MTI reports on record funding year in 2018

Courtesy / Maine Technology Institute Maine Technology Institute published its fiscal year 2018 annual report last week showing it invested more than $57 million in 175 projects.

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By Staff

The Maine Technology Institute released its 2018 annual report highlighting a record year of financial support to Maine companies and said it will unveil a new funding approach in March.

In the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2018, MTI invested more than $57 million in Maine companies — well above the $6 million to $10 million it typically invests and the most ever awarded in a single year.

“This has been an incredible year for MTI and Maine’s innovation economy,” Brian Whitney, MTI’s president, said in a statement. “True to its mission and mandate, MTI’s investments are helping to develop new Maine products, companies and jobs.”

He added that the organization’s rigorous review and award process gives entrepreneurs and companies a “critical validation of their innovation that helps them secure needed follow-on funding from traditional lenders and investors.”

A publicly funded nonprofit entity, MTI’s core mission is to diversify and grow Maine’s economy by encouraging, promoting, stimulating and supporting innovation and its transformation into new products, services and companies and quality jobs for Maine people.

The $57 million investment includes support to 18 companies through the Maine Technology Asset Fund 2.0 program and to 157 other projects that received investments ranging from $5,000 to more than $1 million through a mix of grants, loans, equity investments and organizational support. Citing an independent analysis, MTI said the awards to the 18 Maine Technology Asset Fund 2.0 program recipients will lead to the creation of 5,350 jobs and generate $1.4 billion in economic impact over the next three years.

Among success stories cited in MTI’s 28-page report are Vets First Choice, which received $9 million towards its $20 million Portland expansion, and Jackson Laboratory, which was awarded $12.5 million to help fund the planned $60 million construction of a state-of-the-art mouse production facility in Ellsworth.

In its current fiscal year, MTI said it anticipates playing a leading role in many noteworthy innovation and research and development initiatives, and that it plans to launch a new funding approach in March “to catalyze innovation in Maine.”

Read more: Here's the link to MTI's report.