Maine Startups Insider’s list of Startups to Watch in 2019 is being announced throughout the month of September 2019.

The list was created to promote Maine-based, early-stage companies that are poised to have a breakout year and deserve some attention. MSI received 63 nominations for 35 companies. The companies were required to meet the following criteria to be considered for the list:

  • Headquartered in Maine (this needs to be more than a Maine-based CEO who commutes elsewhere).
  • Doesn’t need to be profitable, but it *should be* post-revenue (there could be exceptions to this, so don’t let this one criteria stop you from nominating the company if you’re unsure).
  • Needs to be scalable (technically, one could argue that *any* business is scalable [even a consultancy—just add more consultants], but we’re looking for companies with an ability to multiply revenue with minimal incremental cost).
  • Can’t be constrained by geography (sorry, that means no brick-and-mortar retail or non-software-based service providers).
  • Product/service must be innovative (this could be subjective, but what we’re looking for are companies that are offering products/services that have developed solutions to whatever problems their attempting to solve that are novel and an improvement over traditional solutions).
  • There must be a solid argument for why 2019 is the year to keep an eye on the company. Is it on track to meet some major milestone, garner some big headlines, etc.?

To ensure the list was well vetted, a small committee was formed to review the nominations and select the top Startups to Watch in 2019. The committee consisted of:

  • Whit Richardson, founder of Maine Startups Insider
  • Jean Hoffman, an angel investor and founder and former CEO of Putney Inc.
  • Matt Hoffner, former CEO of JobsInTheUS.com and currently Entrepreneur in Residence at the Maine Technology Institute
  • John Burns, managing director of the Maine Venture Fund
  • Blaine Grimes, chief development officer at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute

Maine Startups Insider will begin accepting nominations for the Startups to Watch 2020 in January 2020.