PORTLAND, Maine — Waves of new startup companies have been coming to Maine thanks to new accelerator programs and investment opportunities.
The Techstars Accelerator Program is in its second year helping new companies grow their businesses. The weeks-long journey also aims to bring companies to the state from around the world and keep them here.
Max Echeverria founded his company Eskuad in his home country of Chile before relocating to Maine when he started the Techstars program last year.
The tech company uses its platform to allow field workers, scientists, and researchers to use its mobile platform to share data, communicate, and streamline tasks without an internet signal.
Echeverria. said the geography and population in his home area in Chile resemble that of Maine, Eskuad was launched with a focus on helping businesses in the forestry, farming, tourism, and maritime industries.
“We grew from [working with] five, six companies, to 19 at this moment," Echeverria said Friday. “We’re at a stage where [Eskquad] actually help them which is cool because you imagine something and now it’s helping people in real life.”
After finishing the program last year, the company added a new Lead Designer. Nolan Stewart served as a mentor for other Techstars companies before joining Eskuad.
“It helps the core industries in Maine," he said. “We are helping the feet on the ground doing that work and I thought that was very exciting.”
His biggest job is to help make the user experience as comfortable and easy as possible. The platform, Stewart said, can be used to make a grocery list or accurately track fish on a boat in the middle of the ocean.
As the company leaders meet with more companies, they're still looking to expand and grow the business.
Echeverria said he recently went through an application process and was awarded financial backing by Google.
“They were interested in what we were doing and they backed us with funding so that has been great," he added.
The new revenue will help the company launch a marketing campaign and work with new Maine businesses. Echeverria said Eskuad has grown organically without any marketing plan, but this will help grow the brand nationwide.
With its new home in Maine, Echeverria said his company will soon be looking to hire more Maine workers as the tech industry continues to grow in the state.