Print
Email
Print Edition Stories
Stuart Garfield
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Tech across New England
New England startups ready to lead recovery
By James M. Connolly
UMass President Jack Wilson on Entrepreneurship
MHT Women to Watch 2010
With the economic storm clouds clearing, at least a bit, a look around the New England tech sector reveals that, yes, plenty of companies survived, some thrived and some got off the ground, albeit with greater reliance on bootstrapping, friends and family financing and angel investors.
“We see people going back to bootstrapping in all modes, and a lot more reliance on strategic partners and strategic customers, particularly in cleantech,” said Catherine S. Renault, director of the Office of Innovation, Maine Department of Economic and Community Development. “There doesn’t seem to be any shortage of ideas or entrepreneurs. People are still optimistic. That’s good.”
Entrepreneur Kedar Gupta, who founded GT Solar International Inc. and more recently launched ARC Energy in Nashua, N.H., to develop LED technology, sees progress in the New England innovation economy but also growing competition. “What I’m seeing is really difficult competition from the Far East. People are starting a lot of companies in Taiwan, Korea and China. They have the same attitude we used to have in places like Silicon Valley. People have a desire to excel. We’ve gone through some tough times, but I see a lot of light with other companies and with my own company. The competition is getting tougher and fiercer, but that never bothered anyone around here,” said Gupta.
Asked about the state of startups in the six-state region, Renault noted that one positive change, is that there has been some merger and acquisition activity, including instances where European companies have bought Maine firms, and kept those local operations running under the same management. However, in a note of caution. Renault said that even companies that have products ready to go are wrestling with a tight capital market when it comes to borrowing from banks.
| What other startups have missed? Let us know below. |
And, entrepreneur David Friend, CEO of Carbonite Inc., said he is less excited about New England innovation than he was five years ago, citing, for example the number of foreign-born graduate students heading home to launch companies. He said of the shortage of companies doing domestic manufacturing, “It’s great to talk about the high-value intellectual property, but this country needs jobs, and that means manufacturing.”
Mass High Tech writers looked at some representative companies that are worth watching because of their technology, management team or growth potential. Each was recommended by leaders in the New England tech sector, including serial entrepreneurs, financiers, heads of technology clusters and state agency officials. Take a look at the list and click through to see what each company is working on:
Ocean Renewable Power Company LLC
Comments
If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.
RSS Feeds
