DC weekly roundup: Test this new social app; a $1.3B quarter; Amazon HQ2 risks missing job target

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This week in DC, an activities-based social app is giving Washingtonians the chance to test it before its regional launch next month. Plus, look inside the $1.3 billion that VCs poured into the DMV last quarter — and who it actually benefits.

Read on for Technical.ly’s weekly roundup of top regional news.

📰 News Incubator: What else to know

• Meet the startups competing for $10k from a DMV initiative for women founders. [Technical.ly]

• DC and the Washington Commanders unveiled a multibillion-dollar deal to build a new facility replacing RFK Stadium. The proposal outlines building an entertainment district, including developing a new neighborhood on the Anacostia River. The DC Council still needs to approve the plans. [51st/Axios]

• Tackling digital equity is a daunting task. Lo Smith, executive director of the Baltimore Digital Equity Coalition, acknowledges the severity of the problem and walked us through their career fighting for it. [Technical.ly] 

• Gov. Wes Moore signed a deal with the Department of Defense to make the East Coast’s first quantum tech hub in Maryland. The Capital Quantum Benchmarking Hub in the University of Maryland’s Discovery District uses funds separate from the $17.5 million the recently passed 2025-2026 state budget earmarked for the Capital of Quantum initiative. [UMD/Technical.ly/Washington Biz Journal]

• Amazon HQ2 may not hit its target of 25,000 new jobs by 2030. The tech giant has created 7,000 new positions after roughly 6 years [Washington Post]

• Social Security Administration workers are being asked to use a new generative AI chatbot. But its instruction video fails to tell staff not to input any personally identifiable information. [WIRED]

• Montgomery County residents may see their income taxes go up in an effort to fund the school system’s budget and avoid cuts elsewhere. [Maryland Matters]

• Goldschmitt and Associates, an IT firm in Sterling, may have to lay off more than half of its 400-person workforce if a contract with the Small Business Administration doesn’t get renewed. [Washington Biz Journal]

• Professional services and consulting giant EY included several DMV companies’ founders in its Entrepreneur Of The Year finalists, including those behind Virtru in DC and Raft in McLean. [EY/Technical.ly]

🗓️ On the Calendar

• Partner event: Are you a Salesforce expert, or trying to be? The annual MidAtlantic Dreamin’ conference invites tech folks from across the region for a day of learning, brainstorming, networking and fun in Philadelphia on May 5. [Register Here]

• DC Climate Week is running today through Friday, May 2, across the region. [Details here]

• Hear student founders pitch their startups at a demo day on April 29 hosted by Georgetown Ventures. [Details here]

• Meet fellow geographic information system technologists in the DMV at a meetup on April 30. [Details here]

• Connect with fellow life sciences experts at the next industry-focused meetup on May 1. [Details here]

• Mingle with founders and technologists from abroad at La Tech DMV’s next meetup on May 1. [Details here]

• Check out Innovation Day on May 7 during DMV Small Business Week. [Details here]

• DC Tech Meetup’s next event takes place in partnership with Arlington Economic Development on May 8 and focuses on companies in AI and big data. [Details here]