Good News: January 2018

Startup News

• • Personal Genome Diagnostics (PGDx) has already had an eventful 2018. In addition to closing a $75 million Series B financing round, the startup taking space at FastForward 1812 announced it will open a second Baltimore office near its current headquarters. The Baltimore Sun, Technical.ly, Baltimore Business Journal

 

• • Dr. Krishnaj Gourab, the chair of the physical medicine department at Johns Hopkins Bayview, is a co-founder of ReHAP, a startup providing clinical decision support that is designed to make physical and occupational therapists more capable and the management of services easier. The Huffington Post interviewed Dr. Gourab to understand the inspiration behind ReHAP, the market opportunity and the potential outcomes of the technology. Huffington Post

 

• • Tissue Analytics has established an eight-person satellite office in Kansas City, Missouri to drive the strategy and sales for the company’s wound-measuring technology. With its headquarters still in Baltimore, the FastForward startup hopes to work with Cerner to build mobile applications that can interface with its electronic health records. MedCityNews, Baltimore Business Journal

 

• • Soon after announcing it would open a satellite office, Tissue Analytics shared that it closed a Series A that brought in $5 million. The company intends to make hires to grow its data analytics team in the first quarter of this year. Technical.ly, Baltimore Business Journal

 

• • Tissue Analytics was named one of 10 companies to watch at CES 2018, an annual consumer electronics showcase. Tissue Analytics cleared two hurdles to reach this opportunity. After a review of applications that selected 25 startups, the 4-year-old company finished in the top 10 of a pitch competition. Electronics 360

 

• • The FastForward startup Multisensor Diagnostics will participate in MassChallenge’s startup accelerator digital health program. Multisensor Diagnostics was one of 32 ventures selected from an international pool of more than 500 applicants. American Inno

 

• • M-1 Ventures celebrated the conclusion of its 12-week program with an event that featured presentations from each of the four startups in the accelerator’s inaugural cohort. Fitness platform BurnAlong and b.Well each received an extra $25,000 in funding. Technical.ly

 

• • A startup known as MileMarker is aiming to change medical education by introducing a real-time data-driven approach. Developed by surgeons from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the University of Maryland, MileMarker’s software ensures residents receive feedback from attending physicians immediately following a procedure. The Daily Record (Subscription required)

 

• • An Annapolis-based accelerator has accepted MileMarker as one of 10 teams for its inaugural cohort. A participant of M-1 Ventures, MileMarker is developing a real-time assessment tool designed to support surgical training. Baltimore Business Journal (Subscription required)

 

• • Hurricane Harvey devastated much of Texas, but emocha Mobile Health, a tenant of FastForward 1812, was able to provide a glimmer of good news. According to the CDC, the Texas Department of State Health Services used emocha’s telemedicine platform to ensure that 59 tuberculosis patients didn’t miss a single dose of their prescribed medication during and after the storm. MD Mag, Technical.ly

 

• • According to the CDC and other media outlets, emocha Mobile Health provided its remote monitoring platform to a mental health facility in Puerto Rico one year ago and has produced astounding results. Within six months, the 11 active tuberculosis patients and six latent tuberculosis patients using emocha demonstrated clinical improvements. Puerto Rico’s Department of Health declared the outbreak contained shortly after. CDC, MedCityNews

 

• • Allakos, a company based off of Johns Hopkins University IP, announced that it completed a $100 million Series B equity financing. The 5-year-old company is based in Fremont, California. Allakos

 

• • FastForward startup PathoVax secured several SBIR commercialization grants totaling $2.3 million. The 2-year-old Baltimore-based startup is focused on the development of a universal HPV vaccine and will use the funds to push its first product toward clinical trials. PathoVax, Baltimore Business Journal

 

• • NexImmune, a FastForward startup based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, announced that it raised $23 million to close its Series A financing. NexImmune is advancing immunotherapy products based on a proprietary platform developed at the Johns Hopkins University. NexImmune

 

• • Protenus was named one of the 10 best tech startups in Baltimore by The Tech Tribune. The FastForward startup headquartered in the Harbor East neighborhood is developing a solution that protects patient privacy through real-time detection of electronic medical record breaches. The Tech Tribune

 

• • CoolTech is moving closer to FDA approval for its noninvasive device that uses evaporative cooling to “trick” the human body into dropping its temperature, helping to bring down fever. The FastForward startup based in Baltimore’s Federal Hill neighborhood hopes to soon move its technology to clinical trials. I95 Business

 

• • Dracen Pharmaceuticals entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with the Johns Hopkins University and the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry. Dracen aims to use the technology to develop a platform that can develop anticancer therapies. Dracen

Social Ventures

• • A concept popular in Finland since the 1930s for protecting infants is gaining steam in Baltimore. Shantell Roberts, the CEO of Touching Young Lives, a Social Innovation Lab (SIL) alumnus, is reducing the city’s infant death rate by distributing padded cardboard boxes that provide a safe sleeping space for babies. The Baltimore Sun

