See the winners of the 2015 TechAwards

The Baltimore-area tech community got all dressed up Thursday, March 26 for the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council’s annual TechAwards. Held at the Hilton Baltimore Hotel, the gala celebrated its tenth edition with the theme “Connect with Confidence.” Maryland Secretary of Business and Economic Development R. Michael Gill spoke to open the festivities.
Under Armour was honored with the Legend’s Circle Company Award. Sara Hester, who is the company’s Senior Manager of Product Strategy and Activation for Connected Fitness, accepted the award on behalf of the company. The award is another sign of the apparel giant’s growing tech influence.

Advertising.com/Videology cofounder Scott Ferber was presented with the Legend’s Circle Individual Award for his leadership in the tech ecosystem. AOL/Advertising.com’s Paris Pittman (center) accepted the award on behalf of Ferber.

Then it was on to the awardees who were chosen by a 13-member selection committee from the full slate of nominees.

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TECH COMPANY OF THE YEAR: 2U

2U was named Tech Company of the Year. The Landover-based edtech company has partnerships with universities like Yale, UC Berkeley and Georgetown, offering online degree programs through its cloud-based SaaS platform.

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INNOVATOR AWARD: BTS Software Solutions

CEO David Tohn (center) accepted the Innovator of the Year Award on behalf of BTS Software Solutions. The Columbia software development firm works with apps, applied cognitive science research and more.

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RISING STAR AWARD: VersaTech

CEO Jason Peay (second from right) accepts the award on behalf of VersaTech. The Columbia-based IT contractor has public and private clients in a variety of areas like cybersecurity, big data analytics, cloud computing and healthcare.

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BEST PLACE TO WORK: Groove Commerce

CEO Ethan Giffin (second from right) accepted the award on behalf of Groove Commerce. The digital marketing agency’s 10,000-square-foot office on Central Avenue — complete with a bar — continues to impress. The company’s growing client list, which now has a file just for million-dollar businesses, probably doesn’t hurt, either.

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WOMEN IN TECH AWARD: Angela A. Brown

Angela A. Brown (center) was presented the Women in Tech Award. Brown is the CEO and founder of Victory Global Solutions. According to the TechAwards: “Leading the Victory team of technologists, Angela has worked with diverse clients as the catalyst to achieve significant accomplishments in business modeling and business process implementation; business-aligned IT strategies, architectures; and protocols resulting in performance improvements.”

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FUTURE INNOVATOR AWARD: Clayton Cobb

Clayton Cobb (center) was presented a $1,000 check for winning the Future Innovator Award. Cobb is a senior at South River High School in Anne Arundel County. He is in charge of the school’s Power Hawks Robotics team, and is involved with the STEM education initiative, Project Lead the Way.