PORTLAND, Maine - AOL co-founder Steve Case is wrapping up a bus tour Friday in Portland, where he'll hear from Maine entrepreneurs competing for $100,000 in investment cash.
Case has been promoting start-up businesses in 19 different places around the U.S. in what he calls the "Rise of the Rest" tour.
"What we're seeing in all these "Rise of the Rest" communities, including in Portland, is good momentum, a real sense of possibility - people working together, a little bit more capital, a little bit more talent, a little more sense of possibility," he said. "But there's still work to be done, in terms of making sure people really are - in the community - are supportive of entrepreneurs, whether it be as mentors, or as angel investors, or customers."
Case was joined Friday morning by Maine Sen. Angus King and 1st District Rep. Chellie Pingree. They visited Certify, a business that makes software that handles expense reports for businesses. The company, founded in 2008 with just four employees, currently has 85 and expects to grow to about 120 in another year.
This afternoon, Case, who now heads the investment firm "Revolution," will hear from several Maine start-up companies vying for the $100,000 investment.
