Baltimore’s startup ecosystem is at a turning point — and so is UpSurge.
Fully integrated under the Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC), we’re evolving into a platform that reflects both the urgency of this moment and the scale of opportunity ahead. That means leveraging the community and trust we built over the last four years, and leaning into data and the hard work of building an engine for innovation-driven growth.
The opportunity before us now is to connect capital with talent, surface the region’s most investable startups and activate the infrastructure that allows founders to scale in — and from — Baltimore.
As GBC celebrates its 70th anniversary next month, we’re stepping confidently into our role as its startup arm by driving sharper focus, stronger partnerships and a bold vision for the future. On September 12, we invite you to join us for our annual meeting at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel. We’ll gather not only to honor the region’s rich innovation history, but to explore the Innovation Gallery powered by UpSurge, an exhibit spotlighting the innovative technologies shaping the future and developed right here in the region.
Growing an ecosystem requires intentional approaches
This celebration isn’t just about looking back. It’s about rallying the region’s startup community and innovation economy around what’s ahead. The annual meeting is a chance to see Baltimore’s momentum firsthand, connect with the people building it and add your voice to the region’s next chapter of growth.
The newly released Startup Genome 2025 Report provides important context. The value of overall tech ecosystems has fallen globally by a median of 24% among last year’s top 20 ecosystems, with a 31% drop in the number of large exits (over $50 million) across the top 40 compared to the prior year.
But the report also underscores that the most productive ecosystems are still gaining momentum — not by chasing hype, but by concentrating investment around deep sector strengths, high-quality companies and investable pipelines. It’s about building regional systems that can consistently surface, support and scale companies that hit critical milestones and gain market traction.
Across the report’s top-performing ecosystems, we see a few common threads: strong founder pipelines, clear investor pathways and public-private alignment around emerging sectors like AI, life sciences, cybersecurity and advanced manufacturing. The places pulling ahead do so by being intentional about who they’re supporting and when, how they’re tracking progress, and what they’re optimizing for.
This moment demands that kind of focus. At UpSurge, we’re aligning our work accordingly.
Over the past few years, we helped galvanize Baltimore’s startup community. That early-stage work — convening founders, building trust, bringing together resources and networks that already existed — was foundational. Community, culture and connection are essential components to a thriving ecosystem.
But that’s only half of the equation to create scale. The other half requires data, capital and a playbook grounded in outcomes.
Here’s where we’re headed
Our first major focus is data — specifically, building the region’s first real-time ecosystem database to track who’s building, who’s growing and where investment is flowing. We’re not guessing; we’re measuring.
This effort is about understanding the full startup landscape: surfacing gaps, identifying the region’s most investable companies, creating visibility, and equipping those founders with what they need to attract talent, capital and revenue. Startups reaching these important milestones — all based on revenue, customer growth, capital raised and market opportunity — need specific and timely engagements with investors, partners and institutions.
To do this well, we’re building infrastructure with a coalition of partners, from national sources like PitchBook and Crunchbase to regional leaders like TEDCO, BioHealth Innovation and DataTribe. By integrating third-party and direct-sourced inputs, we’ll unlock unprecedented visibility into how the ecosystem is performing quarter-over-quarter—and what’s needed to drive it forward.
This data work underpins our broader regional strategy. We’re setting clear growth targets in partnership with counties, universities and GBC’s business network. Our focus over time is threefold: expanding the number of venture-ready startups in key sectors, increasing the volume of capital raised locally and growing the number of companies that scale beyond the seed stage — all right here in Baltimore.
To support that strategy, we’re also redesigning our convenings and programming. Less networking, more deal flow. Equitech Tuesday, a weekly gathering that helped define Baltimore’s founder culture and cross-sector energy, laid the groundwork. In the coming months, we’ll evolve our convening for impact into sector-specific meetups and investor roundtables designed to help startup leaders make the right connections at the right time. Whether you’re a founder, investor or corporate partner, we’re creating opportunities to connect that are built around outcomes.
And finally, through GBC’s Bold Moves regional brand, we’re aligning our storytelling to elevate Baltimore’s profile. We won’t do this by comparing ourselves to other tech hubs, but by owning what makes us different. That means amplifying our assets, highlighting our leaders, spotlighting our wins and showcasing the companies, sectors and communities that define our future.
There’s no denying the road ahead of us. We’re not yet where we want to be in terms of investment volume or national visibility.
But we’re also not starting from zero.
According to the Startup Genome report, ecosystems that prioritize early-stage support and create pathways to scale generate stronger long-term returns. That’s what we’re aiming to do here, by focusing on the companies with the highest potential to attract capital, hire talent and grow our economy.
Our forthcoming pivot plan will lay out specific, measurable steps: public and private sector engagement, founder pathways tailored to key sectors, expanded investor outreach and data partnerships. These steps will reveal friction points, strengthen pipeline visibility, and guide policy and capital deployment at the regional level.
Let’s be clear: This is about more than building startups. It’s about building the systems, stories and strategies that unlock a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
