Looking Back ... and Forward

By Joe Powers, Managing Director, Maine Venture Fund

Here we are approaching the end of 2024, another year older and perhaps even wiser. In 2024, MVF continued our fulfilling work of accelerating high growth companies in Maine and we’re excited about what is to come in 2025. I’m reflecting on both in this piece.

Looking back with a wide lens, 2024 was another challenging year for venture-backed companies as those company leaders who dipped their toes into the fundraising arena learned. Unfortunately, investment into private companies has dropped globally since the exuberance of 2021. (There are certain industries that buck this trend, like AI, which seemed to vacuum up much of the cash that was otherwise in short supply). MVF’s investment amount reflected this slowdown, totaling only $1.2M across the year, which is a fraction of our more typical annual investment volume. The good news is that investors have continued to pump money into private equity funds to create the largest amount of “dry powder”, or capital poised for investment, on record. One might logically hope that this translates to significantly higher investment volume in 2025, especially if interest rates continue to decline. 

From the capital that MVF did deploy, we were excited to welcome 11 new innovative, Maine-based companies to the portfolio, 10 via an indirect investment into the Roux Institute at Northeastern University’s Future of Healthcare Founder Residency program and one direct investment into Revert Technologies, a designer and manufacturer of energy saving “smart plug” adaptors. A few more stats that we’re proud of from our current portfolio:

• 55: Portfolio size (# of companies), MVF’s largest-ever, across all industries

• 80: Percent of portfolio companies located in economically distressed areas. 

• 30: Percent of portfolio companies led by female CEOs (vs 2% industry-wide)

• 34: Percent of portfolio companies innovating within Maine’s “heritage industries” of farming, fishing and forestry, which is aligned with several of the state’s economic development goals, including the Governor’s Economic Development Strategy.

The Maine Venture Fund team behind this activity consisted of our three full-time team members (yours truly included), four contractors (Chris Pizey, Claire DeSelle, Harbor House Partners, Fisher Green Creative) and 11 highly accomplished volunteer Board members including our Board Chair, Dr. Brien Walton, Vice Chair Peter DelGreco and Treasurer Julie Viola.

I am grateful every day for my two colleagues on the MVF Management Team. Office Operations Manager Terri Wark has been supporting the Team and Board skillfully since the Fund’s inception in the late 90s. Principal Nina Scheepers is a true polymath, managing her core investing activities while running internal MVF programs like marketing, interns, portfolio financial analysis and the annual Maine Startup Challenge, among others. MSC is a statewide business plan competition, which saw another record year of applications (156) from participants of all ages. 

In November, we held our annual End of Year Portfolio Recognition Event at the beautiful Wolfe’s Neck Center in Freeport (which I highly recommend if you’re seeking an event venue - see image below). As per tradition, we highlighted several portfolio companies for extraordinary performance throughout the year. We were lucky that keynote speaker and Tilson Infrastructure CEO Josh Broder could join us to share his journey of growing Tilson from a 3-person team to over 1,400 employees in 20+ locations across the country and still headquartered here in Portland.

After Josh’s keynote, the following companies earned awards: 

• Grit Award: Good To Go

• Acceleration Award: Bookclubs

• John F Burns Integrity Award: Reconnect

Nina introduced the award ceremony at Wolfe’s Neck Center last month:

Inspired by the initiative and ingenuity of the companies in our portfolio, we are increasingly asking ourselves - What could MVF be doing to improve on our own mission? In May the MVF Board established its first 10 year strategic plan, which includes the following four high-level initiatives, which we plan to report our progress with over time:

• Expand Funding Sources - this is internal funding for MVF, to enhance our capacity to support the future of Maine’s innovation ecosystem. We’re already actively pursuing capital from the private sector (in developing a separate fund that operates as a mirror to the existing MVF core fund), the state (via legislation and/or appropriations) and the federal government (through various grant programs).

• Expand Investment Vehicles - we plan to continue to evaluate the needs of companies and to consider offering additive forms of growth capital beyond traditional venture capital equity, including but not limited to unsecured credit, project financing and revenue-based financing.

• Grow Pipeline - building awareness of MVF and other state-sponsored funding programs, especially in more rural areas of the state, is a constant effort. MVF plans to dedicate more resources to this end through enhancing our traditional marketing channels, strengthening regional partnerships, supporting future generations of Maine entrepreneurs through programs like the aforementioned Maine Startup Challenge and playing a role in helping successful companies to move to Maine.

• Improve Portfolio Success - for those companies in which we have made investments, MVF is committed to improving their experience with us by growing our database of co-investors and thus expanding the pool of available capital, better customizing our own internal support based on company stage and profile, and sharing relevant educational content and industry best practices from which we think companies can benefit.

To summarize all of our activities, from the strategic to the mundane, MVF generates a detailed Periodic Report for the Maine Legislature each year. The 2024 report is fresh off the press and can be viewed here. Recently we’ve also begun to publish a brief Impact Report as well, and we’ll update this again early next year. Needless to say we’re very proud of the role we play in the Maine economy and are looking forward to building on that momentum in the coming months and years.

In closing, I’m deeply thankful for the opportunity to work alongside so many dynamic people (both the doers and supporters) in our mission of investing in Maine businesses with the highest potential for growth and impact. Happy Holidays from all of us at Maine Venture Fund!

About Maine Venture Fund

Maine Venture Fund invests in Maine businesses that have the highest potential for growth and impact. For more information, visit maineventurefund.com. 

Inquiries:
Terri Wark
Maine Venture Fund
(207) 305-0006
terri@maineventurefund.com