5 Maine startups to vie for $50,000 prize in LaunchPad business-pitch contest

File Photo / Tim Greenway Five Maine startups including mainelove will vie for $50,000 in next month's LaunchPad business pitch contest. Shown here is Jen Millard, CEO and co-founder of the Westbrook-based brand of canned water sourced from Sebago Lake.

Write a Comment

By Renee Cordes

Five Maine startups, from a canned water producer to a restaurant delivery service, will face off in next month’s LaunchPad business pitch-off for the chance to win $50,000.

Now in its 12th year but first under the Maine Community Bank banner, LaunchPad offers innovative startups a platform for promoting their business — and money for the winner to scale up operations.

This year’s finalists include mainelove, a Westbrook-based brand of canned water sourced from Sebago Lake, and CarHop, a Portland-based restaurant delivery service.

Also in the running are: Maine Laboratories, a Norridgewock-based PFAS testing facility for “forever” chemicals; UniteGPS, a South Portland-based creator of a cloud-based student transportation platform; and Amply Energy, a Cumberland-based developer of software for heat pump installers.

Some of the participants will be familiar. UniteGPS is a returning finalist from 2016, while Maine Laboratories and Amply Energy are previous Emerging Business Award winners in the annual contest. And Amply Energy and mainelove were profiled in a February 2025 Mainebiz cover story entitled "Green and growing."

Finalists will take the stage at an event in Portland on Oct. 21 (scroll down for details).

“We’re eager to hear from this year’s LaunchPad finalists and see innovation come to life on stage,” said Steve deCastro, CEO of Maine Community Bank. “The judges face a tough task in selecting a winner, but that’s a testament to the strength and creativity of Maine’s entrepreneurs.”

Practice makes perfect

Each finalist will have three minutes to deliver a pitch before a live audience, and then answer questions from judges.

In the run-up to the contest, Jen Millard, CEO and co-founder of mainelove, told Mainebiz that she will be “practicing to anyone who will listen” and plans to focus on what makes her brand unique.

“Our story is so authentic, I believe it tells itself,” she said. If Millard wins, she plans to put the prize towards sales and marketing efforts amid plans to expand into New Hampshire in early October and then Boston and the rest of Massachusetts by the middle of November. The company, whose product is sold across Maine, is licensed in a dozen states, she said.

File Photo / Tim Greenway

Katie Richards of Maine Laboratories

Katie Richards, co-founder and CEO of Maine Laboratories, said she is excited about the impact that $50,000 could have on her business "at this exact moment." She was recently honored as a Mainebiz Outstanding Woman in Business.

"We will use the prize money to acquire a robotic liquid handler, which will automate hundreds of daily 'pipetting' events, allowing our technicians to focus on advanced analytical work and additional method development," she told Mainebiz over the weekend.

"This would be a crucial step in expanding our new reduced cost PFAS testing method that cuts the cost for homeowners by 50% over the industry average,” she added. “We project that the resulting business growth should also put us on track to double our staff over the next two years."

As she preps for next month’s contest, Richards said that "it's a daunting request to tell the story of your business in just three minutes and one slide. I have a ton of information I want to share, so my real job is to make the tough decision of what details I need to cut."

Emerging Business Award finalists

In addition to the main contest, five startups have been chosen as Emerging Business Award finalists. The winner in that category will receive a $10,000 grant plus $10,000 in in-kind marketing and business services from local providers.

Finalists are: CIVA, a Portland-based platform for government funding opportunities; Dirigo Sea Farm, a Freeport-based business making bioplastics from kelp; Hoopsy, a Portland-based developer of plastic-free pregnancy and ovulation tests; Industry, a Portland-based creator of a digital card to help small hospitality businesses retain and hire workers; and Memory Lane TV, a South Portland-based personalized streaming platform for dementia care.

Event info

This year's LaunchPad event will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the University of New England’s Innovation Hall in Portland. Networking will start at 4:30 p.m., followed by the main event at 5:30 p.m.