ETC Announces Accelerate Baltimore’s Additional $100,000 in Funding to be awarded to Baltimore Based MyBestBox

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ETC

Jun 06, 2016, 10:20 ET


Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) June 06, 2016 -- Today, the ETC (Emerging Technology Centers), Baltimore City’s award-winning technology and innovation centers, announced that the winning company to be awarded the additional, follow on funding of $100,000 will be Baltimore based MyBestBox. Each year, Accelerate Baltimore (http://www.acceleratebaltimore.com) awards six companies $25,000 each in seed funding and provides an intensive four-month program to help them move their businesses forward.

ETC President and Executive Director, Deb Tillett commented, “The ETC believes this additional funding will truly “accelerate” the growth potential for MyBestBox. The six companies that participated in this year’s program all worked as hard as they could and ETC will continue to support them as they grow their companies.”

This is the fifth year in which the ETC, in partnership with the Abell Foundation, has successfully run Accelerate Baltimore. To date, 28 companies including Allovue, NewsUp and Unbound Concepts, have graduated from the program raising a total of $10.8 million in follow on funding. After looking extensively at early stage funding trends in the current market, and the experiences of the past four years of AB companies, ETC concluded that requesting additional funding from its Abell Foundation partners in the amount of $100,000 would enhance the probability that these companies would be successful. Robert C. Embry, Jr., President of the Abell Foundation, said “the Accelerate Baltimore competition keeps innovating and improving with each year and we know, based on how hard the companies work during the accelerator program, that there was stiff competition for the winning final investment. We wish all the participating companies great success and continued growth in Baltimore City.”

At the end of the 2016 program this April, this year’s six companies pitched the judging panel made up of local investors for a chance at the additional $100,000. The Accelerate Baltimore’s Investor Pitch Night was held at the Single Carrot Theatre and MyBestBox was the choice to receive the additional funding.

MyBestBox is a lifestyle brand that helps people jump-start and maintain healthy lifestyles in a way that is convenient and cost-effective. Their consumer product consists of boxes filled with essential items that cover a broad range of health and wellness areas. During the program, MyBestBox partnered with UberRUSH to deliver emergency health boxes to people 24/7, within an hour of the request. In addition to the company’s partnership with Uber, founder Fatima Dicko also won the Best Entrepreneur Award at this year’s Cupid’s Cup; a business plan and pitch competition sponsored by Under Armour’s Kevin Plank.

“The Accelerate Baltimore program has been instrumental in helping us work toward concrete and realistic goals.” Said Fatima Dicko, CEO of MyBestBox. “There are a million different things every startup can do, but by focusing only on tasks that ultimately advance a specific goal, the team can prioritize and ultimately become more effective.”

Visit the ETC's website to learn more about the programs and impact they are having on the City of Baltimore.

About the ETC: http://www.etcbaltimore.com
The ETC, a venture of the Baltimore Development Corporation, is a 501(c) (3) technology and innovation center focused on growing early-stage companies. The ETC provides three programs for entrepreneurs: a tech focused incubator, Incubate Baltimore, a seed accelerator program, Accelerate Baltimore and a coworking space open to innovative individuals and teams, Beehive Baltimore. The ETC promotes economic development, providing business, technical, and networking connections to help these companies grow. Since 1999, the ETC has provided assistance to over 350 companies, 85% of which are still in business, creating more than 2,500 jobs and raising more than $2.2 Billion in outside funding.

Jackie Albright, ETC, http://www.etcbaltimore.com, +1 631.219.4830, [email protected]