TEDCO Announces New Urban Business Innovation Initiative

Designed to provide technical and business assistance to underserved early-stage companies in Maryland’s key urban areas

COLUMBIA, Md. (November 16, 2021)—TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced the launch of a new program called the Urban Business Innovation Initiative (UBII). It’s designed to provide technical and business assistance to underserved early-stage companies in the state’s key urban areas. The program will provide valuable connections to entrepreneurs through its collaborative partners’ resources and funding, guidance in developing technologies for commercialization, and general business assistance for continuous growth. 

Support provided to entrepreneurs through the UBII program includes I-Corps, UBII project funding, the Builder Fund, partner programs, and other critical pathways to funding, education and guidance. UBII also features an experienced venture growth advisor in Prince George’s County, Tiffany Davis, and Baltimore City, Tammira Lucas, facilitating connections for entrepreneurs to the collaborative partners.

“With our well-established Rural Business Innovation Initiative (RBII), we’ve seen many entrepreneurs benefit from the support of our mentors,” said Troy LeMaile-Stovall, TEDCO CEO. “Building off the RBII model, we wanted to expand our focus to the entrepreneurs in some of our key urban areas of the state. Through our venture growth advisors, we are able to develop more partnerships and connections from Maryland’s resources to its entrepreneurs and continue our focus of knitting together the state’s ecosystem for a more sustainable future.”

Current collaborative partners in Prince George’s County include: 

1. Bowie Business Innovation Center (Bowie BIC)
2. Bowie State University
3. Employ Prince George’s
4. Maryland Energy Innovation Accelerator
5. Maryland Entrepreneur Hub
6. Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation
7. Prince George’s Community College
8. Small Business Development Center – Maryland (SBDC)
9. TEDCO
10. University of Maryland

Current collaborative partners in Baltimore City include: 

1. Abell Foundation
2. Baltimore Development Corporation
3. Baltimore Community Lending
4. Baltimore Together
5. Baltimore Tracks
6. City of Baltimore
7. Conscious Venture Labs
8. Coppin State University
9. Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore
10. Goldman Sachs
11. Hutch
12. Innovation Works
13. Maryland Entrepreneur Hub
14. Morgan State University
15. Open Works
16. Robert Wallace
17. SBDC Maryland
18. TEDCO
19. University of Baltimore
20. UpSurge Baltimore

“Our venture growth advisors and collaborative partners are key to the growth of this program,” said Jack Schammel, assistant director, RBII and UBII. “Entrepreneurs need more resources and funding, and this program is designed to make these connections easier.” 

Start-up companies or interested collaborative partners should connect with one of our venture growth advisors or visit https://www.tedcomd.com/resources/urban-business-innovation-initiative for more information. To meet our venture growth advisors and find out more about the program, watch the UBII Open Forum on TEDCO’s YouTube Channel at https://youtu.be/aWwXMAUmd6I.