— The San Francisco Bay area has Silicon Valley. New York City has Silicon Alley. The Midwest has Silicon Prairie. Maine has, so far, lacked such a catchy moniker to elevate its technology scene in the eyes of others. But Dave Kerpen is on a one-person campaign to change that. His suggestion: Silicon Lobster. OK, […]

The Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development has for the past five years held an annual showcase event where entrepreneurs who have graduated from its Top Gun startup accelerator program pitch their business to a panel of experts and live audience. The entrepreneurs’ sole reward has been feedback from experts and validation from potential customers. Next year, however, one entrepreneur will walk away […]

The diversity of the crowd at this year’s PopTech was clear to me as soon as I got inside the Camden Opera House, took off my dripping rain jacket, grabbed a cup of coffee and saddled up to a table where I met Makram. Makram is an imam of a Muslim congregation in Minneapolis and is […]

Brunswick, by virtue of its tech-savvy small business owners, has Maine’s strongest digital economy, according to Google Inc. Each year, Google partners with independent research firm, Ipsos, to evaluate the online strength of local small businesses across all fifty states. After weighing various factors, such as the likelihood of small businesses having a mobile-friendly website, maintaining an […]

The Maine Angels is one of the most active angel investment groups in the country, according to the most recent Halo Report, a national survey of angel investment activity. The group, a collection of affluent individuals who pool their resources to invest in and mentor early-stage companies, closed 14 deals during the second quarter of 2014, enough to have it listed […]

— Bangor’s inaugural Startup Weekend was scheduled to begin this evening, but will not go forward because of a dearth of participants. Weak anticipated attendance was the reason for postponing the event, according to Jesse Moriarty, who works at the University of Maine’s Foster Center for Innovation and is one of the event’s organizers. The goal […]

InnovationME, the locally published magazine aimed at Maine’s entrepreneurial community, is ceasing publication. The monthly magazine was launched in November 2013 and survived an 11-issue run. The September issue recently hit the streets, but there will not be an October issue. David Flood, the magazine’s Biddeford-based publisher, confirmed that he’s pushed the pause button on the project, but […]

The organizers of Maine Startup & Create Week have announced the dates for the 2015 edition. The event will take place the week of June 22, 2015, according to Jess Knox, the event’s lead organizer. It will likely run through the following Sunday, which is June 28, but nothing is set in stone, he said. Additional details […]

DemerBox, the Portland startup that’s taking on Bose and other giants of the audio electronics industry with its sturdy and portable boomboxes, has successfully reached its fundraising goal on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. The company, which I wrote about in an article published in today’s paper, met and exceeded its $60,000 fundraising goal this morning. Projects on […]

Each year for the past five years, WEX Inc. has brought in a big-name speaker to keynote its Leadership and Creativity Event Series at the University of Southern Maine. Past speakers include Sen. George Mitchell, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodard and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. This year’s speaker, which WEX announced today, will be […]