A pair of Greater Baltimore tech firms are using hundreds of thousands of dollars from the National Science Foundation to boost development of Covid-fighting technologies.
xMD Diagnostics Inc. of Baltimore and Zeteo Tech of Sykesville, were each awarded $256,000 NSF grants in August. The companies earned the grants through the Small Business Innovation Research program, which continues to seek proposals for research and development projects related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Zeteo, which specializes in biodefense and medical devices, will use the new funds to support research and development for its Covid-19 Fully Automated Disinfection System (CFADS), which can help rapidly disinfect public gathering spaces and transit vehicles such as aircraft and subway cars. xMD, which makes molecular diagnostics tools, will use the funds and its proprietary technology to develop a method that will increase the reliability of saliva-based coronavirus tests.
Below, check out some of the other honors, funds and deals Greater Baltimore tech firms raked in during August. And, as always, if there is any relevant news I may have missed or anything going on in the tech sphere you'd like to tell me about, reach out any time at meichensehr@bizjournals.com.
HONORED
Two Baltimore executives were named among the 11 Mid-Atlantic region winners of EY's Entrepreneur of the Year awards. Delali Dzirasa, CEO of software firm Fearless, and Nick Culbertson, CEO of health tech firm Protenus, were selected from an initial pool of 37 Mid-Atlantic finalists, including six from Maryland. They are now eligible for consideration for national awards, including the Entrepreneur of the Year National Overall Award, which will be announced in November.
FUNDED
Johns Hopkins University renewed the Catalyst and Discovery Awards — which have awarded $30 million to early career researchers and research teams since 2015 — with an additional three-year, $15 million commitment. The funding will support projects by about 830 Hopkins investigators, which have resulted in 29 patents and 250 scholarly publications so far.
Liatris Inc., a Baltimore startup developing new thermal insulation materials, raised a $1 million seed round led by the Maryland Momentum Fund and Old Line Capital. The company will use the funding to scale pilot samples of its first product, a non-flammable insulation board.
Plus Up LLC, a Crownsville tech firm, received a $100,000 loan from the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp. (AAEDC). The loan was awarded as part of the corporation's VOLT Growth Fund, which aims to help tech product companies grow revenue, accelerate sales and expand their workforce. Plus Up will use the loan to fund commercialization efforts for Goodtimer, an electronic educational toy that encourages kids to form healthy habits using positive reinforcement.
Loyola University Maryland was awarded a $54,852 grant from the Marion I. and Henry J. Knott Foundation to support the university’s efforts to expand outdoor Wi-Fi serving the college's campus and in the nearby community.
MindStand Technologies, a Catonsville startup that developed a platform to detect hate speech, harassment and other problematic language in companies' communications, won $10,000 in the Minority Innovation Weekend summer pitch competition, hosted by the National Society of Black Engineers – Baltimore Metropolitan Area Chapter. The company was selected for the award from a pool of over a dozen competitors. CyDeploy, a Baltimore cyber startup, won a Pitch Creator Hustle Award worth $1,000.
SIMPLi, a Baltimore ethically-sourced foods maker, secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding, which it will use to grow its national presence, and invest further in marketing, collaborations and partnerships. The round was led by the Abell Foundation, with participation from other investors including Seth Goldman, co-founder of Honest Tea and chair of the board for Beyond Meat. SIMPLi also announced its partnership with Whole Foods Markets, which will make its organic quinoa products available in 49 store locations.
LAUNCHED
Mindpub Cafe, housed in a flexible shared kitchen and workspace concept developed by Mindgrub Technologies CEO Todd Marks and Share Kitchen Bmore co-owner Nikki Marks-McGowan, has opened to serve the public. The cafe serves coffee, breakfast items, sandwiches, acai bowls, pastries and other fare Wednesday through Sunday. The Mindpub building in Riverside, which was previously home to the Rachel New American Cuisine restaurant, also has food business incubator space and is commonly used as an offsite workspace by Mindgrub employees.
Loyola University Maryland is launching a new angels fund next year, which will provide undergraduate students with the opportunity to gain investment experience and will increase access to capital, especially for minority and women entrepreneurs. The fund began raising an initial $100,000 in the spring and is now targeting $250,000. The Loyola Angels Fund will kick off next academic year.
BurnAlong, a Pikesville digital wellness company, launched a series of new fitness and wellness classes taught in Spanish. The programming expansion is part of BurnAlong’s commitment to make its classes more inclusive and accessible. The company's platform currently hosts more than 13,000 classes, featuring 2,000 instructors and reaching more than 75 countries.
Roger That, a Baltimore company making consumer goods for first responders and other everyday "heroes," has launched a new line of unisex grooming products made from natural ingredients, specifically designed for consumers who work in physically and emotionally demanding professions. The line includes body wash, shampoo, beard oil, pain balm and more.
LICENSED and CLEARED
Sisu Global Health, a Baltimore-based medical device firm, secured FDA clearance for its Hemafuse product, which is designed to quickly clean and transfuse a patient's own blood during an emergency procedure. The clearance will allow Sisu to distribute its device to the U.S Military and gives it the ability to sell Hemafuse in about 80 international markets, as many countries accept FDA clearance as the highest standard of regulatory clearance.
Empower Therapeutics Inc., a Baltimore medical device startup, has secured worldwide, exclusive rights to commercialize a brainwave biomarker technology that is jointly owned by the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Empower plans to use the tech, which analyzes brainwaves to determine an individual's sensitivity to pain, to develop a digital therapeutics platform for use in chronic pain therapy.
Pumas-AI, a Baltimore health tech startup, has been granted exclusive rights for enhancements to Pumas, a modeling platform that can be used to help pharmaceutical companies accelerate drug development. The company was spun out of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and utilizes tech licensed from the school.
PARTNERED
Personal Genome Diagnostics Inc. (PGDx), a Baltimore biotechnology firm, is collaborating with Tesis Labs, a Colorado company specializing in genetic sequencing. The companies will use their combined resources and expertise to create new genomics technologies to combat cancer and improve health outcomes for patients.
LifeBridge Health is partnering with Chicago-based Higi, which has 68 consumer health kiosks stationed in drug and grocery stores throughout Greater Baltimore. These local Higi Smart Health Stations will now feature the LifeBridge brand and provide relevant content developed by both partners, on topics ranging from disease prevention to high blood pressure and heart health.
MediGO, a Baltimore-based organ transplant logistics and communications firm, is partnering with Mid-America Transplant, an organization that facilitates and coordinates organ, tissue and eye donations in 84 counties throughout eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northeast Arkansas. The partnership will help transplant surgeons be able to closely monitor the progress and location of organs in transit.
