Startup Alley at Disrupt SF in 2016. (photo/TechCrunch)

TechCrunch’s Disrupt conference in San Francisco is one of the most famous startup conferences in the world, an international stage from which companies such as Dropbox and Mint first publicly unveiled their products.

To date, though, no Maine startup has ever had a visible presence at the conference. But that will change come October 2, the first day of the three-day conference, when a contingent of eight Maine startups will showcase their new and innovative products as part of a Maine Pavilion set up in the conference’s famous “Startup Alley.”

The eight companies that will make up the Maine Pavilion are:

  • KinoTek, a software startup out of UMaine that uses virtual reality and motion capture technology to create “x-ray vision” to improve athletic output and reduce the chance of injury
  • HighByte, a startup building off-the-shelf industrial software that solves data interoperability and security problems
  • Friday, a software startup building a product to improve communication and engagement among teams
  • Defendify, a cybersecurity startup with a SaaS product for small- and medium-size businesses
  • VETRO FiberMap, a company that’s developed a SaaS mapping platform used by telecommunication companies
  • Wallit, a fintech startup with a product to help families manage money better
  • Yarn Corp., a startup that’s building publishing tools to help everybody tell interactive stories using virtual reality
  • Nearpeer, an edtech startup with a social media platform designed to connect college students and reduce so-called “summer melt”

The Maine Pavilion was made possible by Startup Maine, the local nonprofit that promotes entrepreneurship and startups, and which hosts a three-day startup conference in Portland each summer. The group, in collaboration with other leaders in Maine’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, worked to identify the eight Maine startups that would be eligible to participate.

“When I heard that no Maine startup had ever exhibited at TechCrunch Disrupt, I wanted to find a way to change that,” Katie Shorey, president of Startup Maine, told Maine Startups Insider.

So, about a year and a half ago, Shorey began building a relationship with people at TechCrunch who organize Disrupt. Those connections eventually led to an invitation to assemble a cohort of Maine startups and bring them to the conference and promote the state’s startup community with a pavilion.

Disrupt requires startups in Startup Alley to be pre-Series A and in certain verticals, including artificial intelligence, fintech, edtech, software-as-a-service (SaaS), and blockchain. It hosts hundreds of pre-Series A startups that are there to showcase their latest innovations and catch the eye of risk-tolerant Silicon Valley investors. Last year’s Startup Alley exhibitors raised more $37 million in seed and series A funding within four months after exhibiting at Disrupt, according to CrunchBase’s data.

Startup Maine is using funds from its summertime conference ticket sales to help pay the way for the eight Maine companies to attend, Shorey said.

“Startup Maine’s mission is to provide tangible assistance to Maine entrepreneurs,” Andrew Kraus, vice president of Startup Maine and co-chair of its programming committee. “Getting founders from Maine in front of Silicon Valley investors has always been a challenge. By putting these founders on the national tech scene’s biggest stage, we’re able to promote Maine in a unique way and expose them to game-changing opportunities.”

The Time is right

For HighByte, the timing couldn’t be better, according to Torey Penrod-Cambra, HighByte’s co-founder and chief marketing officer.

“As a pre-revenue company with our first product release and Series Seed around the corner, we’re taking advantage of this opportunity to refine our pitch with on-site investors, network with other companies in Startup Alley, and meet with the press,” Penrod-Cambra told MSI. “Startup Maine removed the financial and logistical barriers to entry, and now it’s up to us to maximize the opportunity for HighByte and the state of Maine.”

Wallit will be using the opportunity to unveil the latest version of its mobile banking app designed to help families, and specifically teens, better manage their money, according to Mike Vien, Wallit’s CEO. The company partners with banks and credit unions to make the app available to the latter’s clients.

“We are beyond thrilled and honored to be one of the top tech startups selected to represent the state of Maine at the TechCrunch Disrupt SF event, the authority on tech innovation and where so many brilliant visionaries and entrepreneurs from around the globe have launched their game-changing companies,” Vien told MSI.

Rob Simopolous and Andrew Rinaldi, co-founders of Defendify, are looking forward to the opportunity to showcase their cybersecurity platform and meet with investors and other founders. They’re equally excited to represent Maine and help raise the visibility of the state’s startup scene.

“We are looking forward to sharing with everyone that there is this amazing startup scene that is growing north of Boston, right here in Maine,” Simopolous said. “We hope to be successful with our fellow contingents and put Maine on the map as the next great startup state.”

Rinaldi added: “The time has come for Maine’s startup community, and we’re honored to be part of it. It may be the first time Maine and Silicon Valley officially cross paths, but certainly won’t be the last!”

Disrupt looks to diversify

Maine is not the first rural state to have a pavilion at Disrupt. Last year, Nevada, Illinois, Montana, and Indiana each had pavilions, according to Priya Gupta, TechCrunch’s Startup Program Manager.

“Startup Alley is the heart of Disrupt SF, where I’m always looking to increase diversity from a geographical point of view year over year,” Gupta told MSI.

Gupta said 18 countries were represented at last year’s Disrupt, including startups from Africa, Europe, Asia, and North and South America.

“We know that innovation is booming rapidly in the U.S. across different industries, and it’s important for us to have those innovations at Disrupt SF. While Silicon Valley is known to have the highest concentration of tech and startups in the U.S., we know states all have something different to offer,” Gupta said. “I’m looking forward to having our first ever Maine Pavilion featuring eight awesome startups ranging from Blockchain, SaaS, AI, and more.”

Disrupt also includes a pitch competition called Startup Battlefield. Gupta said the Maine Pavilion companies will have a chance to be selected as one of two Wild Card winners chosen from Startup Alley to participate in the pitch competition.

 

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