Asset rich, strategy poor?

Newsletter for May 30, 2024

If you're reading this newsletter right as we sent it out, I'm probably downtown at the Equitech Accelerator's demo day. Please say hi if you're around!

In that spirit, we highlight below the results of the latest pitch competition from 2Gether-International, a DC-based accelerator for founders with disabilities. We also point to some recent chats with two of the regional economy's biggest boosters. Check it all out, and catch me back in your inbox on Monday.

— Sameer, Technical.ly editor for Baltimore and DC

The quote above came from Gov. Wes Moore, about 90 days into his tenure as Maryland's chief executive. His administration made a ton of moves since then to foster and support the cross-sector collaboration he believes can supercharge the state's economic development.

Look back at this stage of his tenure via recently released video from last year's Maryland Economic Development Administration conference with Tammi Thomas of TEDCO (a Technical.ly client). You can also watch one of Thomas' more recent interviews with another figurehead of the city's economic aspirations: Colin Tarbert, president and CEO of the Baltimore Development Corporation.

➡️ Find those discussions in my latest article.

Earlier this week, DC-based 2Gether-International wrapped its latest accelerator cohort for founders with disabilities by hosting a virtual pitch competition. Argentinian startup Cboard's multilingual alternative communication tool, presented by a founder whose experience with ALS inspired the platform, won a $10,000 seed round for its innovation.

The accelerator is just one of 2Gether-International's programs to uplift entrepreneurs with disabilities. CEO and founder Diego Mariscal, one of our 2024 RealLIST Connectors, drove home a major point of the organization's work: that disabilities are not some problem to be "fixed," but a real entrepreneurial asset.

"This is only the beginning, right?" he said. "There’s a movement being created by these entrepreneurs.”

➡️ Learn more about the pitch competition winners in Kaela's story.

• Local cybersecurity tentpole ZeroFox followed its recent $350 million acquisition by a private equity firm by hiring a new CEO and CFO. [Biz Journal]

• In his third appearance in this newsletter, Gov. Moore went to Washington to discuss the Key Bridge collapse and recovery with President Joe Biden. [Baltimore Sun]

• Baltimore-based Amber Ivey has taken the youth AI literacy mission that guided her children's book, "AI… Meets… AI," into a new podcast for listeners of all ages. [AiDigiTales]

• NextStep Robotics, a University of Maryland BioPark-based company working on new products for stroke rehabilitation, recently won the 2024 Pitch Dingman Competition's $200,000 grand prize. [UM BioPark]

• Johns Hopkins engineers launched an assessment of American bridges, with a focus on those near principal ports, that could spur infrastructural investments ahead of another tragedy like the Key Bridge collapse. [Johns Hopkins]

• Morgan State University just received an over-$1 million, three-year grant to support research and programming on cryptocurrency, blockchain, AI and machine learning. Morgan State is the only HBCU in the University Blockchain Research Initiative, whose parent Ripple awarded the money. [Baltimore Banner]