Y Combinator will be at Johns Hopkins this week

Representatives from an accelerator that’s synonymous with Silicon Valley will be at Johns Hopkins on Friday, and the event is open to everyone.
Y Combinator is set for a Baltimore stop on a Winter College Tour at the university’s Homewood campus on Friday, Feb. 5. The event culminates with a Q&A with partner Dalton Caldwell and hardware specialist Luke Iseman at 5:30 p.m. at Hodson Hall. The free event is open to the public as well as students.
RSVP
Founded in 2005, Y Combinator was in early on the seed accelerator model. Bringing startups to Mountain View for its twice-a-year “batches,” the company has funded companies you’ve probably heard of — like Dropbox, Airbnb and Reddit.
Caldwell, who joined as a full-time partner in 2014, is the founder of music streaming service imeem and Mixed Media Labs. Iseman, who cofounded soil sensor startup Edyn, joined last year after the accelerator announced new funding for hardware startups.
Along with Y Combinator, the pair will be discussing the startup outlook for 2016. They also plan to host office hours from 2-5 p.m. Sign up for that here.
They’re coming to JHU at a time when the university is putting more focus on startups. Under Johns Hopkins Tech Ventures, the FastForward accelerator opened a second location last year. The university is also charting a course to create a tech ecosystem. Students are also getting more organized, with one sign being a student-run venture fund, A-Level Capital, which launched in the fall.
Just like Steve Case’s visit last fall, the event also seems like a great chance to show the size of Baltimore’s tech scene as a whole. And maybe they’ll find a YC-ready company worth taking west.