Gorham Savings Bank announced the application for its annual LaunchPad small business competition opened today, Monday, July 15. Now in its 11^th year, LaunchPad provides innovative Maine-based small businesses with the opportunity to compete for a $50,000 grant from the bank to help them scale up.

“We are thrilled to begin the 2024 LaunchPad season, marking eleven years of GSB actively championing Maine’s dynamic entrepreneurial community, and we’re just getting started,” said Steve deCastro, president and CEO of Gorham Savings Bank. “This program offers a unique opportunity for these early-stage businesses to gain vital exposure and secure essential funding.”

In 2023, Camden-based Bookclubs, a social network and app for readers that makes it easy to start, manage, and join a book club, was named the winner. Bookclubs co-founder and CEO, Anna Ford impressed the judges with the company’s growth over the past year, not only in its user numbers, which have reached upwards of 600,000, but also in its potential to scale to different verticals beyond just literary groups – with other types of content-based clubs and even non-profit boards now using the app’s robust scheduling, polling, and messaging features to streamline their collaboration. For more on Booksclubs, check out the WCSH6 story here.

“I am truly looking forward to Gorham Savings Bank’s LaunchPad this year! Winning in 2023 was a transformative experience for Bookclubs, and I can’t wait to see the innovative ideas and passionate entrepreneurs that the competition will bring forward,” said Anna Ford, co-founder and CEO, Booksclubs. “Beyond the funding, LaunchPad is a fantastic platform to foster growth and community support, and I am honored to be a past winner and become part of this year’s program.”

Ford will deliver a keynote address at this year’s competition while the contest judges deliberate and select the 2024 Gorham Savings Bank LaunchPad winner.

Application Deadline

The deadline to submit 2024 LaunchPad applications is Thursday, August 15 at 5:00pm at gorhamsavings.bank/launchpad.

Application Process

The online application process is simple and straightforward. Entrepreneurs can:

• Create an account and save a draft application. This allows businesses to work on their application at their own pace and return to it later if needed.
• Watch videos of judges discussing the competition’s criteria and what they look for on an application. This will help businesses understand what and how to best pitch their business.
• Hear podcast interviews with past winners and gain insight from their experiences competing in LaunchPad.

Live Event

Preliminary judges will review all applications and then select five finalists to compete in-person on Tuesday, October 22 in Portland at University of New England’s Innovation Hall located on Stevens Avenue. A 4:30pm social gathering will precede the 5:30pm competition. John Burns, former head of Maine Venture Fund, Katie Fullam Harris, Chief Government Affairs Officer at MaineHealth, and a third judge yet to be named, will judge the competition live on stage.

The LaunchPad competition also includes an additional $10,000 Emerging Business Award grant, along with $10,000 of in-kind business and marketing-related, business development, and public relations services from iBec Creative, Creative Imagine Group, Grove Marketing, Philbrook Public Relations and Nu-Yar. Five additional finalists are selected to submit 60-second pitch videos to be shown during the live event. Amply, a leading software company committed to transforming the customer capture-to-close process for heat pump contractors, earned the distinction in 2023. LaunchPad applicants are considered for both grants, and no separate application is required.

The finalists will be announced via press release in late September.

If you own an innovative small business in Maine, or know someone who does, encourage them to apply to LaunchPad. Visit gorhamsavings.bank/LaunchPad to learn more or apply through August 15.