Saco River Dyehouse and Biovation among 10 semifinalists in $30K business plan contest
File Photo / Tim Greenway
Claudia Raessler, CEO of Maine Textiles, in front of a cone winder at the Saco River Dyehouse in Biddeford.
Gorham Savings Bank has announced the 10 semifinalists in its third annual LaunchPad Competition for startups and existing companies seeking a boost in funding.
The 10 semifinalists, who are vying for the business plan competition’s $30,000 prize, were chosen from a pool of 88 applicants, Gorham Savings Bank announced this week.
Five finalists will be chosen through a public poll that launched this week on LaunchPad’s website and runs through May 15. One winner will emerge after the finalists pitch their business plans to a panel of judges at LaunchPad’s live competition on June 18. The judges will be WEX CEO and President Melissa Smith, Libra Foundation CEO and President Craig Denekas and Southern Maine Community College Entrepreneurial Center Director Michelle Neujahr.
Here are this year’s LaunchPad semifinalists:
Beach Glass Transitions
A South Portland-based senior care company that “provides personalized assistance to families, individuals and employers to navigate senior care choices.” The company launched a program with Pierce Atwood in 2012 that provides support and training for employees who act as caregivers for aging family members.
Biovation (returning semifinalist)
A Boothbay-based manufacturing and biosciences company that makes nonwoven fiber products with advanced polylactic acid for packaging, infection control, advanced wound care, hygiene and other specialty applications. The company has been working on a boot-drying product that is being tested by the U.S. Marine Corps.
Casco Bay Butter
A Scarborough-based maker of natural and organic flavored butter that is sourced from local farmers. The company has contracts with Hannaford Supermarkets and Whole Food, among other stores, across New England.
Close Buy Catalog
A Portland-based school fundraising catalog that features locally made products, ranging from healthy foods to body creams and household accessories. The company’s founder, Masey Kaplan, was named to Mainebiz’s Next List in 2013.
DemerBox
A Portland-based company that is making a sturdy, waterproof, Bluetooth-enabled boombox that has raised more than $80,000 from Kickstarter. The company’s founders have said that they plan to take on Bose and other large companies in the audio industry with DemerBox.
Flowfold (returning finalist)
A Peaks Island-based company that “produces everyday-carry gear,” including a waterproof wallet that uses a carbon fiber composite as its main material. According to a recent story on Deb Neuman’s Back To Business blog, the company has grown 100% every year on average to the point where they are now outsourcing production to a manufacturer in Lewiston.
Green Bee Soda (returning finalist)
A Brunswick-based maker of craft soda that uses real ingredients and honey as a natural sweetener and is sold in stores across New England and online. The company’s founder, Christopher Kinkade, was dabbling in beekeeping out of concern for the declining bee population before coming to his “eureka” moment.
Portland Pudgy
A Portland-based marker of an unsinkable dinghy that also can be used as a small sailboat and a dynamic lifeboat. The company’s founder, David Hulbert, started the company after working a long career in industrial design in the New York City area. He was highlighted in a 2014 Mainebiz feature about encore entrepreneurs.
Saco River Dyehouse (returning finalist)
A Biddeford-based maker of dyes and finishes for yarns and fibers. The dyehouse was funded in part by $41,782 through a Kickstarter campaign. Claudia Raessler, one of the company’s co-founders, was named a Mainebiz Woman to Watch last year. Most recently, the company hired a former financial services leader from Atlanta as its new CEO.
Sentry EHS
A web-based tool designed by Westbrook-based environmental consulting firm St.Germain Collins to help businesses safeguard workers and protect the environment while also helping them lower overhead costs. According to the company’s website, the LaunchPad funding would be used to work on a new version of Sentry EHS.
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