An aquaculture startup that won the $25,000 top prize in Tuesday’s Top Gun business pitch competition is applying the idea behind coworking office space to the sea.
Saco Bay Sea Farms, founded by Michael Scannell and Nick Poulin, aims to create a “plug-and-play” aquaculture coworking space. The model, which is innovative for the industry, allows new farmers to rent space on a seafood farm to test aquaculture practices at a fraction of the time and cost typically required, according to a news release.
The lease will include a high-density mooring system for growing products such as kelp, an aquaculture support vessel and access to on-demand workers with aquaculture experience.
Top Gun winners
In Tuesday’s showcase event, Saco Bay Sea Farms was one of six startups to pitch to a panel of judges and a live audience at Hannaford Hall at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. The event was also live-streamed.
Other contestants included: lifestyle and education brand Fiddlehead Life; breast pump bag design company Klimm; integrated reuse ecosystem coalition Reuse; Saltbox Tinned Fish Co.; and Timber Candle Bar.
Rick Flagg of Norway Savings Bank, Susan Ruhlin of the Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Sam Fratoni from the Maine Angels judged pitches on business scalability, feasibility, innovation and presentation.
More about Saco Bay Sea Farms
Founded in 2025 and operating out of Yarmouth, Saco Bay Sea Farms cultivates sea scallops, green sea urchins and sugar kelp on a 13.8-acre lease, using a “multi-trophic” approach that raises species alongside each other. The species were selected for strong market demand and complementary ecological and operational roles, according to the company.
The startup has several research contracts, including the universities of Maine, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, experimenting with the co-culture of scallops and urchins and deep water aquaculture. Goals include developing Maine’s first scaled offshore lease in Saco Bay.
Scannell began his career fishing commercially for lobsters in Saco Bay before diversifying into aquaculture. He studied marine affairs with a concentration in aquaculture at the University of New England.
In 2025, Scannell was part of a delegation of Maine stakeholders traveling to Japan to study farm-raised scallop methods and technology. He was part of a similar delegation that returned to Japan earlier this year to study advanced sea urchin farming techniques and explore how they could be adapted to strengthen Maine’s industry.
In a separate press release, Scannell said he was particularly interested in how Japan integrates seaweed and urchin production.
“We’re particularly interested in the seaweed-to-urchin pipeline and how urchins can become a viable emerging crop in Maine,” he said.
Business accelerator
The Top Gun showcase is the culmination of a 15-week program for competitively selected entrepreneurs that combines mentoring with gatherings held across Maine. Since 2009, Top Gun has assisted over 400 entrepreneurs in accelerating their businesses.
The $25,000 prize is sponsored by the Maine Technology Institute.
Established in 1997, the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs provides training, connections, coaching, and mentors for entrepreneurs to commercialize and grow their ideas, products and services.
