Gorham Savings Bank this morning announced the finalists for its eighth annual LaunchPad small business competition.
From a pool of nearly 150 applicant businesses, five rose to the top and will move onto the next round, which will be a livestream, in-studio pitch competition taking place June 1. Five additional businesses have been chosen to submit a 60-second pitch video for the Emerging Business Award, now in its fourth year. These pitches will also be played on the event livestream. Anyone can watch the livestream by clicking here to RSVP.
The 2021 LaunchPad finalists are:
- Brave Foods (Cooper Fitzgerald, Des Fitzgerald, Alex Fitzgerald, Ryan Fitzgerald, David Gorvy – Portland). Brave Foods wants to change the way you start your day. The founders created a way to eat a quick breakfast without compromising what your body needs. Their breakfasts include whole plant-based foods, protein, fiber, and healthy fats to fuel your morning.
- Erin Flett/Studio e Flett (Erin Flett – Gorham). Studio e Flett is a bold, colorful lifestyle brand with big ambitions. Erin Flett is a textile designer who hand-draws and prints all her own original prints and colors. Her designs appear on hand-sewn pillows, bags, tabletop goods and even wallpaper. Flett wants to leave a design legacy that brings people joy forever.
- HighByte(Torey Penrod-Cambria, Tony Paine, John Harrington – Portland). HighByte is a first mover in the Industrial DataOpts software category, disrupting the global manufacturing tech market by 1.) creating a new approach to data integration and security and 2.) improving data quality and reducing time spent preparing data for use throughout the enterprise.
- Hüga Heat(Jocelyn Olsen, Colin Greig – Southport). Hüga Heat is an outdoor seating solution that provides up to 8 hours of steady, comfy heat for months more outdoor entertaining possibilities. Hüga brings people together outdoors to enjoy nature, friends, and family throughout the year by warming your core from the bottom up!
- Vintage Maine Kitchen(Kelly Brodeur, Scott Brodeur – Freeport). Vintage Maine Kitchen, a returning LaunchPad finalist from 2019, harnesses nostalgia through the potato chip. Made from locally sourced, real food ingredients that are as satisfying as a plate of hand-cut fries, these super thin and crispy chips with just enough seasoning will bring back memories of your childhood.
After hearing the pitches, a panel of three judges from the Maine businesses community will award the grand prize – a $50,000 grant from Gorham Savings Bank – to one of the five finalists. Judges will also choose an Emerging Business Award winner, who will take home a $10,000 grant from the bank plus $10,000 worth of in-kind business and marketing services from sponsors.
And this year, one business from the larger pool of nearly 150 applicants will be recognized with a special Business Agility Award for outstanding perseverance and response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Business Agility Award winner will be announced during the livestream and receive a $10,000 grant.
The 2021 LaunchpPad Emerging Business Award finalists are:
- bluShift Aerospace (Sascha Deri – Brunswick)
- C. Love Cookie Project/C. Love Baking Academy (Katherine Slevin – Portland)
- Marin Skincare (Patrick Breeding, Amber Boutiette, Jeremy Boutot – South Portland)
- Prapela (John Konsin, Dr. David Paydarfar, James Niemi – Biddeford)
- The Cubby (Josh Kim, Matteo Cugno, Demenico Ottolia Anthony Speros – Waterville)
More than 550 participants from across the state and representing more than 25 industries have applied to LaunchPad since 2013. Past winners include Bixby Chocolate (2014), Flowfold (2015), Good To-Go (2017), North Spore (2018), and Casco Bay Creamery (2019). In total, Gorham Savings Bank has provided more than $300,000 in non-dilutive grant money since the program started.
