Johns Hopkins’ Pava Center picks promising startups in AI, healthcare and music 

This month, the Baltimore region saw an abundance of leadership moves and local accelerator announcements. 

The Pava Marie LaPere Center for Entrepreneurship announced a new cohort of student teams for its latest accelerator program. In addition, LaPere’s ecosystem tech-building EcoMap Technologies is growing its leadership team and several local business, government and tech leaders made hiring announcements. 

Check out the latest stats on what tech skills local employers want the most, then scroll down for details on some of the region’s biggest power moves.

Pava Center announces latest accelerator cohort

The entrepreneurship support facility out of Johns Hopkins University recently welcomed the fall cohort of its Fuel Accelerator. The program is designed for later-stage ventures and is aimed at students from the university’s campuses at all levels of education. 

The center, named after the late Pava LaPere, chose 10 teams out of nearly 50 applicants in a competitive cycle, per a press release.  

“This year, I am excited and proud to have a diverse range of ventures,” associate director Paul Davidson said. “We have teams from five of the 9 Johns Hopkins schools and several industries — this diversity and interdisciplinary nature will make the semester a success.” 

The selected teams range in focus from one using AI to lower patients’ medical costs to a digital platform to boost musical education. It’s an in-person program where students will meet twice a week. 

That isn’t the only accelerator in the works at Johns Hopkins: Members of Spark, an early-stage accelerator track, will soon be announced and leaders are actively sorting through applications. Like Fuel, it was a packed applicant pool. 

"This was our highest application cycle to date, we've selected 45 student teams to Spark this fall. Students from undergraduate to PhDs are working for a diverse range of ideas from education technology, consumer goods and medical technology, to name a few,” Sephora Saint-Armand, the Spark program’s associate director, wrote to Technical.ly. “We are looking forward to guiding these ideators as they plan their path from idea to market."

EcoMap expands its leadership team

The software company, which specializes in products for entrepreneurial ecosystems, announced several key hires in September, appointing a new head of growth, chief marketing officer and chief financial officer. 

Founded by LaPere, the firm also recently held its first SuperConnect conference in late September.  

James Feagin was hired as EcoMap’s head of growth, for which he’s tasked with expanding the company’s customer base. Feagin previously worked on projects aiming to advance equity in entrepreneurship and philanthropy in the Detroit region. He’s also a founder and managing partner at Black Bottom Ventures, which is focused on inclusive founder growth. 

“EcoMap is on a mission to democratize access to entrepreneurship, which, when we succeed, will have a tremendous effect on inequity,” Feagin said in an announcement. “We are also a business, so driving sustainability and growth is a core part of our work. This impacts the way we deliver for our clients and, ultimately, the end user.”

The company also announced Erica Drohan will join as CFO. She worked as an investor earlier in her career, and EcoMap is the third startup she’s been with. 

Heather Fields, who comes to the team as CMO, most recently worked as the director of global product marketing management at PayPal, where she focused on go-to market strategy. She’s also led several startups over the last few decades. 

“EcoMap is at an inflection point with a passionate team growing quickly and launching new features,” Fields said in a press release. “Our mission is to make information more accessible and transparent, something I understand firsthand as a supporter of eager but frustrated innovators who are trying to figure out how to navigate disconnected resources.”

More leadership moves

• The interim CEO of Baltimore County’s Securityplus Federal Credit Union launched a company, called VeroTerra, that uses AI to measure customer satisfaction, the Baltimore Business Journal reported.
• The Enoch Pratt Free Library hired a new president and CEO. Chad Helton previously led libraries in Minnesota and California.
• Justin Tepe, a local cannabis lawyer, is launching his own boutique firm in Columbia that will serve Maryland and DC. 
• The cybersecurity training center BCR Cyber announced several leadership changes to build out its workforce development team. Dr. Jodi Gonzalez was hired as assistant vice president of workforce development, with Laurie Williams also joining as assistant director of that department. Khadejah Lovelace was additionally promoted to government programs director. 
• The healthcare innovation accelerator Healthworx announced the first 20-strong cohort of its rebranded program.
• Baltimore Business Journal Editor-in-Chief Joanna Sullivan, who has been in the role since 1999, is moving to a senior editor position at the American City Business Journals chain.
• Catonsville- and Windsor Mill-headquartered government contractor RELI Group hired Saeed Elnaj as its new chief information officer. Elnaj previously worked as a customer success manager at Amazon Web Services.