Product Manager.
+ KinoTek, a Portland-based digital health startup, is hiring a business development rep.
+ Nearpeer, a Portland-based edtech startup that aims to improve student retention and graduation, is hiring a Director of Marketing and a Sales Director.
+ MedRhythms, a Portland-based digital therapeutics startup, is hiring for several engineering positions, including a Senior Audio Software Engineer, Senior Backend Engineer, Frontend Engineer, and a React Native Developer.
+ Defendify, a cybersecurity startup in Portland, is hiring a Senior Software Engineer (SaaS) and a Sales Development Rep.
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!
/ Calendar
Robot Hack Night
Tues., June 27, 7-10 p.m. — Big Room Studios, Portland
Startup Maine Networking Happy Hour
Wed., June 28, 5-7 p.m. — Electric Bike Cafe & Winery, South Portland
VR/AR Hack Night
Tues., July 4, 7-10 p.m. — Big Room Studios, Portland
Applications open for GSB’s LaunchPad pitch competition
July 17