Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 11 M A R C H 2 3 , 2 0 1 5 The town of Damariscotta was among 22 towns and cities nationwide cho- sen to receive technical assistance from the Environmental Protection Agency to help identify sustainable strategies for meeting housing needs for different ages and incomes. The National Science Foundation awarded an $82,159 grant to Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay to fund travel for 15 U.S. researchers to meet with Swedish peers to discuss potential joint research aboard the Stockholm- based icebreaker Oden. Contractor fi les $3.85M lien against Cate Street A New Jersey contractor, claiming Cate Street Capital and two Millinocket- based fi rms owe it $3.85 million for site preparation work at a proposed wood pellet production plant in Millinocket, has fi led a lien against property owned by the three companies. e Bangor 1-800-447-4559 bathsavings.com G elato and sorbetto company Gelato Fiasco Inc. of Brunswick has sold $782,660 of an indefi nite debt off ering, according to a docu- ment fi led with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. e fi rst date of sale was Jan. 28. Listed on the fi ling are co-founders Joshua Davis (CEO) and Bruno Tropeano (presi- dent), as well as directors Nathaniel Henshaw, Richard McGoldrick and John Moore. Digital gifting company CashStar Inc. of Portland has sold almost $9.53 million of a $33.5 million equity and option fundraise, according to an SEC document. CashStar was among 14 Maine companies making Inc. magazine's fastest-growing pri- vate companies list in 2014, coming in at No. 600 with $15.8 million in revenue in 2013, up 792% since 2010. Listed on the fi ling are Ben Kaplan (president and CEO), Michael Ellis (CFO), Steven Boal (founder, chair- man and board member), and other board members John Burbank III, Alex Rampbell and Chris Winship. e fi rst date of sale was Feb. 26. Susan MacKay, president of Cerahelix Inc. of Orono, on March 12 fi led to raise $500,000 in debt or other promissory note. e company uses DNA to make a nano-ceramic coat- ing to provide faster fi ltration at high purity. e off ering has not yet started selling. MacKay was a Mainebiz 2010 Woman to Watch at her earlier bio- tech company, Zeomatrix. Additionally, the Bridgton Highlands Country Club LLC in Bridgton on Feb. 14 began selling a $750,000 equity off ering. So far, $285,806 has been sold, according to its SEC fi ling. In a separate development, Playrifi c Inc. of Billerica, Mass., raised $290,000 of a $500,000 debt fi ling with the SEC last Dec. 12, with the fi rst date of sale last Oct. 24. Founded in 2010, Playrifi c has raised a total of $4.7 million in angel capital in three rounds. e most recent was a $3 mil- lion round at the end of 2014, with investors including members of Maine Angels, Golden Seeds, Northeast Angels, Walnut Venture Associates and Launchpad Venture Group. Maine Angels also participated in the $1.7 million round in December 2012 and other rounds. e Maine Angels investors were not identifi ed. Last October, a couple of Maine Angels expected to see the fi rst return on investment after another Massachusetts-based company in the Maine Angels portfolio, Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. of Norwood, Mass., went public. Corbus was formerly known as JB Therapeutics and still appears by that name on the Maine Angels website. One of the Maine Angels investors is John Goodrich. e second has declined to be identifi ed. On March 9, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave Corbus the go-ahead for a Phase 2 clini- cal trial of its experimental drug for scleroderma, a chronic and life- threatening infl ammatory disease causing excess tissue growth on skin, joints and internal organs. About half of the current 34 portfolio companies listed on the Maine Angels website are located in Massachusetts with total invest- ments, including multiple rounds for some companies, of almost $4.38 million. e 15 Maine companies listed received almost $4.13 million, with Pika Energy of Gorham lead- ing the pack with $751,000. e other money went to a handful of compa- nies in New Hampshire, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. B I Z M O N E Y B Y L O R I V A L I G R A N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N

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