Technology, candle-making, marketing, craft spirits, seafood and interior plant services are among the eclectic group of 24 startups selected for this year’s Top Gun class.
Top Gun is a 15-week training program of the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs in Portland and the Northern Maine Development Commission in Caribou.
“Entrepreneurs are critical to Maine’s economic future and programs like Top Gun help turn great ideas into viable companies,” said Laurie Johnson, Top Gun’s program manager at the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs.
The program provides founders with access to educational programming, mentorship and business networks with a goal to accelerate growth. Beginning in 2009 with 12 companies, the program has worked with over 370 entrepreneurs across Maine to help them launch and grow their startups.
Cold-water dips
Perhaps one of the more unusual startups is Two Maine Mermaids. Founders Kelsy Hartley and Caitlin Hopkins met during the pandemic, each obsessed with cold water. The company offers cold-water dipping events, including full-moon dips, guided dips and the Women’s Wave, which involves walking hand-in-hand into Maine’s cold ocean.
There are several seafood companies, including an unnamed entrepreneur’s value-added seafood company; Vinalhaven Aquaculture Co., established by Brad Bousquet, John Morton, Ben Beckman and Zachary Jones; and Michael Scannell’s Saco Bay Sea Farms.
Last fall, Scannell was part of a delegation of eight stakeholders in Maine’s farm-raised scallop industry that visited similar interests in Japan.
Startups
The Presque Isle cohort includes:
- Aroostook Technology, Wade McFarland
- Timber Candle Bar, Geraldine Nadeau
- Northern Trails Marketing, Tyler Brown
- RosieO, Rosie Otalora
- Fiddlehead Life LLC, Elizabeth Carroll
- Rolling Acres Ranch, Kamaria Brathwaite
- W.E. Events and Rentals LLC, Candace Whitmore
The cohort in Portland includes:
- An Artisan Distillery, Jay Lombard
- A Value-Added Seafood Company, an unnamed entrepreneur
- Driftful, Kate Greene
- Elevate Path, Malcolm Thompson
- Flashways Logistics LLC, Clovis Ihahore
- Go Natural English, Gabrielle Wallace
- Goldenseal Resilience, Lisa Churchill
- GYNKGO, Mackenzie Maher-Coville
- Klimm, Madeline VanMan, Madalyn Zelinski
- MeasureVet, Biswa Prakash, Jeremy Halperin
- Perception Greenspace Design, Sofia Doe
- Reuse Maine, Suz Okie and Sydney Harris
- Saco Bay Sea Farms, Michael Scannell
- Two Maine Mermaids, Kelsy Hartley and Caitlin Hopkins
- Vinalhaven Aquaculture Co., Brad Bousquet, John Morton, Ben Beckman, Zachary Jones
- WellSpace Maine, Lindy Graham, Erika Pausman
- Wend & Root, Tricia Jamiol
The program includes five in-person meetings in Presque Isle and Portland. The two locations share a virtual speaker, then work in-person with mentors, workshopping and pitch practice. Statewide in-person meetings happen in Augusta for the entire Top Gun group and mentors. There are three statewide virtual classes.
During the first week of May, the cohorts each have a regional pitch-off; finalists move on to a showcase and pitch-off at the Maine Entrepreneurs Summit on May 12 at Hannaford Hall.
Top Gun is sponsored and supported by the Maine Technology Institute, Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, Machias Savings Bank, a Northern Maine regional prize sponsor and Ignite PI as the Northern Maine Regional venue sponsor. There are also partner economic development organizations, local businesses, corporate and nonprofit sponsors and dozens of volunteer advisors and mentors around the state.
Established in 1997, the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs provides training, connections, coaching and mentors needed to commercialize and grow ideas, products and services. The organization has accelerated the growth of hundreds of businesses and established a mentor network of over 320 members.
The Northern Maine Development Commission is a membership organization of communities and counties in the Aroostook Washington Economic Development District. It provides federal and state services at the regional and local levels.
