The pandemic has adversely impacted Maine’s economy, but it didn’t slow the momentum of Maine’s tech startups. As I do each year, I dove into Maine Startups Insider’s website analytics to find out which were the most-read stories of 2021.
This year, I published 63 articles on MSI’s website (thanks to Jayme Okma Lee for publishing 12 of them). Here are the 15 that attracted the most attention (measured by total pageviews). This is not a perfect comparison because stories published earlier in the year have had more time to generate organic traffic than more recent articles, but it does an okay job of highlighting the biggest stories.
15. A roadmap for a more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem
This was the third of three columns about immigrant entrepreneurship in Maine penned by Kerem Durdag, president and COO of GWI Inc. and founder of the Indus Fund, a community supported micro loan program for the immigrant community in Maine. In his first two columns, which you can read here and here, he discussed why he believes we need to be intentional about creating a more diverse entrepreneurial ecosystem in Maine. In this final column, he offers some concrete steps—from increasing immigrant representation on the boards of organizations like the Maine Venture Fund to the Maine Technology Institute being proactive about reaching out to immigrant entrepreneurs—he believes will create a more diverse and vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.
14. Techstars hires Lars Perkins to lead Portland accelerator
In April, the Roux Institute Techstars Accelerator, which the Roux Institute and Techstars announced in February, hired Lars Perkins as the startup accelerator’s inaugural director. Perkins, who has been involved in tech since building his first enterprise software company and taking it public in the 1990s, was a founding partner and managing director of Idealab’s Boston incubator, where he helped launch Picasa and served as its CEO until the company was sold to Google, where he served as a Director of Engineering and then Director of Product.
13. KinoTek appoints Krystal Williams and Burak Sezen to its inaugural board of directors
KinoTek, a Portland-based digital health startup, in January appointed Krystal Williams and Burak Sezen as independent members to its inaugural board, joining Justin Hafner, KinoTek’s co-founder and CEO, on the three-member board. The company went on this year to raise nearly $3 million in a pre-seed and a seed round.
12. Roux Institute accepts six companies into its startup incubator
Separate from the Techstars accelerator, the Roux Institute also announced its own internal startup incubator for Maine-based companies. Its inaugural Startup Residency program included six companies: KinoTek, Forerunner, Hydronet, Lief, New England Marine Monitoring, and UNAR Labs.
11. True Fin raises $1M in its first investment round
True Fin, one of the first businesses launched and stewarded through the Gulf of Maine Research Institutes’ new ventures initiative, announced in July it had raised $1 million in convertible notes. Investors included the Maine Venture Fund, Maine Technology Institute, CEI and several angel investors.
10. ElleVet, a pioneer in the CBD-for-pets market, is growing member of Portland’s pet-health cluster
A profile of ElleVet Sciences, a South Portland-based manufacturer of CBD products for pets that was founded in 2016. The company, founded by a former senior executive at IDEXX Laboratories and a public health professional, is targeting a global market for pet-focused CBD products valued at nearly $30 million and is a growing addition to Maine’s active veterinary-tech cluster that includes IDEXX, ImmuCell, Covetrus (formerly Vets First Choice) and Dechra (formerly Putney).
9. After challenging year, Defendify raises fresh capital to fuel growth
A look at how one Portland startup, Defendify, was forced to adapt its business model during the pandemic, but soon discovered it was the pivot they needed to thrive.
8. VETRO Inc. raises $12M to scale broadband mapping SaaS platform
VETRO Inc., the Portland-based developer of cloud-based broadband mapping and fiber management software for the telecommunications industry, announced this summer it had raised a $12 million round as it seeks to capitalize on a growing international market for broadband services.
7. Gulf of Maine Research Institute launches ‘bluetech’ accelerator for startups
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute this summer partnered with SeaAhead, a Boston-based bluetech startup platform, to launch an accelerator program for “bluetech” startups whose innovations could positively impact the Gulf of Maine.
6. American Unagi latest seafood-related company to raise venture capital
American Unagi, which operates the country’s first and only indoor aquaculture facility to grow Maine glass eels to market size, raised $10 million this year. Investors include Maine Venture Fund, Coastal Enterprises, and other angel investors. The company, which Sara Rademaker started in her basement in 2014, started construction this year on a new 27,000-square-foot eel aquaculture facility in Waldoboro, Maine.
5. What’s behind Waterville’s emergence as Maine’s latest startup hub?
Jayme Okma Lee reported on what’s going on in Waterville, which has emerged over the last few years as a hot bed of entrepreneurship. Technology and entrepreneurship are often cited as answers to rural economic woes, with some efforts more successful than others. In Waterville’s case, that focus (led by Colby College and Thomas College) seems to be working out.
4. DAVO Technologies acquired by Seattle firm
In April, a Seattle-based software firm acquired DAVO Technologies, a software startup in Westbrook that helps small businesses automate the collection and payment of sales tax. Avalara, the acquiring company, trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker AVLR. Peter Murray, DAVO’s CEO, told Maine Startups Insider at the time that the acquisition would be good news for the company, its employees, and Maine. “I think it’s really going to throw gas on our fire and allow us to accelerate our growth,” he said.
3. Gulf of Maine Research Institute sells first incubated startup
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute makes the list a third time with this story from July. That was the month the organization announced it had spun off and sold New England Marine Monitoring, the first startup it had launched and incubated as part of its two-year-old Gulf of Maine Ventures initiative. The company provides electronic monitoring, data collection and analytics services to the fishing industry.
2. Techstars partners with Roux Institute to launch accelerator in Portland
As previously mentioned higher in this list, Techstars is an organization that runs dozens of startup accelerators all over the world. It teamed up this year with Northeastern University’s Roux Institute to launch a global accelerator program in Portland—only the second Techstars accelerator in New England after Boston’s. The accelerator’s inaugural class got underway in September with 10 startups and wrapped up with a successful Demo Day in early December. The program delivered on one of its original goals to entice startup founders to build their businesses in Maine. Three of the companies—Circa, Atten-X, and Eskuad—have decided to put down roots in Maine.
And the most read story of 2021 is…
1. OpBox raises $500K to expand its Midcoast operations
The MSI article published in 2021 that attracted the most attention was one Jayme Okma Lee wrote in April about OpBox, a Nobleboro-based company that designs and constructs modular, eco-friendly “pop-up” spaces for shops and offices, raising $500,000. Not the most big-picture impactful story, but Google and LinkedIn traffic drove pageviews for this story, bringing it to the top of the heap.
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