Dirigo Labs, a startup accelerator in Waterville, this week announced the 12 companies selected for its second annual accelerator cohort, which will begin in January.
The 12-week program includes in-person and virtual sessions and is tailored to meet the unique needs of startups.
“This group of companies truly represent the diversity of Maine’s startup landscape, and we’re thrilled that two are attractions to the state from New York and Massachusetts respectively,” Susan Ruhlin, Dirigo Labs’ managing director, said in a statement.
The accelerator also recently announced that Jeremy Barron, who served as a mentor in the inaugural cohort, has joined the Dirigo Labs team as Entrepreneur-in-Residence. Previously, Barron was founder of 3PlayMedia, a Boston-based startup from which he had a successful exit. Since then, Jeremy has taught as an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Colby and served as a mentor in the former Roux Institute Techstars Accelerator program in Portland.
The cohort companies were chosen based on founder experience, stage of development, scalability, and potential for funded research and development projects.
The Dirigo Labs 2023 cohort companies are:
- Against the Grain a closed-loop composting and analytics company that repurposes waste
products from breweries, distilleries, and cideries, for animal feed. - Black Travel Maine an experiential travel and tour service curating group trips for Black visitors to Maine using its proprietary booking platform.
- Croft manufactures compact, prefabricated buildings using 100% bio-based materials that
capture up to 60X more carbon than it takes to produce them. - FarmDrop an online network of farmers’ markets providing access to quality local food with
convenient community pickup and delivery. - Gel Hydration Technologies provides hydration solutions for working, service, and companion dogs to improve performance and quality of life, one animal at a time.
- Home Grown Fuels is developing renewable energy facilities for Biochar, Graphene, Renewable Diesel, and Wood Vinegar for a cleaner energy future.
- I-Tell Alert a medical device company developing a smart sensor for walkers to achieve better outcomes for seniors.
- Move Free a premiere New England running and outdoor brand with a social impact mission.
- ReMo a web-based platform that helps students engage with books they love and allows
educators to focus on instilling a life-long love of reading. - Real Time Reality (R&D Fellow) is developing world-class custom VR experiences for enterprise and government clients to provide soft-skill training for a variety of industries.
- SledTRX a statewide, interactive snowmobile map application enabling riders to explore new
areas, plan trips and find destination points along the way. - Tardigrade Industries a protective products company building near helmet-level fragmentation protection eyewear for military and police personnel.
