Photo / Tim Greenway
Eric Fitz is the CEO and co-founder of Amply Energy Inc., a Cumberland-based startup that has pioneered software for heat pump installers.
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Green and growing: 3 startups powering Maine’s eco-economy
Photo / Tim Greenway
Jen Millard, CEO and co-founder of mainelove, at the company’s warehouse in Westbrook. The cans are made from recyclable aluminum.
Among Maine startups out to conquer the green economy, we found three worth keeping tabs on. One has pioneered software to help heat pump installers do their jobs better and faster, another is helping businesses save on energy use and costs via smart-plug systems, and the third is a consumer beverage brand sourcing water from Sebago Lake and packaging it in recyclable aluminum cans. We checked in with the founders to get the lowdown on their business backstories and plans.
Amping up heat pump sales
When Nick Moore of Dave’s World visits the home of a prospective heat pump client, he doesn’t need to walk around with a tape measure and notepad like many of his industry peers to sketch out an estimate and design.
Using a made-in-Maine software program called Amply on his tablet, Moore can scan entire rooms to create 3D visualizations with accurate measurements in a fraction of the time it would otherwise take. That’s allowed him to raise his sales batting average.
“Before I started using Amply, I was averaging a 62% to 64% close ratio and now I’m at 68% to 70% as a direct result of using their software,” the Windham-based consultant says.
Based in Cumberland, Amply Energy Inc. was founded in 2021 by Eric Fitz and Ed Smith with an initial focus on home decarbonization and electrification.
After discovering how complex and time-consuming heat pumps were to design, size and sell, they shifted their focus and switched to a B2B business model.
Using Amply on an Apple iPad Pro, contractors can instantly collect data, run the numbers to correctly size equipment and create an installation plan for residential customers in 20 to 30 minutes. That’s much shorter than the five to 10 hours it takes using old-school methods.
“Our mission is to help make heat pumps a no-brainer for both HVAC contractors and homeowners,” Fitz explains. “We can make what’s been invisible visible for the first time.”
Fitz, who is based in Cumberland, and Smith, who is based outside of Boston, met at Colby College, where Fitz majored in physics and Smith studied philosophy.
Fitz went on to study engineering at Dartmouth College and the Georgia Institute of Technology, while Smith earned his MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Today in jointly leading Amply, “it feels like we’re yin and yang,” says Smith, who serves as the chief customer officer with Fitz as chief technology officer.
With customers across 28 states and Canada, the five-employee startup is aiming to be in all 50 states.
“Over the next three months, we want to make the existing experience as good as it can possibly get, and then we want to start pushing the bounds of functionality,” Smith says.
The plans come amid projected 9.6% compound annual growth for North America’s $6 billion heat pump market through 2032, driven by rising demand for energy-efficient heating and air conditioning along with government incentives to reduce carbon footprints, according to Global Market Insights, a Delaware-based market research firm.
Without taking out any bank loans, Fitz and Smith have raised $1 million, tapping grants including $100,000 from the Maine Technology Institute, angel investors and their own money.
“This cleantech company is well-positioned as heat pumps become more widely adopted and installers look for increased efficiency and support,” says Bianca Kowal, a senior investment officer at MTI.
ReVision Energy, a South-Portland-based solar company with a growing regional footprint, is trying out Amply’s software with its clients in Maine’s midcoast region.
While ReVision co-founder Phil Coupe says it’s too early to give a readout on how the software performs, he has high hopes for its prospects.
“Ideally, Amply’s app will help drive even more widespread adoption of heat pumps to help homeowners reduce their energy costs and carbon pollution,” he says.
Making waves with canned water
Jen Millard is a 1990 Colby College grad who “boomeranged” from the West Coast back to Maine last year to start a brand of canned water called mainelove.
The business proposition: To take water from Sebago Lake — considered one of the cleanest in the country — and package it in recyclable aluminum cans.
She teamed up on the effort with San Francisco-based Kalon Gutierrez, a former brand manager for Ralph Lauren Fragrances, and Frank Grondin of Brickyard Hollow Brewing Co., which is based in Yarmouth (and where Millard now lives).
For Millard, one motivation for starting the business was to find a way to keep breweries busy when production lines would otherwise sit idle.
Alongside Brickyard Hollow, Geary’s Brewing Co. and Mast Landing Brewing Co. are lending a hand with water filtration.
