ETC’s AccelerateBaltimore Names 5th Cohort of Startups and will Award a Total of $150,000 to Six Companies and an Additional $100,000 to One Winner
Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) January 07, 2016 -- The ETC (Emerging Technology Centers), Baltimore City’s award-winning technology and innovation centers, announced today that the following six companies have been accepted into its AccelerateBaltimore™ 2016 program:
● ClassTracks- a blended learning platform for foreign language classrooms that helps teachers and students spend less time drilling and more time communicating;
● Fusiform- a software company seeking to revolutionize the fabrication of orthotic devices to make them better and faster;
● Loople- a mobile marketplace connecting potential customers with local bars and restaurants that best fit their interests;
● mybestbox- a consumer products and data analytics platform that helps people jump-start and maintain healthier lifestyles in a convenient and affordable way;
● Point3 Security- a cybersecurity company with a technology that detects hacker tactics, Odile was engineered to stop the trend of 'Sophisticated Attacker Breaches Enterprise - Steals Data’;
● Strajillion- a mobile application, RAKKOON helps start conversations around social media by notifying you and your kids about concerning content and behavior.
“We broke a record this year with over 125 high-quality applications in just over two months; great news and a showcase for Baltimore,” said Deb Tillett, ETC’s President. “As in other years, selections were based on technical competence, feasibility, quality of the management team, scalability, competition, and whether $25K and ETC’s great program can increase these startups’ trajectory,” she concluded.
This is the fifth year in which the ETC, in partnership with the Abell Foundation, will be running AccelerateBaltimore. Each of the six companies above will be awarded $25,000 in seed funding and four months of programming supplied by the ETC. At the end of the program, companies will pitch for an additional $100,000, but only one will be awarded. After looking extensively at early stage funding trends in the current market, ETC concluded that additional funding would enhance the probability that these companies would create success. In just four months, AccelerateBaltimore aims to close the gap between having an innovative idea and being able to get that idea to market quickly. Robert Embry, President of the Abell Foundation, has been a big supporter from the beginning, “Cultivating top talent and promoting technology innovation are the hallmarks of AccelerateBaltimore. It is a testament to the program that the competition has helped draw attention to Baltimore City as a great place to grow a startup company,” he said. The 125 applicants this application cycle were a 62% increase from last year’s applicant pool.
To date, 22 companies have gone through the program and successfully raised $10 million in follow on funding. The AccelerateBaltimore program ends with Demo Day on April 27, 2016, an event hosted by ETC attended by angel investors, venture capitalists, the press, and the Baltimore tech community at large. Companies that have successfully graduated from AccelerateBaltimore include Allovue, NewsUp, PrintLess Plans, Artichoke, Unbound Concepts, Survey Snap, Full Society, and Brinkbit, among others.
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About the ETC
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 promotes economic development, providing business, technical, and networking connections to help these companies grow. Since 1999, ETC has provided assistance to over 350 companies, 87% of which are still in business, creating more than 2,500 jobs and have raised over $2 billion in outside funding.
Jacqueline Albright, Community Relations, ETC, http://www.etcbaltimore.com, +1 (631) 219-4830, [email protected]
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