CASE STUDY
Tanbark designs and manufactures non-plastic packaging solutions
Tanbark designs and manufactures non-plastic…
Tanbark aims to solve the modern problem of plastic waste by leveraging Maine’s legacy of pulp and paper, using molded fiber packaging as a replacement for rigid single-use plastic. To date, Tanbark has been involved with each domain of the Roux Institute, a true testament to the level of talent and resources the Roux Institute is able to provide companies.
This 3-month-long startup accelerator program provides expert mentorship and comprehensive support for high-growth technology startups. The program is free to attend, with no fees or equity requirements. Its goal is to make the startup ecosystem accessible to all.
We accept 8-12 startups each year to work on-site at the Roux Institute’s campus in Portland, Maine. Participants will collaborate with students, researchers, partners, and other entrepreneurs, fostering connections and synergies within our community.
The program is industry agnostic but we love seeing ventures that align with the Roux Institute’s focus areas – climate and sustainability, artificial intelligence, computer and data sciences, digital engineering, advanced manufacturing, advanced life sciences, and blue economy.
Program Dates: The Founder Residency will run from September to December, 2026 and will provide participants with the ability to receive free membership to the Roux incubator programs through August 2027.
The program itself is structured as follows:
Orientation (1st Week)
The first week will focus on getting you oriented to all of the resources our program has to offer from accessing student talent to learning about Maine’s funding organizations. We will also have a fun program retreat for you to get to know the other founders in the cohort.
Mentor Match (2nd Week)
The 2nd week, you will meet many of our mentors through a speed-dating style event where you will get to practice telling your story while meeting many wonderful mentors in our network who are willing to support you. You will pick 2-5 mentors to match with that will continue supporting you 1:1 throughout the program.
Program Intensive (3 months)
During the rest of the program we will meet 3 or 4 days per week for a couple of hours per day. The programming will include support forums, educational workshops, community building, and networking events. We will cover topics that will help you get the skills and knowledge you need to build a successful business ranging from customer discovery and sales to fundraising and equity incentive plans.
Free Membership to the Roux Incubator (9 months)
As part of this program, you will get 9 months of free membership to our paid incubator program after the Program Intensive ends. This means free office space at the Roux Institute’s Portland campus and continued access to our larger programming, resources, and community. During this phase, a lot of startups take advantage of working with or hiring our grad-students, collaborating with our researchers, and connecting with our corporate partners.
When founders join us, they receive:
Educational Programming: Get up to speed on product-market fit, fundraising, finance, legal considerations, and more, with leading subject matter experts and workshops designed to help you succeed.
Network: Tap into Northeastern University’s global network of investors, researchers, SMEs, and corporate partners to turbo-charge your growth
Mentorship: Match with expert mentors to work alongside you throughout the program
Legal counsel: Work with our Legal Fellow to receive legal guidance and tap into our law-firm partners to receive pro-bono legal advice.
Design and business services: Benefit from an extra set of hands on your team. Our designer and business analyst can take on projects for your startup ranging from a website redesign to a competitive analysis of your industry.
Peer Community: Join the Roux Institute’s network of 140+ portfolio companies for guidance and learnings from those that have done this before.
Workspace: Get access to the Roux Institute’s cutting-edge, open-concept campus in downtown Portland, surrounded by top researchers and experts in fields like AI, life sciences, and data visualization.
Partner Benefits: Enjoy access to over $300,000 in credits and discounts from our partners at AWS, Google, HubSpot, and more.
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Nina Scheepers
Maine Venture Fund
Shaun Meredith
Founder & CEO, Omnic Data
Torey Penrod Cambra
Chief Communications Officer, HighByte
Colleen McCracken
Founder & CEO, CLMC, Strategic Business Advisors
Burak Sezen
Co-Founder and Partner, The 6ixth Event Capital
Julia Trotman
Valo Ventures
Michael Johnson
SVP & Chief Human Resources Officer, IDEXX
The Founder Residency program is supported by mentors, including:
Deb Mills-Scofield
Mentor in Residence, Finding Blue Lobsters & Brown...
David Engle
Formerly Founder & CEO (exited), Formerly Upright Labs
Keri Lyle
Professional Certified Coach | Leadership & Career, Birch...
Sam Dargan
Operations Director, OX Global, Ltd
Bhaskar Mukhopadhyay
Founder and CEO, 108dlt, Inc.
Stephen Lindsay
Wholesale Lobster Sales | Marketing and Growth Leader,...
Karen Gordon
Founder, CEO, Chief Innovation Facilitator, WE DESIGN THINK
Wrede Petersmeyer
Investor and Advisor; Formerly @ Airbnb, Bain, US...
The Founder Residency program features workshops from experts such as:
Ali Goldstein Norup
Head of VC & Startup Ecosystem, Americas, Google...
Giuseppe Stuto
Managing Partner, Co-Founder, 186 Ventures, User Acquisition and...
Lauren Ramirez
Tilson Infrastructure, General Counsel, Negotiations and Contracts
Laura Huang
Professor, Entrepreneur, Author of Edge: Turning Adversity into...
Rebecca Emery
Founder, Seacoast AI, Digital Marketing and Lead Generation
Lisa Frusztajer
Consultant, Coach, Educator, Get Unstuck, Executive Coaching
Conor Mack
Chief of Staff, Curate Capital, Investor AMA
Yes (mostly). The Founder Residency is for
founders with technology-based products or novel
innovations that have at least a basic level of
market and/or technical validation. The ideal
candidate has an early product out to market. We
do not expect a fully-launched product. Our goal is
to support you as you work full-time on your
venture and give you the tools you need to
accelerate growth.
No. We source applicants from across the globe
through a competitive process. However, we
expect the CEO, and ideally all founders, to work
out of the Roux Institute Campus in Portland, ME
during the program.
We support founders creating scalable
technology-based businesses that could have a
meaningful impact for millions. We like to see
ventures that utilize technology aligned with
Maine’s and the Roux Institute’s strengths, such as
climate and sustainability, blue economy, artificial
intelligence, computer and data sciences, digital
engineering, advanced manufacturing, and life
sciences.
Yes. We support for-profit ventures, non-profit
ventures, and every venture in between.
Yes. The program accepts the startup, not the
individual founder. We hope all the founders will
join us!
No. You do not need to be a student or have any affiliation with Northeastern to be eligible. In fact, the program is designed for founders working full-time on their ventures; not for student founders.