After packaging, the cans are stored at a warehouse in Westbrook before distribution to Brickyard Hollow and Mast Landing retail locations, as well as the Portland Community Squash Club, the Hearts of Pine soccer team store in Portland and Millard’s alma mater in Waterville.
“Beer takes two days to make and people are drinking less,” Millard explains. “By using their facilities, we are creating foundational revenue for them in a dark period when there’s no incentive for them to make beer. They are yielding water all winter so you can pay expenses and employees and not lay people off.”
She’s looking to work with other Maine brewers as well, as long as they meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration standards.
In the next few weeks, the aim is to expand distribution to various Portland-area restaurants with a broader launch this spring. The company is targeting early May for the release of ice teas and flavored sparkling waters, also made with water from Sebago Lake, according to mainlove spokeswoman Jeannie Assimos.
While not aware of any other Maine brand of canned water, she notes that Millard was an investor in Liquid Death. The six-year-old national brand ran a TV ad during this year’s Super Bowl with a hard-rock-sounding “Drink on the Job” jingle.
“They’re a very niche-y, canned rock-hard water,” Assimos says. “We’re the antithesis of them.”
Garvan Donegan, Central Maine Growth Council’s director of planning, innovation and development, calls Millard an innovator.
“Jen’s innovation story is a testament to the power of returning to your roots,” he says. “Her vision for mainelove goes beyond just selling canned water. It’s about celebrating Maine’s heritage, supporting local industries and pioneering a more sustainable approach to water utilization within the brewing industry through vertical integration.”
Millard’s advice to other entrepreneurs in Maine: “Start showing up at startup meetups. Integrate yourself into the community and understand what that means in your town. Learn what resources are available to you and take a class.”
“After you have your business idea, talk to 100 people about it,” she continues. “Did your idea resonate with them? You need to talk to many people about what you are working on. Eventually, you will get to a place of ‘alright, there’s something here,’ or not.”
Helping businesses ‘unplug’ to save energy
Based out of TechPlace in Brunswick, Revert Technologies is helping businesses unplug — literally — to save energy.
Photo / Courtesy of Revert Technologies
Ryan Li
Building on the concept of “smart plugs,” Revert uses AI-powered technology to help schools, government offices and other institutional clients save on utility costs by turning appliances and machines off when they’re not in use.
“The fundamental problem we’re trying to solve is ‘phantom power’ or ‘vampire energy’ — where appliances continue to draw power whether you are using them or not,” says Ryan Li, the company’s CEO and co-founder.
“We won’t be able to magically drop your bill to zero, but we’ll cut 20% to 30% in a month’s time with no need for any upfront, expensive investment,” explains. “Customers pay us on actual performance.”
In 2022 when electricity costs were surging, Li teamed up with Joe Lybik to launch their patented Teak Smart Cube for homes. The following year, they released the single-outlet Acorn Smart Plug for commercial applications.
Today, they offer a single plug management system called Revert Technologies, which is also the name of their four-employee startup now with 30 customers across several states.
Li says the plan is to add more school districts, universities, commercial gyms, museums “and other places where there is a high utility rate and lots of power-hungry equipment that doesn’t need to be on all the time.”
The company has raised $2.2 million in equity financing to date. The amount includes $1.6 million from outside investors (including the Maine Venture Fund) and $600,000 in unconverted warrants, pending milestones. Revert also received a $50,000 grant from MTI to produce in Maine, in partnership with Winthrop-based Alternative Manufacturing Inc.
Photo / Courtesy of Revert Technologies
Revert Technologies uses AI-powered technology to help clients save on energy use and costs.
Originally based in New York, Li and Lybik relocated to Maine in 2022 via an accelerator program at Northeastern University’s Roux Institute in Portland. Today, Li runs the business from Brunswick while Lybik oversees technology from Ann Arbor, Mich., while pursuing a Ph.D. in environmental engineering.
“We are grateful for the close-knit community of people in Maine who genuinely care about energy conservation and who generously provided their resources to help us succeed,” says Li. “That’s really everything we needed to develop a world-class technology and build an impactful business.”
Marty Grohman, a clean energy enthusiast, startup mentor and former executive director of the Environmental & Energy Technology Council of Maine, is bullish on Revert’s growth prospects.
“Think about all the unused machines humming away in empty lobbies wasting power and money,” he says. “Extend that thinking to millions of business machines, and you can see the opportunity.”
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