On the heels of a Startup Maine Week panel with five past LaunchPad winners, Maine Community Bank announced plans to sweeten the pot for this year’s top finishers.
This year’s grand prize has been raised from $50,000 to $75,000, while the Emerging Business Award grant is being raised from $10,000 to $15,000, the bank announced Thursday in Portland.
“The applicants we’re seeing today have different funding needs than even a few years ago,” said Steve deCastro, CEO of Maine Community Bank. “Founders are building really innovative and scalable companies here. Our grant increase reflects that and better supports them with more nondilutive capital to reach the next level.”
He also noted that early capital can change the pace of a business, which some of the panelists touched on during Thursday’s discussion on the last day of Startup Maine Week.
Panelists included 2023 LaunchPad winner Anna Ford, co-founder and CEO of Bookclubs; 2015 winner Devin McNeill, co-founder and former CEO of Flowfold, acquired last year by Tempshield LLC; 2024 winner Hailey Lister, co-founder and CFO of tech startup Alivo; and 2018 winner Eliah Thanhauser, co-founder and president of North Spore.
Asked about their advice to fellow entrepreneurs, Ford suggested setting out to solve a problem that “you are deeply passionate about,” while Thanhauser said he wishes he had known more about corporate structure and all the nuances of raising money early on.
“It’s good to know these things because it’s pretty nuanced,” he said.
Reflecting on what it’s like to sell a business, McNeill talked about the similarities in “embracing the unknown” when both starting and exiting a company.
Applications for Maine Community Bank’s 2026 LaunchPad competition will open on July 13. Selected finalists will take the stage at a live event on Oct. 20 at the University of New England in Portland.
