Has Silicon Valley Big Shot Chris Sacca invested in a Maine startup?

[Editor’s note: The original version of this commentary was published in MSI Newsletter #214 on Sept. 10, 2020. This is a slightly updated version.]

Chris Sacca: An investor in a Maine startup? (photo by loiclemeur, licensed under CC BY 2.0)

Several weeks ago, a MSI reader directed my attention to that day’s edition of Pro Rata, a newsletter from Axios that covers VC, PE, and M&A.

I hadn’t read that day’s newsletter yet, so opened it to find the lead story was about Chris Sacca, a well-known Silicon Valley investor who made early bets on companies like Instagram, Twitter, and Uber. It discussed Sacca’s new VC firm called Lowercarbon Capital, which is investing in startups focused on “technologies to reduce CO2 emissions, remove carbon from the atmosphere, and actively cool the planet.”

The surprise came when the article listed “an oyster hatchery in Maine” as one of the firm’s portfolio companies. No name, no additional info—just that Lowercarbon Capital had invested in a Maine oyster hatchery.

I hadn’t heard of an oyster hatchery in Maine raising venture capital let alone Chris Sacca investing in one. The only oyster-farming-related startup I was familiar with was Oyster Tracker, which has developed a software platform to help oyster farmers better manage their operations. While Oyster Tracker has raised about $1 million, it was soon apparent that Sacca was not among its investors.

So what kind of oyster hatchery would have the business plan worthy of attracting VC? I started to poke around and received a tip that the company I was looking for was a stealth operation based out of TechPlace in Brunswick called Running Tide Technologies.

Now that I had a name, I could dig around a bit more. I found a website. The company is definitely an oyster hatchery, based in Portland, though, not TechPlace (which is where it manufactures its “oyster gardens”). But there’s not much else there that reveals the company is anything other than a traditional oyster hatchery (the only hint is a note that it’s hiring engineers and data scientists). The Press Herald has several articles talking about the company’s traditional oyster farms, including its site at Harpswell’s Mitchell Field.

I dug up the company’s latest annual report, filed earlier this year with the Maine Secretary of State’s office. It named Matthew Odlin as CEO (a name I hadn’t come across before) and stated the company was robotizing aquaculture (something not revealed on the website).

Next, a LinkedIn search pulls up several employees. Many appear to be on the traditional aquaculture side of the business, but a few point to the tech-focused nature of the business, including two software engineers (1 & 2). [Update: Turns out the CEO goes by Marty and his LinkedIn profile was subsequently pointed out to me.]

As far as raising money, the SEC database didn’t turn up any Form Ds outlining a financing, but then I caught a break… On PitchBook, I found a profile of the company that claims it raised $11.2 million in November 2019. That’s a relatively big number in Maine for a company’s first raise. To make sure it was the same company, I confirmed the PO Box address in Portland is the same on the PitchBook profile as it is on the company’s website.

PitchBook lists three investors: Soraya Darabi, an angel investor, and two San Francisco-based VC firms: Pathbreaker Ventures and Yes VC, which also recently invested in another Maine company. Yes VC’s website lists Running Tide as a portfolio company, but Pathbreaker’s does not.

And that’s where I’m left… Several emails to Lowercarbon Capital and Yes VC have gone unanswered. Attempts to reach Running Tide have also been unsuccesful. I even tweeted at Chris Sacca to see if I could entice him to talk, but no dice.

The original Pro Rata newsletter mention is still the only thing tying Chris Sacca to Running Tide. But assuming it is correct about his investment in a Maine oyster hatchery, I’m 90% certain that that investment is in Running Tide.

While my former-journalism-self feels uneasy delving into speculation, I thought I’d just take people along on the journey with me of exploring Maine’s startup scene. While Chris Sacca’s notoriety sent me on the search, what I discovered was a Maine startup that quietly raised more than $10 million to roboticize aquaculture. That’s pretty awesome regardless of whether Sacca is involved. I plan to keep tabs on this story and you’ll definitely hear more about it if/when I learn more.