Greenlight Maine picks 26 semifinalists to vie for $100,000 prize in entrepreneur contest
“Greenlight Maine,” an upcoming weekly TV show in which Maine entrepreneurs can vie to win a minimum prize of $100,000, said it has selected the 26 semifinalists to compete in the Greenlight Maine weekly TV show that will air statewide this fall.
The semifinalists were pared down from a field of 44 this past Saturday at the end of Maine Startup & Create Week. Mainebiz wrote about the 44 quarterfinalists in a June 22 story. Those 44 were culled from an initial field of 84 entrants.
The TV show, which will be in a format similar to ABC's "Shark Tank," will launch on WCSH6 and WLBZ2 on Sept. 12 and end in June 2016. It will air after Bill Green’s Maine.
Among the semifinalists is Portland-based Rapport IO, a sustainability software company that recently won the Top Gun Showcase $10,000 prize and was a semifinalist in a regional cleantech business competition.
The entries came via initial registration on GreenlightMaine.com and subsequent online and live casting call events.
The competition last Saturday was held at Portland’s new Press Hotel. Quarterfinalists were scored on scalability, viability, feasibility, innovation and presentation.
The semifinalists will compete for a minimum purse of $100,000 and more through crowdfunding.
“Greenlight Maine” is the brainchild of Portland Media Group, a custom content and production company founded by Brian Corcoran, who also is president of Shamrock Sports & Entertainment; Nat Thompson, former president of Maine Radio and Television Co. and former owner/producer at WCSH6; and Con Fullam, an executive TV producer and music composer.
PMG partnered with Jess Knox, founder of Maine Startup & Create Week and statewide innovation hub coordinator for Blackstone Accelerates Growth, to lead the selection process for the companies.
“There are no losers here,” Knox said in a statement. “All of these innovative and bold Greenlight Maine entrepreneurs have validated that our state is on the fast track to growing our next economy.”
Here is Greenlight Maine's list of the 26 semifinalists:
Beltane Solar, founded by Steve Musica, Brunswick
Bixby & Co., founded by Kate McAleer, Rockland
Blue Ox Malthouse, founded by Joel Alex, Lisbon Falls
Casco Bay Butter, founded by Alicia Menard and Jennell Carter, Scarborough
Cerahelix, founded by Susan MacKay, Orono
Chimani, founded by Kerry Gallivan, Portland
Composimold, founded by Stan Farrell, Manchester
Course Storm, founded by Matt James, Orono
Double Blue Sports Analytics, founded by Dan Kerluke, Orono
Eagre Games, founded by Chuck Carter, Orono
Finest Kind Tea, founded by Jay Lombard, Portland
Flow Fold, founded by Charley Friedman, Portland
Garbage to Garden, founded by Kendall Hinkley, Portland
Gimme Shelter, founded by Rosie Curtis, Camden
Good To-Go, co-founded by Jennifer Scism and David Koorits, Kittery
Hot-Tubes, founded by Bill Zelman, South Portland
Mad Gabs, founded by Gabrielle Melchionda, Westbrook
MedRhythms, founded by Owen McCarthy, from Cape Elizabeth
Mingle Analytics, founded by Daniel Mingle, Paris
Northern Maine Distilling Co., founded by Scott Galbiati, Brewer
Rapport IO, founded by John Rooks, Portland
Revolution Research, founded by Alexander Chasse, Orono
RockStep Solutions, founded by Chuck Donnelly, Bar Harbor
STARC Systems, founded by Chris MacKenzie, Brunswick
Team AR, founded by Chuck Benton, Brunswick
Zeomatrix, led by Emma Wilson, Orono
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