 

• • Social Innovation Lab alumnus, Brittany Young won the first edition of Boss Up Baltimore. Young was one of seven African American entrepreneurs who pitched their businesses. Through B-360, Young is teaching STEAM skills to Baltimore youth using dirt bikes. Technical.ly

 

• • A dozen Baltimore social ventures received $24,000 from the Warnock Foundation to support their growth. Local philanthropist David Warnock funds 12 social innovation projects twice a year and also provides mentorship and workshops. Baltimore Business Journal

 

• • Ariel Hicks was recognized at Johns Hopkins’ 36th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration as one of eight recipients of the King Community Service Award. A research assistant for the school of medicine, Hicks received the award for her volunteer work with #popscope, a venture in the 2015-2016 SIL cohort. Nearly every week Hicks sets up a telescope in one of Baltimore’s communities and invites people to look at the stars, moon and planets.

Student Innovation

• • A fund started by Ralph S. O’Connor, a Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts and Sciences alumnus, and his wife, Becky, has supported five new undergraduate student ventures. Managed by FastForward U, the fund provides $5,000 and mentorship to support students pursuing entrepreneurship. Baltimore Business Journal (Subscription required), JHTV

 

• • Johns Hopkins University sophomore Travis Chan is developing the “Swiss Army Knife of desktop prototyping.” Called VersaMaker, the device upgrades the standard 3-D printer by adding a number of other abilities like computer numerical control (CNC) milling, laser engraving and standard liquid printing. Chan, a recipient of the O’Connor award, aims to address inefficiencies in the “making” world. Baltimore Business Journal (Subscription required)

Johns Hopkins News

• • On Feb. 1, Kevin W. Sowers will assume the role of president of the Johns Hopkins Health System and executive vice president of Johns Hopkins Medicine. Sowers, formerly the president and CEO of Duke University Hospital, is replacing Ronald R. Peterson, who is retiring after 44 years at Johns Hopkins. Baltimore Business Journal

 

• • In its first year of a commitment to strengthening Baltimore by creating economic opportunities, Blocal has already surpassed its three-year goal. Johns Hopkins and the 24 other Baltimore-area companies have invested more than $86 million locally. Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J. Daniels says, “We are emboldened by the early progress of Blocal, and yet we know well that our work is far from done.” The Hub

 

• • Johns Hopkins University’s Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media awarded nine area women filmmakers $400,000 to help them develop and produce their films within a year’s time. Baltimore Business Journal

 

• • Investor Bill Miller is making a $75 million gift to Johns Hopkins University’s philosophy department. The gift may be the largest ever to a collegiate philosophy department. The money will help grow the department from 13 full-time faculty members to 22, and it will add $10 million to endowed support for philosophy graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Baltimore Business Journal

Baltimore News

• • The University of Maryland, Baltimore is opening a new innovation space called the GRID inside the Lion Brothers building on Hollins Street. It will have 6,200 square feet of offices, meeting rooms and co-working space to support technology startups. Baltimore Business Journal, Technical.ly

 

• • Light City announced that its Labs@Light City innovation conference has adopted a pay-what-you-can model for 2018. According to the event’s chairwoman Jamie McDonald, the change is designed to ensure the event is accessible to anyone who wants to participate. Technical.ly, Baltimore Business Journal

 

• • The Minority Business Pre-Seed Fund, an initiative by TEDCO and the Harbor Bank Community Development Corporation, announced that three minority-led startup companies would receive $40,000 in capital. Technical.ly

 

• • Minority-led startups began moving into Harbor Bank of Maryland’s new downtown co-working space on December 22. The 6,000-square-foot space intends to provide affordable private offices and individual workstations to community’s entrepreneurs. Baltimore Business Journal

 

• • Baltimore’s Camden Partners Holdings announced the close of its Nexus fund, which invests in early-stage biomedical technology companies, including those emerging from Johns Hopkins. It has already made investments in Sisu Global Health, Ashvattha Therapeutics and Personal Genome Diagnostics among others. Baltimore Sun, Technical.ly

 

• • Zagat named Baltimore one of its top dining destinations in the United States. The publication cited the city’s array of options “from tony cocktail lounges and white tablecloth bistros to hipster beer bars and food halls.” Zagat

 

• • Baltimore is a top destination for 2018, according to The New York Times. The publication listed Baltimore 15th on its list of 52 places to go, citing the city’s “packed cultural calendar” that includes events for the 200th birthday of Frederick Douglass. The New York Times

 

• • Does Silicon Valley have a monopoly on entrepreneurship? More and more, venture capitalists are looking outside of traditional innovation ecosystems to identify promising businesses. Venture Capitalist Patrick McKenna, for example, has identified opportunities in Ohio, Michigan, Montana and Maryland. His Baltimore-area investments include two FastForward startups, emocha Mobile Health and FactoryFour. Financial Times

 

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