5 local orgs with services and resources for startups and entrepreneurs

The early days of a startup can be a rough road, but entrepreneurs don’t have to travel that journey alone.

Many organizations exist to cater to the needs of early-stage companies with various resources to help with some of the most common pain points businesses face.

Whether you need funding assistance, legal guidance, design expertise or tech talent, there are folks who have walked that path before and aided others with similar challenges. Finding the right partner can be as tricky as solving the issue itself — but we can point you in the right direction.

Throughout the mid-Atlantic, Technical.ly has trusted partners with a range of specialties aimed at supporting local startups, entrepreneurs and technologists. Here’s a look at the services provided by some orgs Technical.ly works with across the region.

(If you like what you see, follow the links to their Directory Pages to learn more and explore ways to connect.)

Arcweb Technologies

Arcweb Technologies is on a mission to democratize digital healthcare through open source solutions that expand the delivery and lower the costs of care. In pursuit of this goal, the company focuses on forming long term partnerships with health and wellness companies and leveraging decades of experience to solve their most pressing software product challenges.

“Startups and entrepreneurs need to quickly bring their vision to life to impress investors. We made our product design expertise more accessible than ever before for folks who want to get their startup funded. Of course, that’s in addition to our usual design and development services. Find more info for entrepreneurs here.” — Mark Hughey, head of strategy

Ballard Spahr

Ballard Spahr is a national, full service law firm with more than 600 attorneys spread across 15 offices. Its attorneys work with entrepreneurs and emerging companies from ideation through exit and understand how to provide expertise while offering a broad network to help businesses grow and achieve great heights. The firm’s emerging companies and venture capital (ECVC) lawyers also advise venture capital funds and angel investors to help seed ventures from the most nascent stages.

“Ballard Spahr’s commitment to making value-add introductions to its broader network and educating founders through free content-driven events sets it apart in the startup and entrepreneur community.

We set up practical MBA content on a monthly basis through our BASE Program, host happy hours with speakers focused on current trends, publish Kim’s Korner articles in Technical.ly, and offer strategy office hours to entrepreneurs off the meter to ensure they are getting big picture legal advice as they navigate rapid growth.

In addition to these unique services and resources, our ECVC lawyers attend board meetings for early stage, venture backed clients at no charge to take minutes and ensure that young founders have the resources they need to present well in front of their investor directors.” — Kimberly Klayman, partner

Explore Technical.ly’s company directory

Morgan Lewis

Morgan Lewis’ team of more than 2,200 lawyers and legal professionals provides comprehensive corporate, transactional, litigation and regulatory services in major industries, including energy, financial services, healthcare, life sciences, retail and ecommerce, sports, technology and transportation. The company focuses on both immediate and long-term goals with clients, helping them address and anticipate challenges across vast and rapidly changing landscapes.

“Morgan Lewis’s emerging companies and venture capital (ECVC) practice provides growth businesses and investors with personalized and effective long-term representation — from formation to maturity. Our startup lawyers take a pragmatic, business-oriented approach to providing cost-efficient, value-added legal services. We take a long-term view of our startup relationships, tailor our services to their needs and offer flexible and alternative billing arrangements to help startups succeed.

We believe that the firm’s Startup & Accelerate resource center which includes analyses and thinking related to startups and how you can quickly begin moving a venture forward is a valuable resource for startups and entrepreneurs. Additionally, our Technology Marathon series provides entrepreneurs with focused training on hot topics, trends and key developments in the technology industry. Furthermore, our Artificial Intelligence Boot Camp discusses the latest developments, insights and impacts of AI usage and integration for companies of all sizes and industries.

These programs and resources are free and open to clients and friends of the firm and address many issues that entrepreneurs typically face including formation, financing, workforce, intellectual property, technology adoption and development and expansion, to name a few.” — Brian Slough, of counsel

NEXT powered by Shulman Rogers

Shulman Rogers is a full-service law firm with more than 100 attorneys working from offices in Maryland, Washington, DC and Northern Virginia. The firm’s attorneys work collaboratively across practice groups to support national, regional and local clients and respond to all of their legal needs.

“NEXT powered by Shulman Rogers is a trailblazer and national award winning legal practice recognized by Legalweek in 2024 as the best law firm in the US for enabling startup success. NEXT lives, eats and breathes startups and entrepreneurs helping them launch, fundraise and scale. NEXT offers predictability around legal fees by productizing a broad range of Seed to Series A legal needs into fixed price packages.

In addition, NEXT offers traditional hourly services at rates that are 40-50% lower than those of the large global firms. NEXT operates at the pace of a startup, offers a world class customer experience that includes regular access to senior attorneys and client relationship managers, a commitment to responsiveness and a customer-centric experience enabled by technology that promotes efficiency and collaboration.

NEXT takes a holistic approach layering on additional free resources and services to de-risk startups at every milestone — including StartupU, PitchMasters Pitch Prep Workshops, Education Webinars, NEXT RAISE Founder-Funder Platform and soon to launch an entirely new product around investor readiness so stay tuned for our future announcement on this exciting new offering.” — Anthony Millin, founder of NEXT powered by Shulman Rogers, venture capital partner and serial entrepreneur

Zip Code Wilmington

Zip Code Wilmington’s mission is simple — train, place, repeat! Zip Code Wilmington supports the economic development of the greater Wilmington Region by providing accessible and affordable software programming training to high-potential individuals who have the raw talent necessary to become entry level software developers and data engineers.

“Zip Code Wilmington, Delaware’s premiere software training program, is the region’s best source for entry level Software Developers and Data Engineers. With nearly 700 graduates, the vast majority of whom have been hired by over 80 employers in the region, Zip Code offers a steady pipeline of emerging talent to large, medium and startup companies.

Named one of the best coding bootcamps in the country for 8 consecutive years by Course Report, Zip Code has a reputation for best in class training and tremendous outcomes. It is not uncommon for exceptional candidates to relocate to this area to attend the program which results in a greater network of talent for local employers!

Zipcoders are hard working, have a passion for coding and truly enjoy the challenges that a tech career offers. That’s not surprising because Zipcoders are adult learners from all walks of life with prior work experience. They know how to add value in a team environment.

Entrepreneurs and startups are exciting places to work! If you are in need of new talent to help build or launch your new or existing business, please reach out to Zip Code’s Director of Corporate Partnerships — Lossie Freeman (lossie@zipcodewilmington.com) — and schedule a meeting today!” — Desa Burton, executive director

---

Looking for resources in your local tech community? Check out other companies in the Technical.ly network here to find out about their missions, cultures and initiatives.

And for more orgs dedicated to supporting startups, entrepreneurs and technologists, take a look at Technical.ly’s Preferred Partners list here.

P.S. If you’re curious about Technical.ly’s services for your own org, find more info here and connect with us.

Explore Technical.ly’s company directory