Meet the 12 companies repping Maryland on Startup Grind’s global stage

Starting this Tuesday, a dozen companies from Baltimore, Frederick, Columbia and the broader DC metro area will act as state-endorsed emissaries of Maryland’s technology and entrepreneurship world at the Startup Grind Global Conference in Redwood City, California.

The 12 delegation members are traveling across the country with the endorsement of both Startup Grind‘s Maryland chapter, which grew out of several local chapters consolidating and increasingly organizing programming last year, and the state’s Department of Commerce.

Allyson Redpath, the latter agency’s director of entrepreneurship, said that the international entrepreneurship network’s two-day conference offers chances for the state and its startups to network for investment and work opportunities. The state and local Startup Grind chapter — one of many from over 125 countries around the world — opened applications for the delegation last last year. They collectively selected members to represent a diversity of regions and industries throughout the state, she said.

“We want to communicate to the other startups who are maybe thinking about moving, who are maybe thinking about where they want to do business in the future, what’s happening in Maryland, [and] just to showcase the fact that we have so many interesting [and] innovative companies in a lot of different areas,” she told Technical.ly.

Startup Grind chapter co-leader Sean Sutherland, who is also chief marketing officer of Baltimore-based creative agency Kapowza and author of Technical.ly’s Ask a Marketer column, added that the delegation reflects the wealth of creativity and economic opportunity Maryland’s tech sector offers.

“We have a lot of great pockets of entrepreneurship and development and tech within our sectors,” Sutherland, who serves as the chapter’s codirector alongside Chris Haug, said of Maryland. “Obviously, wherever you go, you can find a really good accelerator program or incubator around the state. And we really wanted to showcase a breadth of services, companies, [foci and] industries.”

The delegation members largely draw from in and around the three cities (Baltimore, Columbia and Frederick) that used to have individual Startup Grind chapters. They are:

• EcoMap Technologies, a Baltimore-based company whose work developing platforms to navigate professional ecosystems was recognized with a spot on the 2022 Baltimore RealLIST Startups list
• Vheda Health, of Columbia, which created an app and accompanying platforms to help people enroll in and navigate the Medicare Advantage and Medicaid insurance systems
• CarrTech LLC, of Frederick, which developed a patented medical device to simplify medication injections
• Cide Kic, which develops digital tools for chefs to manage their kitchens and is based out of Sparks, an unincorporated community in Baltimore county
• KEIPhone, of Silver Spring, which provides free smartphones and solar chargers to otherwise unconnected women in rural Africa
• Linshom, of Ellicott City, which develops respiratory monitors that aim to better safeguard patients and more accurately measure respiratory data
• MindStand Technologies, which operates out of bwtech@UMBC and uses AI to improve company culture and root hate speech and harassment, among other interventions for workplace communications. The company was a 2021 RealLIST Startups honoree, while cofounder Eric Solender made the RealLIST Engineers list the same year
• Resensys LLC, of College Park, which created wireless sensors to monitor infrastructure systems for issues
• Relavo, of Baltimore, which developed technology to make home care easier for kidney failure patients receiving dialysis
• SixMap, of Pasadena, which uses data analytics systems to enhance cybersecurity protections
• Sicura, a Baltimore-based cybersecurity company and 2022 RealLIST Startups honorable mention that created a platform to automate security compliance
• Sonavi Labs, of Baltimore, whose work developing unique stethoscope and related health sciences technology won it the Startup of the Year award at the 2020 Technical.ly Awards

Redpath said that the state is monetarily supporting the delegation by paying for exhibition and attendance costs, while the startups themselves cover travel. She added that the impending executive transition in Annapolis, where Gov. Larry Hogan‘s term is set to end this year, will likely not affect the ways that the Commerce Department supports startups in the future.

“We have long-term programs, we have long-term initiatives, so an administration changing shouldn’t radically change what we do,” she said. “Our job is to help businesses [and] to support and grow the ecosystem to support and grow the ecosystem. And that is going to be true, regardless of who’s running things.”

“We will continue to look for opportunities, both in terms of future Startup Grind conferences [and] other forums and events that we may be able to take companies to that will continue to elevate the visibility of our animation community here,” added Heather Gramm, the agency’s senior director of strategic industries and entrepreneurship.

Those who wish to tune into the global conference’s programming from afar can do so by registering at its official website.