Mtech Ventures

SBA Growth Accelerator (GA)

Mtech Ventures is a University of Maryland incubator for technology-based innovations commercialized at the university. It helps early-stage startups survive the critical period in their development between conducting customer discovery and raising their first round of venture capital. The Mtech Ventures facility offers affordable space and hands-on mentoring for early stage companies. Companies involved in the program also benefit from the extensive facilities and services available from the University System of Maryland. One of its programs is the Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund, which invests in companies with innovative solutions that can help improve air and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Investments are jointly selected by investment staff at the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) and technical staff at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Industries of interest include: agritech; aquatech; renewable energy; stormwater solutions; air emissions; natural filters; electric vehicles; batteries/fuel cells; and more. Mtech is also partnering with the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) and the Center for Accelerating Innovation (CAI) to organize community-needs roundtables, identify promising innovations, develop entrepreneurs, and build awareness of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Tech Transfer (STTR) program in low-income census tracts called federal Opportunity Zones (OZ). Mtech connects innovators, investors, and entrepreneurs to the needs of OZ communities to attract more investment capital in facilities and businesses. The initial effort will be geared towards start-ups and projects in Opportunity Zones located in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. The District of Columbia has 25 Opportunity Zones.

http://mtech.umd.edu/ventures