Chimani, the Portland-based developer of mobile app travel guides for national parks, will compete in San Francisco next month in Tech.Co’s Startup of the Year competition.
Tech.Co, a Las Vegas-based news and events company focused on tech startups, selected Chimani as one of 100 semi-finalists from a pool of nearly 1,000 applicants from 46 different countries, 47 U.S. states, and more than 20 industry verticals, according to a news release. Chimani is the only startup selected from Maine. [Full disclosure: Maine Startups Insider has a syndication agreement with Tech.Co.]
“It’s a true honor to be recognized as one of the top innovative startups from around the world,” Chimani co-founder and CEO Kerry Gallivan said in a statement. “This is a real opportunity for us to talk about revolutionizing the national park experience and to get exposure, both for Chimani and for the critical issues facing national parks.”
Chimani develops mobile app travel guides for national parks. It currently has apps for 65 national parks in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The mobile app guides work completely offline and are written by local experts.
As a semi-finalist, Gallivan will pitch his business and demo his company’s mobile apps before a panel of judges at Innovate! and Celebrate, Tech.Co’s annual event, taking place October 9-11 in San Francisco. The judges will select five finalists, who will give a final pitch and compete for the title of Tech.Co’s 5th Annual Startup of the Year. Last year’s winner was McKinney, Texas-based startup ShearShare, a digital platform that connects salon and barbershop owners with individual operators to fill unused salon stations on a temporary basis.
Tech.Co has a strong Maine connection. Jen Consalvo, its co-founder and chief operating officer, grew up in Biddeford.
“Our 5th annual Startup of the Year competition includes an incredibly diverse group of startups and we’re thrilled to have competitors from all over the U.S. coming to join us in San Francisco,” Consalvo told Maine Startups Insider. “As a native Mainer, it’s exciting to have a Portland-based company participating, but I also know the importance of having investors, industry leaders, and others get to see and meet them, and learn about what’s happening north of NYC and Boston.”
