Baltimore entrepreneurs hope big acquisitions draw further investment

In the wake of the second big purchase of a Columbia company in as many years, entrepreneurs are hoping for more Silicon Valley money at play in the Baltimore area.
The Baltimore Sun reports that local players are hoping the two acquisitions — Micros Systems (bought by Oracle last month) and Sourcefire (bought by Cisco Systems in 2013) — put Maryland more in the minds of investors.

“Maryland should hope to be an acquisition target,” said Mike Brenner, co-founder and chief executive of Betamore, a business incubator that opened in Baltimore last year. “To see recent acquisitions of Micros and Sourcefire in the billions of dollars shows that we are building incredibly valuable and long-lasting companies.”

State firms landed $645 million in venture capital funding last year, more than 44 other states, according to the Sun report.
Maryland already made a name for itself in one national study.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation recently named Maryland the top state for technology and entrepreneurship for the third straight year.