Category: Coworking/accelerator
Hutch is one of two Blazer Winners, an overall award given to companies that have gone above and beyond in their journey to grow and make an impact.
Baltimore startup incubator Hutch launched its fifth cohort in January, a group that brings the organization's total number of portfolio companies to 28 since its founding in 2019.
Now, armed with more than $1 million in new funding, Hutch is looking to broaden its reach and bring its business growth services and supports to other cities in the U.S. The incubator, spun out of local firm Fearless, aims to help minority and underrepresented entrepreneurs build and grow new technology firms with a focus on federal contracting.
"We would love to see a Hutch presence in every city where we have a Fearless presence. That's part of what we're looking at as part of our scale and growth model," Hutch program manager Stephanie Chin said.
The incubator also wants to add more programming and wraparound supports beyond its intensive two-year program, which Chin said might not always be the right fit for all startups. Ideas include a feeder program to help entrepreneurs get ready for Hutch's incubator, and continued supports for startups as they mature out of the program.
Hutch's most recent funding boost came from a federal grant that was matched by the Baltimore Development Corp. In addition to increasing its number of portfolio companies and adding new offerings, the money will also be used to grow the Hutch team.
The incubator's latest cohort is comprised of eight companies, most local to the mid-Atlantic, and sourced from a combination of marketing efforts, referrals and direct inquiries. Chin said Hutch is often approached by entrepreneurs who see the success and reputation Fearless has built within the government contracting sphere and want to know "how can I found a company like that? What's the secret sauce to scale?"
Once startups move through the incubator program, Fearless is intentional about bringing those companies onto its larger contracts or helping them win contracts of their own by leveraging Fearless' existing resources.
