🔒Startup Maine Week showcases emerging niches, exit insights

More than 500 business founders, investors and others gathered in Portland last week to swap ideas, forge connections and take in the energy of Maine’s startup scene. The four-day Startup Maine Week wrapped up on Thursday with a closing keynote from Clarence Bethea, the Texas-based founder of a platform, course and community called What VCs Won’t Say. He created the venture to give startup founders unfiltered insights into fundraising and venture capital and took six flights to get to Portland for the conference. “One thing that I learned about the Maine startup scene is the pride of the community," Bethea told Mainebiz afterwards. "It’s clear that the community is growing and there’s a lot happening with founders there. I’m excited to see the next decade for Maine’s startup scene.” Here are a few takeaways from Startup Maine Week, held at Northeastern University's Roux Institute and the Maine Center at 300 Fore St., with a closing party at Live at Madrid’s. (Mainebiz was a media sponsor.)

Maine’s capital landscape

A survey of 270 startup founders, investors, service providers and others released during the conference yielded some unexpected insights for Tom Kittredge, a senior investment officer at Maine Technology Institute who leads MTI’s Maine Accelerates Growth initiative. “When we asked investors and founders whether founders with investment-ready companies can typically raise the seed capital they're seeking, three-quarters of investors agreed," Kittredge told Mainebiz. "Less than one in five founders saw it the same way. While I would have expected some divergence, I was surprised by just how differently these two groups assessed the early-stage capital landscape in Maine.”

Canadian connections

During a session highlighting Maine companies doing business in Canada, panelists offered guidance to Maine businesses considering expansion north of the border. Mitch Lench, CEO of Biddeford-based seaweed company Ocean’s Balance, suggests having a management team in place in case of an acquisition. Alexandre Paris of renewable energy firm ORPC Canada recommends finding a “champion” on the ground familiar with the regulatory environment.

Defense tech taking off

As warfare evolves, new opportunities are emerging for nimble, tech-savvy startups, according to Kevin Comphor, chief investment officer at Ateklo, a Portland-based “deep tech” venture studio. He said the war in Ukraine, for example, has fueled demand for “deployed engineers on the front lines” as well as more “expendable, battle-ready” technologies, such as autonomous marine drones. Pointing to an expanding and more “holistic” definition of national security technology, national security expert and investor Stephanie Usry Bellistri said nearly every technology today has “dual-use” potential, serving both civilian and military purposes. Moderator Chris Torina of the Roux Institute noted that national security goes well beyond "bullets and bombs."

Building winning teams

Practical insights into hiring and team-building, including managing remote workers, emerged during a lively stage talk featuring Ryan D'Wolff Munro, founder and CEO of the nested, a Maine-based platform for fractional executives and independent professionals, and Chris Winslow of TriNet, a California-based provider of payroll and health benefits to employers. Touting one-on-one time with employees, D'Wolff said, "That's culture right there." Winslow noted that one-on-one meetings don’t need to happen frequently to foster strong connections.

Life sciences cachet

Highlighting Maine’s growing life sciences industry, Sarah Delmar, director of the new Maine Life Sciences Center, said the state is not trying to become “another Boston” and pointed to a "frontier moment” as data reshapes life sciences and health care. She said Maine benefits from being a smaller market with easier access to decision-makers, while stressing the need to better promote the state as a “center of excellence.”

Frank talk from founders

On the last day of the conference, a panel of past LaunchPad winners discussed some of the highs and lows of starting and scaling their businesses, along with a behind-the-scenes look at competing in the annual business pitch contest.

Reflecting on last year's sale of Flowfold to Trenton-based Tempshield LLC, former Flowfold CEO Devin McNeill admitted “it wasn’t an easy decision” and emphasized the importance of separating one’s identity from a brand when it comes time to sell. One of the key lessons the experience taught him: “I am not Flowfold and Flowfold is not me," he said.

Taking stock

Taking stock of the four-day conference, Startup Maine Executive Director Sarah Smith told Mainebiz over the weekend that Bethea's closing keynote was a highlight. "He showed us that being vulnerable and your authentic self, while understanding the rules of the game, are critical to success as a founder," she said. And when does planning start for next year's conference? While that happens year-round, she said, "it will really kick into high gear in the fall."