The award includes a $25,000 top prize.
The Cubby is an online marketplace for art made by college students. By shopping on the Cubby, consumers support emerging artists and purchase one-of-a-kind pieces of art at an affordable price. The entire purchase price goes directly to the artist, with no hidden fees.
The Cubby s COO, Matteo Cugno, who just finished his junior year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, accepted the Top Gun award on behalf of the startup. The Cubby is led by CEO Josh Kim, who just finished his junior year at Colby College.
Cugno was among eight entrepreneurs that competed in the statewide pitch contest.
Eight finalists from throughout Maine will compete May 26 for a $25,000 prize. Top Gun assists early-stage entrepreneurs in growing their businesses through classroom curriculum and mentoring.
Mother-daughter duo to open wine bar in downtown Skowhegan featuring local selections
The business partners plan to open by the end of June, joining several other new businesses that have either opened their doors recently or expect to in the near future.
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Unwined owner Billie Clark, right, and daughter Samantha Hilton, the owner and public relations representative of the business, are looking forward to opening at 151 Water St. in Skowhegan this summer. The mother-daughter team, seen Wednesday, say their business will feature locally produced wines and craft beers. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
SKOWHEGAN Opening a restaurant has long been an idea that Billie Clark has wanted to pursue.
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Ethan Nurick of The Good Crust uses a machine to prepare uniformly shaped 16-ounce dough balls Monday in Skowhegan. The dough balls, which are made into pizza crusts, are produced in the kitchen of the Miller s Table Restaurant at 42 Court St. in downtown Skowhegan.
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Heather Kerner s pizza dough company, the Good Crust, doesn t produce a tech product, but she enrolled in Propeller earlier this year anyway. The six-week course is designed to guide women as they build their tech or tech-enabled business, and she figured gaining those skills was an important part of getting her Maine-sourced pizza dough out to the market.
Now, two months into running her Skowhegan-based business, she s secured several wholesale accounts and is poised to consider a distribution partnership.
Kerner s startup is one of six generated from the program, which was launched in March by the CEI Women s Business Center. Two sessions were held this year, in March and again in July. A new round begins in January, with two sections behind held simultaneously, one on Tuesdays and one on Wednesdays. The course if free and conducted completely online.