Orono computer education company High Touch Courses beat out more than 550 companies from around the world in being selected as one of 50 companies to compete as a finalist in the 2014 Global Entrepreneurship Week, which started Monday.
The listing has led to more recognition for the company, founded last year by Elizabeth Chabe to create a game-like learning environment for students interested in computer programming and technology. Chabe, who grew up in Machias, said in a previous interview she created the company to appeal to her younger self.
“If I had a support network of people to help me learn how to code, I feel I would have been able to blossom a lot faster,” she said. “We want to reach the kids in Down East Maine or potato country to give them that support network.”
As the entrepreneurship conference is underway this week, the company’s selection there also landed High Touch Courses a listing on the world’s “20 hottest startups” by news network CNBC, which drew its selections from the entrepreneurship conference finalists.
CNBC noted the company also aims to “disrupt the traditional four-year degree system for certain areas of study,” including computer science and video game development.
“There are limited options for people who want to master specific computer skills at their own pace,” Chabe said. “The ones available are often dry and general, and users complete them solo. We’re developing an online video game that teaches programming and game design in a fun, immersive way.”
At the end of the week, organizers of the GEW conference will announce a winner to take a trip to Milan, Italy, meet with potential investors and gain access to other business mentoring services.
In the meantime, Chabe said the listing at CNBC Monday already has had some impact on the business, generating more traffic to the website and about 50 requests for demonstrations of the online courses overnight.
“We’re just incredibly grateful for the exposure from CNBC and GEW,” Chabe wrote in a message. “It helps us reach more people we could help teach to code.”
The company, based at the University of Maine’s Target Technology Center in Orono, competed against more than 600 companies from 38 different countries applied for consideration by the competition’s judges.