Grotech Ventures to invest $12M on behalf of state through InvestMaryland fund

Grotech Ventures, a Mid-Atlantic venture capital firm with offices in Hunt Valley, “will invest $12 million on behalf of the state through the InvestMaryland program,” reports MDBizNews, making Grotech the first venture partner with InvestMaryland.
According to a press release, Grotech will invest that money “in promising early-stage companies and, if successful, will return 100 percent of the principal and 80 percent of the profits to the State’s general fund.” The $12 million Grotech receives is just a piece of the larger $84 million InvestMaryland fund, money the state will dole out to “early-, mid- and late-stage growth companies” in life sciences, cybersecurity, cleantech, information technology and other industries. Venture capital firms like Grotech receive 67 percent of the general fund.

An investor in Advertising.com, Grotech has also invested in LivingSocial, which just last week “laid off 10 percent of its staff” and has “less than $50 million in cash left,” according to PandoDaily.
The press release says that Grotech “supports early-stage companies through investments starting at $500,000.”
Four companies so far have received InvestMaryland funding: Brainscope ($250,000), Maxtena ($560,000), Bambeco ($400,000) and PathSensors ($200,000).