Orono company to join Silicon Valley startup accelerator program
Tim Greenway
Cerahelix lab technician Thomas Barnes works with dip coating in an environmental chamber as chemical engineer Dave Cassidy and Susan MacKay, founder and CEO, watch at the company's lab in the Target Technology Center in Orono.
Ceramic filter maker Cerahelix Inc. of Orono has been selected by Plug and Play Ventures to join its start-up accelerator program in Sunnyvale, Calif.
The program will from July 28 to Oct. 26. The Cerahelix filters can be used across a number of industries, so the company said it wanted to take advantage of this internationally known, competitive program. Plug and Play provides access to leaders in industries where Cerahelix said its filters make manufacturing more sustainable, a growing concern for many of these corporations.
Cerahelix CEO Susan MacKay and VP of Business Strategy Jutta Von Dirke traveled to California last week to participate in selection day for the second batch of Plug and Play’s Global Innovation Platform for New Materials and Packaging, one of their nine industry-specific programs.
Plug and Play reviews over 100 companies recommended by their corporate partners for each section of their platform. Twenty of those companies are invited to selection day, where they pitch their case for four minutes followed by a two-minute Q&A in front of the judges. The top companies are invited back to participate in the 12-week program, giving them access to the resources of this Silicon Valley based venture fund that specializes in connecting startups with partners and investors.
“Throughout the three months, Plug and Play will sponsor events with mentors. They will facilitate pilot projects and meetings with corporate partners. They will provide open office hours with investors,” Cerahelix CEO Susan MacKay said in a statement
Cerahelix said the program comes at a crucial time, as is now in the pilot testing phase. The company is currently building a pipeline of customers and pilot project partners as it begins to scale up.
Said MacKay, “This gives us a chance to reach beyond the east coast; their network is global.”
MacKay was a 2010 Mainebiz Woman to Watch with her earlier company, Zeomatrix.
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