PORTLAND, Maine — Over the course of 13 weeks, ten tech startup companies work together to grow their businesses as part of the TechStars Accelerator program.
In its second year at the Roux Institute in Portland, founders are taking advantage of the collaborative work environment with other companies and industry leaders.
"Without these great people, the experience would be, ah, okay, it works. But with these great people, it’s really a blast," 'Torque' Co-Founder Vinko Buble said.
Lars Perkins is the program's managing director and said he's already seen the success of last year's cohort of companies that completed the program last December
"The startup scene is flourishing, there’s a lot of new investment and new interest in Maine," Perkins added. "The relationships that are built last for life, they cross-pollenate, they help each other, they share learnings, and it’s really one of the greatest values of the program."
Buble and 'Hey Freya' Founder Helkin Berg are the two Maine-based companies in this year's cohort.
"For us, we feel we’ve consolidated two years of work in just a couple of months," Berg said regarding the success of Techstars.
'Hey Freya' is a company built for women and targets ways they can reduce high stress in their lives.
"A lot is being asked of [women], we’re being asked to give more energy than we have, homeschooling in a pandemic, raising kids, working full time," Berg added.
Women use multiple salvia samples and technology in the company's app to find what products would work best for the individual. Berg said the company will send those products that will help improve their body's ability to manage stress.
"We have our whole supply chain setup and we’re looking to launch products in 2023," she said.
'Torque' is helping software companies save "money by speeding up their cloud system design evolution," according to Buble.
He's been working in this industry for decades and said the technology has been changing rapidly over recent years.
"Maybe you won't know it but in a few years, Torque will change how cloud applications will be built and deployed, and because of that, you will have more features and your applications will work much better," he added.