UpStart Maine, a coalition of entrepreneur-support programs and organizations in the greater Bangor region, has announced it will launch two new entrepreneurship programs it piloted this spring thanks to a grant from the Maine Community Foundation.
The two programs—Maine Innovation Nights and Virtual Mentor Nights—offer entrepreneurs in the Bangor region new opportunities to showcase their products and access expert advice on how to grow their startups. The Maine Community Foundation is providing a $20,000 grant through its Startup Scaleup program to help fund the programs.
“This funding has accelerated UpStart Maine’s ability to bring entrepreneurs the innovative content and opportunities that will fuel their business growth,” Katelynn Ronan, president of UpStart Maine, said in a statement.
Maine Innovation Nights are modeled on the successful Mass Innovation Nights in greater Boston, and provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs and business owners to showcase their products to customers and investors on a statewide scale. Each month, approximately 10 businesses will be invited to pitch their product; the pitch may represent a first-time product launch or a pivot by an existing business.
The second program, Virtual Mentor Nights, pairs entrepreneurs with industry experts and executives for one-on-one advising sessions on curated topics, including marketing, human resources, and industry-specific subjects. With the personalized approach and an easy remote meeting setup, UpStart Maine expects sessions will fill up quickly.
“Through Maine Innovation Nights and Virtual Mentor Nights, we intend to bring innovative startups and businesses into contact with as many mentors, potential customers, investors and other community resources as possible,” Ronan said. “Many of these startups are growing with the help of our UpStart Maine coalition partners’ programs and facilities, and these new initiatives are an exciting way to further support them.”
UpStart Maine is a coalition of entrepreneur-support organizations in the Bangor region, including the Bangor Innovation Center incubator; the Big Gig pitch program; the CoVort coworking space in downtown Bangor; the Foster Center for Innovation at the University of Maine; MaineStream Finance; the Scratchpad Accelerator; the Top Gun accelerator; and the UpStart Center for Innovation in Orono. Over the past three years, 96 businesses have participated in the coalition’s services and subsequently hired 237 staff and raised $9.5 million in capital.
