🚀 Top Gun Bangor: Mentorship & Growth for Local Startups
Top Gun, a program of the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs, is run in partnership with UpStart Maine and Northern Maine Development Commission. The Bangor cohort provides targeted support to help local entrepreneurs refine their business models, build valuable connections, and prepare for funding opportunities.
This year’s Top Gun Bangor participants include:
🍪 Buba OG LLC
A female-founded food company making organic frozen cookie dough, sourcing over 50% of its ingredients from Maine producers like Maine Grains and Kate’s Butter. Learn more.
💻 Bytesum Technologies
A tech startup providing digital marketing, graphic design, and lead generation services to help Bangor-area businesses scale. Connect on LinkedIn.
🛠️ Chickadee Facilitation
A nonprofit consulting firm specializing in strategic visioning, leadership development, and cultural change for organizations in Bangor and beyond. Find out more on LinkedIn.
🧀 Haymay Creamery
An artisan cheesemaking company dedicated to sourcing high-quality, local milk from Maine farms to create handcrafted cheese.
🥒 Red Kettle Foods
Bringing the art of Asian fermentation to Bangor, Red Kettle Foods produces locally sourced kimchi and pickles with generations-old techniques. Discover their flavors.
🙌 Thank You to Our Top Gun Bangor Sponsors!
A huge thank you to Haverlock, Estey & Curran CPAs for their generous support through the Drew Baker Scholarship Fund, as well as Maine Savings FCU for investing in the 2025 Bangor cohort. Your contributions make this program possible!
🌱 Scratchpad: Hands-On Support for Growth-Stage Startups
Unlike traditional accelerators, Scratchpad Accelerator provides hands-on consulting and tailored mentorship to help companies across the state startups scale efficiently.
This year’s cohort include:
🌊 Nauti Sisters Sea Farm
A female-owned oyster farm committed to sustainable aquaculture, electrifying the working waterfront, and educating the Bangor community. Visit their farm.
🌎 P3RD EARTH
Revolutionizing packaging with ocean-compostable and fish-friendly consumer goods, tackling global pollution with cutting-edge technology. Explore their innovations.
🐖 Singing Pastures
A woman-owned, pasture-raised charcuterie company producing sustainable pork snacks and artisanal salami. Check out their offerings.
🍉 Watermelon Pie
A recipe-sharing platform built for home cooks and food entrepreneurs to preserve and evolve their favorite recipes. Join the community.
💬 What Participants Are Saying About Scratchpad Accelerator
“This is the third entrepreneur program I have participated in. They each were very different and built on each other—Scratchpad was a more advanced program that allowed for more fluid movement for strategy and connections in real-time. The course on business evaluation was very helpful at this timeline to plan appropriately for an exit strategy based on real data specific to our company.”
🙌 Thank You to Our Scratchpad Bangor Sponsors!
We extend our gratitude to Maine Technology Institute and Bangor Savings Bank for their major support of the Bangor Scratchpad program in 2024 and 2025. Your investment fuels the next generation of local entrepreneurs.
Meet Lisa Liberatore: Champion of Bangor’s Startups
Lisa Liberatore is a serial entrepreneur, author, and startup mentor dedicated to helping Bangor’s businesses succeed. As the Program Manager of Scratchpad Accelerator and Regional Coordinator for Top Gun Bangor, she has guided 5 cohorts for Scratchpad over the past decade, providing them with strategic insights, mentorship, and real-world business guidance.
Lisa’s entrepreneurial journey is as diverse as it is inspiring. She founded Lisa’s Legit Burritos, one of Maine’s beloved local food ventures, and co-founded Covort, Bangor’s first coworking space. She has also built and sold multiple businesses, including investment real estate ventures and D-Max Merch, a company she co-founded with her son.
Beyond her business ventures, Lisa is the author of The Power of Transparency, a book that reflects her no-nonsense, clear-cut approach to entrepreneurship and leadership. Her passion for transparency, innovation, and helping startups navigate their growth journey makes her a key player in Bangor’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
With a deep commitment to supporting Maine’s founders, Lisa continues to shape Maine’s startup landscape, ensuring that entrepreneurs have the resources, mentorship, and connections they need to succeed.
🔎 Want to Explore More Startup Resources in Bangor?
If you’re an entrepreneur in the Bangor region looking for business mentoring, funding opportunities, or networking, the Entrepreneural Events is your go-to resource.
✅ Find accelerators, mentorship programs, and funding opportunities tailored to your stage of business.
✅ Learn about Bangor’s startup ecosystem and connect with valuable networks.
✅ Discover how local sponsors and supporters are helping businesses like yours thrive.
🔗 Explore the Entrepreneural Events today and take your business to the next level!
If you have questions or need guidance, we’re here to help. Contact us at innovation@upstartmaine.org.
UpStart’s mission is to be the Bangor Region’s innovation hub that connects entrepreneurs statewide with resources to grow their businesses.
For more information on UpStart, contact innovation@innovation@upstartmaine.org.