David Stapp, CEO of Peregrine Turbine Technologies of Wiscasset, announced an equity raise that closed March 19 with a $2.2 million gain in the startup technology company’s fundraising, bringing the total raised to $12.3 million since its founding in 2012. In a phone interview March 26, Stapp said the company is attracting investors from Maine and elsewhere who are drawn to the product, a high-efficiency turbine engine that can create electric power from biomass or fossil fuels at a much greater efficiency than a conventional gas-fired power generator. 

The recently closed offering will fund heavy equipment to build portions of the turbine engine, and pay for new staff. Stapp said the engineering and design phase is largely complete, and portions will be tested at a national laboratory. “The next phase involves bringing in the equipment to build the turbines, and to build our manufacturing facility,” he said.

This funding round involved only individual equity investors, Stapp said. The newest round will include institutional investors, such as pension funds and insurance companies. There will also be a bridge funding raise – a short term loan by investors to help the company get to the end of the next funding cycle. Stapp said because the company is a startup, there are few investment options, but Peregrine did not want to accept funds from venture capitalists because they would want to sell the company after it became profitable to recoup their investments. “That would mean that Peregrine would probably leave Maine,” he said. “And take 300 good-paying jobs with it. So instead we worked with individual investors up to now who are more interested in what we are doing.”

Peregrine intends to build a 60,000 square foot facility on land that would be purchased from the town  at Birch Point, part of the failed Point East subdivision the town took via foreclosure. In addition to the funding from private investors, the company has received government funding, and drawn interest from the Maine Technology Institute, which offered a half million dollar loan.

Peregrine is also seeking a tax increment financing district designation, similar to what the town negotiated with Molnlycke, for a tax break. The designation would benefit the town by the land being off the tax rolls: The state’s school funding and revenue sharing are based on the amount of land potentially taxable. “We are just starting the negotiations,” Stapp said. “We were hoping to have it on the June warrant, but that was overly optimistic.” Instead, he said, the question will probably be on the November ballot.

“Wiscasset has been incredibly supportive,” he said. “But they are also looking out for the interests of taxpayers, and we understand that.”

Town Manager Marian Anderson said while the town and Peregrine had only had one preliminary meeting about the TIF, the selectmen were supportive. “We definitely want to keep them in town!”

If it passes, other things would have to be done before construction could begin on the factory next year, with production possibly starting by the end of 2019 or early 2020. The company would need approval from Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, and would need some local zoning changes, including the abandonment of the subdivision.

“I’m not anticipating a lot of opposition,” Stapp said. “There is something about this that everyone wants to see. We aren’t doing anything that will degrade the environment, the product itself is a high-efficiency engine that will protect the environment, supporting Maine’s logging industry and supporting its truck drivers, too. And many of our investors are interested in the technological breakthrough the product represents. Not to mention 300 permanent good-paying jobs for the Midcoast.”