This story was made possible through support from TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, which enhances economic empowerment growth through the fostering of an inclusive entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem. TEDCO identifies, invests in, and helps grow technology and life science-based companies in Maryland. Learn more at tedcomd.com.
Baltimore is seeing major investments reshape its waterfront and boost local research.
According to one economic development booster’s analysis, more than $3 billion has flowed into real estate projects like Harbor Point, Baltimore Peninsula, Rash Field Park and Harborplace. At the same time, Morgan State University hit a record $100 million in sponsored research, with its Center for Urban Health Disparities Research securing the largest award.
Other notable moves include Voyagier, a Baltimore startup that raised $1 million in pre-seed funding for its AI-powered travel agent and another South Baltimore childcare center listed for sale.
Read on for more on these investments, plus other money moves shaping Baltimore. First, here’s a look at the top 10 companies for open tech jobs in the region.
Morgan State breaks its funding record
Maryland’s largest HBCU has topped $100 million in sponsored research commitments in a single fiscal year — a first in the school’s 158-year history.
The secured funding represented an 18% increase from the year prior. Willie E. May, vice president for research and economic development at Morgan State, noted that when he arrived in 2018, the university lacked a strong foundation to support research.
“Over my tenure, I’ve worked with the president to build up that infrastructure to help support people write and submit research grants,” May told Technical.ly, “but also on the back end, once they got the grant, provide assistance and help them to carry out that research and monitor the progress.”
The largest award came from the National Institutes of Health and was granted to Morgan State’s Center for Urban Health Disparities Research, which studies health issues that disproportionately affect marginalized communities, particularly those in Baltimore.
Local startup bets on AI travel agents
Logging past trips, planning future ones and simplifying booking — that’s the vision behind Voyagier, a travel platform that recently received $1 million in pre-seed funding.
The company has built an AI-powered “trip-sync” feature that compiles a user’s travel history from booking confirmations, boarding passes and photos. It then uses this data to create a traveler profile, recommending new destinations and itineraries.
CEO Daniel Gardner, CEO of Voyagier, aims to expand the platform into end-to-end booking. While securing accommodations and tours online is common, booking flights for others requires travel agent certification. Gardner spent the past year obtaining those credentials and plans to use the new funding to develop an AI travel agent capable of handling all-in-one bookings.
“We want to be first on the market for it, so we’re agent agnostic … and we’re trying to build infrastructure that allows any AI agent to come in and book,” Gardner told Technical.ly.
Gardner, a Maryland native, secured funding from local angel investors and will launch a beta version of the service on Monday, August 18. He is seeking an additional $500,000 to build out the booking piece of the platform.
Major investments reshape Baltimore’s waterfront
More than $3 billion has been invested in mixed-use developments across Baltimore’s waterfront to revitalize downtown living and work, according to the Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC), an economic development organization.
The major developments include Harbor Point, which now features T. Rowe Price’s headquarters, apartments and greenspaces; Baltimore Peninsula, home to Under Armour’s global campus and a future University of Maryland satellite; Rash Field Park, an ongoing greenspace project; and Harborplace, set to bring retail, offices, an amphitheater, parks and nearly 900 apartment units to a 20-acre site.
“Baltimore is becoming a national leader in urban transformation,” said Mark Anthony Thomas, president and CEO of the GBC, in a press release. “These billion-dollar developments along our historic waterfront are a model for how public-private collaboration can improve a community for residents, workers, businesses and visitors alike.”
The projects are being led by developers like the Beatty Development Group, MAG Partners, MCB Real Estate and the nonprofit Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore.
Other money moves:
- The Baltimore Business Journal (BBJ) reported that Commercial Laundry Corporation is investing $15 million to build a new facility in Jessup, Maryland, aimed at significantly increasing processing capacity and efficiency.
- The Streetlite Christian Child Development Center in Federal Hill has been listed for sale at $1.95 million. This follows the recent sale of another nearby child care facility in Locust Point.
- Resident physicians at the University of Maryland Medical Center have secured a new union contract that includes a pay raise and improved benefits.
- Baltimore developer MCB Real Estate has partnered with a New York-based company for a new $100 million retail project in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn.
- DOOR Ventures, a risk management platform with offices in Sparks, Maryland, secured $600,000 in funding, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
TEDCO invests in several startups
The State of Maryland-founded investment vehicle put money into several Baltimore region businesses over the past couple of months.
- Baltimore-based biotech company Natáur received $250,000 through the Pre-Seed Builder Fund.
- PerVista, an AI-powered public safety startup, landed $200,000 through the same program. The company offers personalized security solutions to commercial, government and healthcare clients.
- Zero Point Five Therapeutics also received $350,000 from TEDCO’s evergreen Venture Funds. The Baltimore startup develops treatments for understudied tropical diseases.
