Courtesy / NECEC
Celantech Open Northeast is the northeast region of the nation's largest cleantech accelerator.
Updated: June 4, 2021
Three Maine startups get into competitive cleantech accelerator
Three Maine startups in the emerging clean technology sector have been accepted into the competitive Cleantech Open Northeast accelerator, the program announced on Thursday.
Though the definition of clean technology or cleantech varies, the venture capital term generally applies to sustainable energy, environmental and other products and services.
Selected from a pool of 71 applicants, the 2021 Cleantech Open Northeast cohort consists of 52 startups from across the region and from other countries, and is part of the global Cleantech Open accelerator managed by the Northeast Clean Energy Council, a Boston-based nonprofit.
The program is highly competitive, referred to as "a merciless technology 'valley of death'" on the organizer's website.
The 2021 Northeast cohort includes startups from om Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont, as well as foreign countries including Thailand, Italy, Denmark, France, Canada, Estonia and Spain.
Maine will be represented by Acadian Composite Materials, a Portland-based company that has developed a composite building material made from recycled plastic; Alonetics LLC, a Lincolnville startup active in energy distribution and storage; and FINSULATE by Ocean Innov, a Yarmouth-based venture of a Dutch-owned firm that makes environmentally friendly paints for sea vessel hulls.
Of the incoming class as a whole, Cleantech Open Northeast Senior Director Beth Zonis said, "This year's cohort represents a wide range of technologies and services focused on tackling our share climate challenges. We are excited to kick off the 2021 program."
During this year's six-month virtual program, participating entrepreneurs will get hands-on training through webinars and business clinics, work with mentors, build connections with strategic investors, angel groups and venture capital firms, and receive products and services from in-kind sponsors.
Each year, the accelerator program culminates in a regional pitch competition where startups showcase their ventures before a panel of judges that select four regional winners of a $10,000 cash prize.
In Maine, Biddeford-based Environmental and Technology Council of Maine, or E2Tech, encourages its members to apply to the Cleantech Open program and helps with applications when needed though Executive Director Martin Grohman notes that any Maine-based cleantech startup can apply.
"Cleantech Open is a fantastic opportunity for Maine companies to make themselves known, get national coverage and accelerate their business thanks to the support of people who one way or another have been through similar experiences," he told Mainebiz. "It's just a great peer group of the top cleantech companies from the region."
Since 2005, Cleantech Open has trained more than 1,600 technology startup entrepreneurs thought he program, and alumni have gone on to raise $1.2 billion and create more than 3,000 jobs in the fast-growing sector.
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