A Maine company that developed an app to project public property boundaries into a smart phone camera took home the $120,000 BizSpark prize at the annual Top Gun pitch-off Tuesday.

Nobleboro resident and entrepreneur Chuck Benton of Team AR won the $120,000 in-kind prize from Microsoft for its app using augmented reality technology.

The event, hosted by the Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development and the University of Maine, marked the graduation of the 2016 class of Top Gun entrepreneurs statewide. Top Gun is a program that combines mentoring with business development instruction. Since its inception in 2009, it has graduated 135 entrepreneurs.

Six participants from the Bangor, Rockport and Portland Top Gun classes also competed for a $10,000 cash prize sponsored by the Maine Technology Institute. Entrepreneurs gave five-minute pitches to a panel of judges, followed by a brief question-and-answer period. Scoring was based on presentation, innovation, scalability and feasibility.

The cash prize winner was Nadir Yildirim and Simin Khosravani of Revolution Research. The company uses technology to develop eco-friendly products for the construction and packaging industries made from locally supplied and bio-based materials.

Catherine Renault, board chair for the Maine center, presented Executive Director Don Gooding, who is stepping down in June, an award for his many accomplishments and dedication to the entrepreneurial community. Anthony Perkins, of Bernstein Shur, received the Compass Award for his many years of service mentoring Top Gun companies.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.