BALTIMORE BUSINESS JOURNAL

Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO) has invested a total of $450,000 in eight different companies, all led by women, veteran or minority founders.

The state-backed funding organization launched the Builder Fund in 2018. It is specifically aimed at offering early-stage investments and other supports to Maryland-based "economically disadvantaged" startups, namely minority and women-owned firms that traditionally face social and economic barriers in trying to access capital. The fund also teams experienced senior executives with companies to help guide them toward growth goals. The goal is to provide portfolio companies with enough runway and support to help them become better positioned for later, larger follow-on investments.

Previously, TEDCO has made nine investments through the Builder Fund since its inception. Collectively, those investments represented $400,000.

Here are the latest additions to the Builder Fund portfolio:

• $100,000 to ClearMask — This Baltimore City startup produces and sells fully transparent medical face masks designed to improve communication between patients and surgeons. It was founded by a deaf woman.

• $50,000 to CarrTech — This woman-led Frederick firm is developing a medical needle that allows for faster and easier filtering than traditional technologies.

• $50,000 to Emergency Medical Innovation – This Howard County firm is developing a patented nosebleed treatment device. It is founded and led by a female emergency physician.

• $50,000 to IPGen — This Prince George’s County company, led by a Black man, is developing a patented software service that predicts whether a claim will be allowed or rejected by an examiner at the patent office.

• $50,000 to JuneBrain — This woman-led Montgomery County company is developing a wearable headset designed to allow neurologists to remotely track multiple sclerosis flare-ups in patients and their responses to treatment.

• $50,000 to PediaMetrix — This Montgomery County firm sells diagnostic software for assessing the occurrence and degree of a condition called flat head syndrome, as well as aiding in and tracking treatment. Its founder and CEO is a woman.

• $50,000 to PerSoN Clinic — This woman-led Montgomery County firm is developing a virtual care platform that provides individualized treatment for cancer, depression and smoking addiction patients, as well as contextual data for researchers.

• $50,000 to Pet Connect — This Montgomery County company provides business management software to pet service providers and an online marketplace for pet owners.

TEDCO has promised Maryland legislators it would make a concerted effort to increase its support of minority- and women-owned startups through its investments moving forward. The pledge followed the release of a report in which TEDCO disclosed that none of the handful of startup companies that have received investments in 2019 through its Maryland Venture Fund or seed fund programs have self-reported as being a minority- or women-owned business.

The Builder Fund is a key aspect of TEDCO's strategy for increasing support of disadvantaged founders.

“[These] investments demonstrate our focus on investing in companies where our support can have a consequential impact on a companies ability to grow in industry sectors that are critical to Maryland’s economic development,” Linda Singh, TEDCO's interim CEO, said in a statement.

The need for a fund solely focused on funding women and minority-led startups is further highlighted by national data indicating more than 77.1% of the founders that have earned VC funding over the past five years were white. According to a study published by RateMyInvestor and DiversityVC last year, just 1% of founders who earned venture backing in that period were Black. Women founders represent about 2% of annual VC earned, according to Pitchbook.

Singh said TEDCO hopes to continue to expand its investment activity among startups led by underrepresented founders. For now, though, the Builder Fund's capacity is limited by its state funding allotment. The fund gets about $800,000 per year, which is used to cover administrative costs of evaluating and making investment deals in addition to funding companies. Any expansion in funding would have to be approved and allocated by state government officials.