(Were you forwarded Maine Startups Insider? If so, subscribe here)

Good morning and welcome to the 222nd edition of Maine Startups Insider. You are one of 2,207 subscribers receiving this email.

Big news this morning from Techstars, the global organization that runs startup accelerators. It’s partnering with the Roux Institute to launch an accelerator program in Portland, its first in northern New England. Read the top story for more. (Given the Roux Institute also recently announced its inaugural cohort for its local Startup Residency program, this newsletter is a little Roux Institute top heavy.)

In this newsletter, I also address the recent Mainebiz article that claims venture capital investment in Maine companies “nose-dived” in 2020. In short, that report has always been unreliable when it comes to reporting VC investments outside the major tech hubs and reporting on it should include more context and disclaimers.

Keep creating, keep innovating, keep curious.

-Whit Richardson

 

/ News

 

Techstars partners with Roux Institute to launch accelerator in Portland

Techstars, an organization that runs dozens of startup accelerators all over the world, is teaming up with Northeastern University’s Roux Institute to launch a global accelerator program in Portland.

Applications open today and 10 companies will be selected to relocate to Portland for the duration of the 13-week intensive program, which will be Techstars’ first accelerator in northern New England.

Read more at Maine Startups Insider >>

 

MSI is sponsored by PretiFlaherty



 

Did VC investments nose-dive in Maine last year?

Mainebiz on Friday published the following article: “VC funding in Maine plummeted last year, defying national trend.”

The article claims venture capital investment in Maine companies “nose-dived” in 2020, citing a single source—the MoneyTree report—with apparently very little independent research.

I repeat this warning annually, but this report—published by PwC and CB Insights—is notoriously inaccurate when it comes to tracking VC investments in areas outside the major tech hubs. It’s often reliant on self-reported data from VC firms and major angel groups, of which those in Maine are not always doing. In the past, its methodology has also explicitly excluded any deals involving semi-governmental agencies, of which Maine Venture Fund is one (MVF is involved in a lot of deals here). However, the MoneyTree’s methodology has been edited and is no longer explicit on that fact, so not sure where they stand on the matter. My point is, this report is not always accurate.

Case in point: A competing report, Venture Monitor, published by Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association, actually claims Maine companies raised $86 million in VC funding in 2020.

I’m not claiming Venture Monitor is right and MoneyTree is wrong—only that these reports are unreliable and inconsistent. I suspect the number is somewhere between those two—and I aim to find out.

For years, there’s been no good Maine-focused source on venture financing data, but Maine Startups Insider is currently working to fix that.

MSI plans to publish the Maine Venture Financing report, which will be the most accurate source of VC investing data for Maine, in Q2.

(I’m looking for a corporate sponsor for the Maine Venture Financing report—reach out if interested.)

Roux Institute accepts six companies into inaugural local startup incubator

The Roux Institute at Northeastern University, a high-tech graduate education and research institute in Portland, recently announced the six companies it has accepted into its Startup Residency program, an accelerator for local companies that would benefit from access to the institute’s resources and research surrounding artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Read more at Maine Startups Insider >>

/ Briefly Mentioned

🏭 Anyone who’s been paying attention to the crisis in Texas knows part of the problem was the state’s power grid turned out to be very brittle, as large undistributed systems tend to be when put under extreme pressure. One solution is to build a distributed system of microgrids that can respond to changing conditions. Developing microgrid technology is the specialty of Portland-based Dynamic Grid and its CEO, Kay Aikin, was quoted in this article about how the development of microgrids in Texas could have averted the disaster.

🎤 Sam Mateosian, founder of Portland-based Driftspace, a platform for building and sharing virtual reality experiences, was recently interviewed on the VR Verdict podcast.

🛷 Jake Warn, a Thomas College junior, has launched SledTRX, an interactive online map, to help address outdated information and resources for Maine’s $600 million snowmobile industry. Mainebiz has more.

🛠 TechPlace, a technology incubator at Brunswick Landing, is celebrating its sixth anniversary this month. During that time, 12 companies have “graduated” from the space, including STARC Systems, Vivid Cloud, and Maritime Surveillance Associates, according to a guest column in the Press Herald authored by Kristine Logan, TechPlan’s director. Of those 12 companies, 90% have stayed in Maine and continue to grow. She wrote that since its inception, TechPlace businesses have created more than 272 jobs.

🌊 Saco-based Atlantic Sea Farms, the country’s first commercial kelp farm, got a write-up in the Boston Globe for its new line of frozen Kelp Cubes.

❄️ Stephanie Noyes, founder of 360 Sleeves, which has developed battery-powered sleeves that warms the hands and forearms using proprietary technology, won the most recent Big Gig startup pitch event in Bangor. Noyes received $500 and the chance to pitch in the final event for $5,000.

/ 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. 

+ Theory and Principle, a legal-tech product design and development startup in Portland, is hiring an agile project manager.

+ HighByte, an industrial software startup, is hiring a Software Quality Assurance Engineer and an Application Engineer.

+ CourseStorm, an education-related software firm in Orono, is hiring a customer success support representative and an onboarding specialist.

+ VETRO Inc., a SaaS company in Portland, is looking for an account executive, business development representative, and a sales and marketing coordinator.

+ Forerunner, developer of floodplain management software platform, is hiring a full-stack engineer and a sales development rep. 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.

+ 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 software engineer.

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

+ Defendify, a cybersecurity startup in Portland, is hiring a senior full-stack developer and operations coordinator.

+ 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.

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

Entrepreneurs and Ecosystem Builders Speaker Series: Krystal Williams,
Tues., Feb. 23, 8:30 a.m. — Online
Startup Maine hosts the next installment in its Entrepreneurs and Ecosystem Builders Speaker Series, this time with Krystal Williams, founder of Providentia Group and chairperson of Kinotek’s board of directors. Register here.

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