Baltimore city startups win in Eastern Shore Business Plan Competition

One winner and two runners-up were crowned in the second annual Eastern Shore Business Plan Competition, including two Baltimore-based startups.

• 1st place ($20,000): BakeSale, a Gaithersburg-based startup that allows people to donate to charities directly from social media sites and blogs. For winning, BakeSale moves directly into the semi-final round of this year’s InvestMaryland Challenge competition.
• 2nd place ($10,000): Asurvest, a Baltimore city startup that promotes itself as an affordable alternative for individual investors in financial markets.
• 3rd place ($5,000): Advancing Synergy LLC, another Baltimore city startup that is developing health IT software for use in public health, in the hopes that patients from lower socioeconomic classes receive the same health information as those with the money to afford better care.

Prizes were distributed in cash and services so the three startups can “turn their innovations into business enterprises on Maryland’s Eastern Shore,” according to a press release.