June Momentum: Building Relationships, Advancing Innovation

Greetings! Hopefully you have all been able to enjoy a few of these summer-like days we’ve had. Thank you to all of you who showed up and made our MTI networking and portfolio event so wonderful. We had more than a dozen MTI portfolio companies and a packed room.  It’s always a pleasure to see folks in person, build new relationships within Maine’s innovation ecosystem, and celebrate the people and ideas driving growth across the state. We were even joined by a couple candidates for Governor. All in all, it was a terrific event, and we thank you for supporting us and showing up. Stay tuned for news on our next networking event to be held in the fall likely in the Bangor/Orono area.  

I wanted to provide all of you with a quick update on the Maine Life Sciences Center by way of its Director, Sarah Delmar. The newly appointed advisory board held its second meeting and moved into implementation with three working committees—Strategy, Deals, and Advocacy—each meeting for the first time this month. The goal is substantive committee-level work between full board meetings, building toward concrete recommendations ahead of the January 2027 interim legislative report. Two early priorities are taking shape: ensuring successful delivery of MLSC’s shared lab and clinical research unit investments and identifying how to fully build on those platforms. In addition, the MLSC completed an initial analysis of life sciences activity across the MTI investment portfolio. One notable finding was that biotechnology accounts for only about a third of life sciences related portfolio activity. The two largest subsectors outside Biotech are IT (digital health) and Marine Science (blue biotech)—a useful data point for how we define and tell Maine’s life sciences story.

Please mark your calendar and join us for the Federal Funding Summit on July 16, you can register here. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about federal funding opportunities and how your business can benefit from these opportunities. Moreover, MTI’s TAP team can provide free technical assistance in many instances should you find a federal funding opportunity you want to pursue.

In the meantime, enjoy these long light-filled summer days! Blueberries and lobster season will soon be upon us!

Be well,

BW