The Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) has launched a tech accelerator to introduce promising technologies to an industry that plays such a vital role in the county's economy: hospitality.
The accelerator debuted this week with a cohort of six companies, all developing technologies focused on sustainability. MCEDC chose sustainability as the theme of the first cohort after noticing that homegrown companies like Bethesda's Marriott International Inc. and Rockville's Choice Hotels International Inc. had been setting aggressive targets for things like reducing waste and lowering carbon emissions.
Marriott (NASDAQ: MAR), for example, has said that by 2025 it wants to reduce food waste by 50% and generate a minimum of 30% of its energy from renewable sources. Choice Hotels (NYSE: CHH) has set its own sustainability initiatives, such as phasing out the use of single-use polystyrene by 2023 and eliminating single-use shampoos and other bath amenities by 2025.
"Future cohorts will likely address different technological elements of the hospitality industry, but we're going to cross that bridge when we get there," Patty Simonton, strategic initiatives manager for the MCEDC. "We're really looking to strengthen the relationships that we have with some of the hot hotel brands here, connect with their innovation leads, align as best we can and say, hey, 'how can we help you fill any of the gaps that you have?'"
MCEDC geared its accelerator toward the hospitality sector because the county is home to a number a large companies that develop and own hotels or provide services to them.
They include real estate investment trusts Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NASDAQ: HST), Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT) and B.F. Saul Company Hospitality Group, as well as Sodexo, a French-owned food services company whose local headquarters is in Gaithersburg.
The six companies in the first cohort will participate in a 10-week accelerator in which they they will given guidance on how to refine their technology and eventually make their pitches to hospitality firms' senior leaders.
“Our goal is really to help with that final step,” said Simonton. “[Companies] have solutions but if they're not familiar with the hotel industry and the complexities involved in doing business with these industries or with these companies, it's going to be very difficult for them to navigate. What we've done is really developed a whole mentor network of hotel industry experts who will help them navigate through that labyrinth.”
The six companies are:
- Ecotone Renewables, a Pittsburgh-based sustainable waste management company that provides an on-site automated solution for converting food waste into methane gas and liquid fertilizer.
- H2O Connected LLC, a Coatesville, Pennsylvania, company that develops products to detect, alert, and quantify types of water loss problems that can occur in a tank toilet.
- Liatris, a Bethesda company that mass produces thermal insulation.
- INOVUES, a Houston company that makes existing windows more energy efficient.
- PACE AI, a Philadelphia startup that uses machine learning and AI to to retrofit HVAC units and monitor energy use and carbon emissions in commercial buildings.
- Re Company, a New York company that makes reusable packaging and has developed software management to help companies lower packaging costs and reduce waste.
Bethesda Green, a sustainability-focused nonprofit, and the international C-suite networking group Growth Advisors International Network, are partnering with MCEDC to provide mentorship to founders and other senior leaders of the six participating startups.
The program will culminates in a pitch day on June 21 at the Maryland—National Capital Park and Planning Commission Headquarters building in Wheaton, Maryland.
