Johns Hopkins, Eastern Shore Entrepreneurship Center win federal grant funding

A pair of Maryland efforts to spur tech and entrepreneurship in the region were among those to receive grants from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) this week.

The funding for Johns Hopkins Tech Ventures and the Eastern Shore Entrepreneurship Center came through EDA’s Regional Innovation Strategies i6 Challenge.

Our #RIS i6 Challenge aspires to increase productivity and accelerate growth through #entrepreneurship that translates innovations, ideas, intellectual property & applied research into new businesses & new #jobs. More about our 2019 i6 Challenge grantees: https://t.co/Q1jUZl55rD pic.twitter.com/v46ur2LMEd

— EDA (@US_EDA) July 24, 2019

EDA announced Johns Hopkins Tech Ventures was awarded a grant to develop a regional digital health initiative. The Baltimore university’s technology commercialization team plans to launch the Chesapeake Regional Digital Health Exchange, according to info from the EDA.

The federal share of the grant totals $633,546. A local match is providing another $653,525, according to the U.S. government.

Focusing on the Chesapeake region as including Maryland and D.C., a description from EDA points to assets including research facilities and academic institutions, startups, state efforts to build the community and innovation within the healthcare system.

To expand on that, the work of the Chesapeake Regional Digital Health Exchange will focus on building a network of influencers within digital health, a strong pipeline of diverse talent and accelerating commercialization of new technologies.

The Easton-based Eastern Shore Entrepreneurship Center received a grant to bolster economic development in Eastern and Southern Maryland through its F3 Tech program, per the EDA.

Short for Farm-Fish-Food, F3 Tech focuses around supporting startups working in agtech, aquatech and the environmental technology. The federal share of the grant was $468,500, with another 469,960 coming through a local match.

F3 Tech led an accelerator cohort last year, with programming focused on helping entrepreneurs validate their businesses and connect with industry stakeholders who would be potential users of the technology being developed. Program leaders told us in April that F3 Tech plans to return with its second accelerator cohort this fall for a four-month program.