Startups
Baltimore Angels / Entrepreneurs / Investing / Startups

City doesn’t understand ‘needs of early-stage’ startups: angel investor Roger London

This is Technically Baltimore's Better Know an Angel. We hope to use this space to highlight local angel investors investing in Baltimore-based startups.

Update 5/15/13 2:10 p.m.: The group of angel investors associated with the University of Maryland is the Dingman Center Angels, and not the Capital Access Network (what the group was originally called), as this article previously stated. We've corrected the piece.

This is Technically Baltimore’s Better Know an Angel. We hope to use this space to highlight local angel investors investing in Baltimore-based startups. If you’re an angel investor interested in being profiled here, complete this questionnaire.
Angel investor Roger London, 53, said Baltimore “needs significant help with early-stage” startups.
Roger London.That’s probably one of the reasons he’s actively involved with both the Baltimore Angels and the Dingman Center Angels out of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland, College Park.
For his day job, he runs “a small firm selling enterprise software.” Find London on LinkedIn here.
Where do you live?
Howard County
What did you do before becoming an angel investor?
A variety of things: corporate venture capitalist, merchant banker, incubator manager and technology scout.
Name the top three things you consider before investing in a startup.

  1. Can I add value?
  2. Is the technology compelling?
  3. Is the team capable of executing?

Name one local company you’ve recently invested in.
Oculis Labs, the Hunt Valley based computer security software firm
Why do you invest in Baltimore-based companies?
[I] like the city [and] want it to prosper, and it needs significant help with early-stage tech companies. [The] city (and state) do not understand most vital needs of early-stage tech companies, and misunderstand how to leverage innovation.
What’s one thing you would change about the startup scene in Baltimore?
I would get the large companies like Under Armour, Constellation, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Hospital, University System of Maryland, T. Rowe Price, Laureate, Legg Mason, Ciena, etc., to establish pilot programs to evaluate innovative technology they would be buying anyway. I did this successfully for years as a tech scout.
How can entrepreneurs get in touch?
Time is limited, but I meet with entrepreneurs that have been referred to me by trusted sources (fellow angels, lawyers, serial entrepreneurs, etc.).

Companies: Under Armour / University of Maryland College Park / Bio-Rad Laboratories / LinkedIn
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