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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 19 M A R C H 4 , 2 0 2 4 F O C U S L I F E S C I E N C E S / B I O T E C H "Somebody once told me that getting a partner- ship with an investor is more serious than a mar- riage," she says. "You can divorce your spouse, but you can't divorce an investor." 'Playing the long game' Despite venture capital's appeal for many entrepre- neurs, some prefer to tread more carefully. at includes Michael Greene at GenoTyping Center of America, who says his nine-employee Waterville startup is working on bolstering its bot- tom line before nudging investors to put their money into a standard lab testing business. "While there is significant growth opportunity for this testing, it is not innovative, groundbreak- ing or 'sexy' to investors, and the opportunity story is thus harder to convey," he says. In addition, few investors have experience in the animal-testing niche the company is in, "which just adds hesitation and another hurdle to overcome." So far, the company has secured around $250,000 in grants, about half of which required matching funds; it also has its hands full after recent talks with a would-be acquirer that Greene says drained time and attention from running the business and was ultimately not a fit. "We are refocusing on driving sales — our big- gest challenge — before we look to pursue any venture capital," he says. "We need to improve our profitability to become more attractive to investors." Similarly in Portland, Marin Skincare is in no hurry to raise additional funding after securing seed funding in the "low-seven figures," according to Patrick Breeding, co-founder and CEO. "Our approach to attract institutional venture capital is to avoid it for the time being," Breeding says. "Accelerating our velocity of 100% year-on- year growth is not beholden to cycles of going out to raise every six to 12 months. It's about playing the long game." At an even earlier stage with a mammogram- analysis startup, Kendra Batchelder is giving herself around two years before seeking a venture capital infusion. She teamed up with University of Maine bioengineering professor Andre Khalil to start WAVED Medical LLC after the two devel- oped a patented computer algorithm for earlier detection of breast cancer. "We're only just now starting to calculate how much money we're going to need," she says. R e n e e C o r d e s , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r , c a n b e r e a c h e d a t r c o r d e s @ m a i n e b i z . b i z We're proud to offer a wide selection of metal roofing and siding products. Give your home or business the color and style you're looking for with the durability and quality that only metal roofing and siding can provide. NOW OFFERING Screw Down Metal Roofing WAREBUTLER.COM METALS@WAREBUTLER.COM STANDARD COLORS ONLY Visit one of our stores, or email us using the contact form on our website, for more information on these products. We need to improve our profitability to become more attractive to investors. — Michael Greene GenoTyping Center of America

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