BRUNSWICK

The Maine Technology Institute recently approved three TechStart grant applications, two Business Accelerator grants and two Phase 0 award applications, totaling $95,213 in awards to entrepreneurs from across Maine to advance new product and process development in biotechnology, precision manufacturing, environmental technology and information technology. Among the companies were one each from Brunswick and Dresden.

This round of MTI awards leveraged $1,573,740 of matching contributions from the award recipients.

Awards from this round include:

• Three TechStart grants totaling $10,670

• Two Business Accelerator grants at $74,543

• Two Phase 0 grants totaling $10,000

“These small yet consequential investments will have a meaningful impact on the ability of these companies to protect their intellectual property, enhance the development and competitiveness of their products, and attract much-needed federal R&D funding to Maine,” said Brian Whitney, MTI president. “The Maine Technology Institute is pleased to assist these forwarding thinking companies with their unique innovations.”

Summary of awards:

Tech Start grants

• Warmsoft LLC, Jonathan Amory of Portland, award amount $5,000; match amount $5,500

• Security Solutions of Maine, LLC of Bangor, award amount $670; match amount $800

• Boreal Games LLC of Farmingdale, award amount $5,000; match amount $9,500

TechStart grants are available to entrepreneurs and companies across Maine who are seeking to develop their ideas into new, innovative products or services. Grants are awarded monthly.

Business Accelerator grants

• NBT Solutions, LLC of Portland, award amount $24,565; match amount $58,435

• RockStep Solutions, Inc. of Portland, award amount $49,978, match amount $1,489,465

Business Accelerator grants are available to startup/early stage companies that have been awarded MTI Development Loans and to companies that have recently been chosen for a federal Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I or Phase II grant and/or a Broad Agency Announcement award.

Phase 0 grants

• bluShift Aerospace, Inc. of Brunswick, award amount $5,000; match amount $5,040 bluShift is utilizing its Phase 0 grant to employ a professional grant writer familiar with the aerospace industry to facilitate an application for a NASA SBIR Phase I grant. The $125,000 SBIR grant being sought from NASA will enable bluShift to accelerate its development and commercialization of a biofuel derived rocket and employ additional personnel at its Brunswick headquarters. Winning SBIR grants are critical to bluShift’s development and manufacturing growth within Maine.

• Eldertide, LLC of Dresden, award amount $5,000; match amount $5,000

Eldertide recently developed a proprietary hybrid concentration technology to produce microbiologically stable liquid concentrates. This research was funded through SBIR and MTI grants. This new project builds on Eldertide’s previous research by formulating a liquid concentrate for warfighters’ operational rations that will retain the sensory and nutritional properties while creating a dense highly nutritious energy source. The expected outcome/deliverables include proof of concept, verified by analytical chemical and microbiological assays, and preliminary processing components and parameters for product prototypes.

The Phase 0 grant is a funding opportunity offered to individuals and companies seeking to submit SBIR/STTR Phase I proposals to one of the 11 federal agencies participating in the program.

For more information on MTI funding programs, visit www.mainetechnology.org.