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⛅️ Good afternoon. Welcome to the 218th edition of Maine Startups Insider. You are one of 2,145 subscribers receiving this email.

Last week, a few days before Thanksgiving, Friday, a Portland-based startup developing communication tools for remote teams, revealed it’s raised $2.1 million from a variety of out-of-state VC firms, including Bessemer Venture Partners. I couldn’t be more excited for Luke Thomas, Friday’s founder and CEO. Luke is a friend and was actually integral in launching Maine Startups Insider—which LinkedIn reminded me over the Thanksgiving break happened five years ago this month. Luke encouraged me to send that first newsletter, he helped me build the initial MSI website, and what was then his side project (originally known as Friday Feedback) was MSI’s first paying sponsor.

Here’s one of, if not the first, ad Luke ran in MSI—from the edition I sent out on Sept. 2, 2016. I’m not sure it gained him any early users, but I certainly appreciated his early support and it’s been exciting to watch his vision and the company grow to where it is today.An early sponsorship ad for Friday Feedback

Also in this edition, I’ve published a conversation with Nisha Dearborn, founder of Fresh Chemistry, an innovative company in the beauty and skincare industry, and we hear from Cathy Renault, former director of Maine’s Office of Innovation, about her thoughts on Gov. Janet Mills’ new economic recovery plan and the recommendations that could impact the innovation ecosystem. I’m grateful that Cathy continues to provide her expertise to MSI’s audience.

Keep creating, keep innovating, keep curious.

-Whit Richardson

/ News

Portland-based Friday raises $2.1M in round led by Bessemer Venture Partners

Friday, the Portland-based startup building software for remote teams, announced today it has raised $2.1 million in an equity round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, one of the oldest and most-well known venture capital funds in the country.

Riding the wave of increased interest in remote work due to COVID-19, Founder Luke Thomas says “thousands of teams” at companies like Twitter, LinkedIn, Quizlet, Red Hat, EA, and 10up, are already using Friday to create and foster asynchronous communication habits among team members.

Thomas told MSI he plans to use the funds to ramp up product development and Friday’s go-to-market plans.

Read more at Maine Startups Insider >>

 

MSI is sponsored by PretiFlaherty

Founder Forum: Nisha Dearborn of Fresh Chemistry

Nisha Dearborn spent most of her career climbing the corporate ladder at Johnson & Johnson. But after moving to Maine a few years ago, she saw an opportunity to try her hand at entrepreneurship. Now as the founder of Fresh Chemistry, a skincare brand recently featured on QVC, she can’t see herself ever going back. Nisha tells MSI about her entrepreneurial journey and gives some advice for other first-time entrepreneurs.

Read more at Maine Startups Insider >>

 

Governor’s new economic plan prioritizes cultivating the entrepreneurial ecosystem

Catherine Renault, former director of Maine’s Office of Innovation, provides some expert commentary on the new recommendations just passed down from the Governor’s Economic Recovery Committee. She notes that the plan is the first in her memory that specifically mentions prioritizing support of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in addition to entrepreneurs themselves.

Read more at Maine Startups Insider >>

 

Quick intermission to thank Maine Startups Insider’s newest Sustaining Member: JT White, founder and CEO of Forerunner, developer of a floodplain management software platform for municipalities.

If, like JT, you appreciate what MSI is trying to do and have the financial wherewithal to support my efforts, please consider becoming a Sustaining Member.

/ Briefly Mentioned

🛩 The Maine Center for Entrepreneurs is now accepting applications for next year’s Top Gun program, a startup-training program for early-stage entrepreneurs. Apply here.

🦞 Dermarus, the Portland-based startup that recently launched its first skincare product, Marin Skincare, which blends lobster glycoproteins with other ingredients to treat dry skin conditions commonly associated with eczema, was recently covered by the NBC affiliate station in Boston.

🥣 Mumbai to Maine, a specialty food company founded by Cherie Scott, won the recent Big Gig pitch contest in Bangor. Scott won $500 and a chance to compete in the final pitch event for $5,000.

/ Talent Hub

An area of the newsletter for those seeking full- or part-time positions with a Maine startup.

👨🏻‍💻 Brendan McGonigle was the first hire at a web-based travel company in 2010. He contributed to strategy, marketing, operations, and product as the company steadily grew in employee count and web traffic until 2014 when it was acquired by Tripadvisor, for which Brendan worked briefly. Brendan has lived in Portland for nearly seven years, and currently works in international strategy and business development for one of Europe’s largest tech companies. He’s interested in transitioning from big tech back to startups, and enthusiastically encourages anyone looking to add to their team to reach out. His email is brendan.mcgonigle@gmail.com and here’s his LinkedIn profile.

/ ICYMI

Here are some recent articles from Maine Startups Insider you may have missed:

/ Jobs

If you apply for a job you see here, let them know you saw the opportunity in Maine Startups Insider. 
+ Forerunner, developer of floodplain management software platform, is hiring for a full-stack engineer. This position is fully remote, but the company founder lives in Maine.

+ Guideline, the fintech company with offices in California, Texas, and Portland, is hiring for several software engineering positions.

+ Friday, a Portland-based company building a communication tool for remote teams, is hiring a Senior Front-end Engineer.

+ CourseStorm, an Orono-based software company, is hiring a team manager for its customer success team.

+ OurShelves, a Maine-based diverse children’s book box subscription service with members in all 50 states, is hiring a part-time Operations Lead.

+ Running Tide, a technology startup in the aquaculture space, is hiring software engineers and data scientists. If interested, email jobs@runningtide.com.

+ KinoTek, a Portland-based startup at the intersection of health and augmented reality, is looking for a software developer with experience with C++ unity integration. Those interested, email the company at contact@kinoteksoftware.com.

+ Farming robotics startup Farmhand Automation is hiring a mechanical engineer.

+ AskGMS, a Portland-based company that provides benchmarking and data analysis tools to the insurance industry, is hiring a Data Analyst and a Full-Stack Developer.

+ VETRO Inc., a SaaS company in Portland, is looking for a full-stack developer.

+ Defendify, a cybersecurity startup in Portland, is hiring a full-stack developer and content marketing specialist.

+ Arkatechture, a Portland-based company that provides business intelligence and data analytics services, is hiring a senior software engineer, AWS cloud engineer, among other positions.

+ Introspective Systems, in Portland, is looking for a lead software engineer and a software engineering intern.

+ Theory and Principle, a legal-tech product design and development startup in Portland, is hiring a UI/UX designer.

Seeking a full-stack engineer? A technical co-founder? A sales or biz dev superstar? Send me your job postings to make this a great resource! 

/ Events

Scaling up your Life Sciences Company in Maine
Thurs., Dec. 3, 2-3:30 p.m. — Online The third installment of the Maine Center for Entrepreneur’s 2020 Life Sciences Venture Summit. Hear from a panel of entrepreneurs on what it takes to be successful and scale up a life sciences company in Maine. Register here.

Startup Maine Speaker Series: KinoTek’s Justin Hafner
Tues., Dec. 8, 8:30 a.m. — Online
Startup Maine hosts its fourth event in its new speaker series, this time with Justin Hafner, CEO and co-founder of KinoTek in Portland. Register here.

Please send me your event or calendar item for possible inclusion.