Six UMaine student companies featured in ‘Greenlight Maine’ Collegiate Challenge

Six student-run companies from the University of Maine are featured on the current season of the “Greenlight Maine” Collegiate Challenge, a televised, multi-round pitch competition in which students from schools across the state square off against one another for the chance to win a $25,000 grand prize to help grow their business. 

The first episode of the Collegiate Challenge aired Jan. 19 and featured UMaine students Steven Doman and John Peters pitching their company TrustedRentr, a web platform that simplifies the rental application process for both tenants and landlords, against a team from Bates College pitching Nook Storage, a peer-to-peer storage solution. 

UMaine student companies also will be represented in episodes airing Feb. 2 (Sam Dorval and Max Burtis of Ferda Farms LLC); Feb. 23 (Alexander Karris of Family Time Memory Software); March 1 (Evan Horenstein of Find my college roommate); and March 8, which pits two teams from UMaine against one another as Suzie Milkowich, Lori Sitzabee, and Kelsey Allen of LetsGoBagz pitch against Steven Ferrarese of Easy Unlocker.

There will be eight “Greenlight Maine” Collegiate Challenge shows this season. From the original field of 16 contestants, eight will go on to be semi-finalists and will compete in a non-televised pitch-off. Three finalists will be chosen from that round to compete for the $25,000 grand prize in the “Greenlight Maine” Collegiate Finale, which will air this spring.

The “Greenlight Maine” Collegiate Challenge is a spin-off segment from “Greenlight Maine,” which applies the same format to Maine-based non-student startups, with finalists competing for a $100,000 prize. “Greenlight Maine” airs on News Center Maine (WCSH 6 in Portland and WLBZ 2 in Bangor) on Sundays at 10 a.m. This is the show’s fifth season overall, and the second season of the Collegiate Challenge. Last year, all three Collegiate Challenge finalists were UMaine student companies, with KinoTek going on to win the $25,000 grand prize. TrustedRentr and Ferda Farms (an oyster farm on the New Meadows River in Brunswick, Maine) both reached the final round in the first season of the Collegiate Challenge and are competing again this season.

Visit the “Greenlight Maine” Collegiate Challenge website to view the full schedule and watch past episodes.