David Shaw, a well-known local entrepreneur, has donated $25,000 to the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs to be given as a prize to an entrepreneur competing at the organization’s annual Top Gun Showcase event, which is scheduled for May 23, 2019.
Shaw is founder and former CEO of Idexx Laboratories and co-founder and chairman of Covetrus (formerly Vets First Choice). He’s also managing partner of Black Point Group, a local investment group.
“Entrepreneurial businesses are the engine of our economy—driving growth, innovation, and opportunity locally and across the world. I am pleased to join MCE in supporting the next generation of great Maine-based companies,” Shaw said in a statement. “I am grateful for the wonderfully fulfilling life that business and social entrepreneurship have created for me and the teams I have worked with around the world.”
Shaw said the timing of the award, which will be known as the Shaw Prize, is intended to coincide with two events: the 35th anniversary of his founding of Idexx Laboratories, which is now a multi-billion-dollar biotech firm in Westbrook; and a major milestone for Vets First Choice, a company he founded with his son, Ben Shaw. Vets First Choice earlier this month closed its previously announced merger with Henry Schein Animal Health, followed by a subsequent listing on the Nasdaq of the newly formed entity, known as Covetrus.
The $25,000 prize will be provided to one of the entrepreneurs enrolled in Top Gun, which is an annual training program for competitively selected Maine entrepreneurs, and chosen to compete as a finalist at the Showcase event, to be held on May 23 at the University of Southern Maine.
Beginning with a dozen entrepreneurs in Portland in 2009, Top Gun this year will serve 47 startup businesses in cohorts in Portland, Bangor, Lewiston/Auburn, Rockland and Waterville. More than 200 businesses have gone through the program since its founding.
The Showcase event will feature 10 entrepreneurs, two from each regional cohort, making a five-minute pitch in front of a panel of judges and live audience. The regional semifinal pitch events to determine the 10 finalists will be held in early May. Erica Schmitz, founder of MyBodyModel, a startup that’s designed an app for clothing designers, won last year’s event.
In addition to the Shaw Prize, Maine Technology Institute will also provide a $25,000 cash prize, as it has done for several years.
