Four startups pitched venture capitalists in downtown Baltimore on Oct. 4 for a portion of $500,000 the VCs were doling out.
It was the inaugural Innovation Factory Summit, the local version of the ABC television show “Shark Tank,” organized and hosted by the Innovation Factory, a student group based at the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School “that provides support for Johns Hopkins affiliated students, alumni, faculty, employees, entrepreneurs, and startup businesses,” according to the HUB.
The startups that pitched at the first summit:
- Armoflage produces a botanical fragrance that doubles as insect repellent.
- BOSS Medical makes a “disposable device that will enable surgeons to more quickly and less invasively harvest autologous bone graft material.”
- Healthify helps health care organizations “get a richer picture of the issues their patients face and help link them with resources that can improve both their financial and physical conditions.” (Technical.ly Baltimore has covered Healthify here.)
- Hometrackr is a website for real estate that, like the automobile-history site Carfax, provides that data on a house’s condition, chain of ownership and contracts.
The startup groups that pitched at the summit were whittled down from 36 applicants, all of whom had to submit video pitches for their products or devices.
Watch a video about the Innovation Factory:
Join our growing Slack community
Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!
Donate to the Journalism Fund
Your support powers our independent journalism. Unlike most business-media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational contributions.

You've heard the term 'valuation' on 'Shark Tank.' What does it actually mean?

Ecommerce founder reveals how her startup raised millions and won international acclaim

This egalitarian angel syndicate in DC is removing barriers to investing
