TEDCO is letting entrepreneurs get some face time in College Park

Funding, and how to get it, are major concerns for entrepreneurs — especially in a year that’s seeing VC deals and valuations come back to Earth and scarcity of funds force tech companies to start laying people off. In an economy that’s battening down the hatches against a possible recession, getting some facetime with a major Maryland funder — and some of the companies the organization has funded — is a good idea to have at the top of your to-do list.

TEDCO, the State of Maryland-backed agency that provides early-stage tech funding and support to startups, is hosting its Investment Annual Meeting in the DC suburbs tomorrow afternoon. There, CEO Troy LeMaile-Stovall and his colleagues will be hosting recipients of investments from its various dedicated funds. Several of those beneficiaries, including  CyDeploy founder Tina Williams-Koroma and EcoMap Technologies cofounder Sherrod Davis, will be presenting.

It could be an opportunity for founders to pick other Maryland companies and TEDCO leadership’s brains about what makes a startup standout and receive funding from the Columbia-based investment entity. The presenting companies — including the aforementioned Baltimore-based startups, Bethesda’s SkySquad and Gaithersburg’s Givhero — come from various parts of the state.

The event takes place at The Hotel at The University of Maryland in College Park, running from noon until 7 p.m. Festivities commence with lunch, after which LeMaile-Stovall will host one of his TEDCO Talks with CEO Myra Norton of Baltimore-based Arena Analytics. The panels on each fund start afterward with Social Impact Funds followed by Seed Funds and then Venture Funds. These panels and presentations come before closing remarks, after which TEDCO will hold a two-hour networking reception.