SPECIAL VIP MORNING SESSION ON MARKET-LEADING APPLICATIONS
As part of its 30+ year commitment to foster the growth of exceptional and promising market-leading companies from founding to exit, the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (MAVA) is proud to announce that 16 companies will take the stage at TechBUZZ Fall 2018 on Thursday, September 20, 2018 in College Park, Maryland from 10:00am – 7:00pm at The Hotel at the University of Maryland. TechBUZZ, a ticketed business program hosted three times annually, is MAVA’s flagship seed and early-stage program dedicated to the support of the earliest of market-ready tech and tech-enabled companies across industry sector.
Launched in 2011, TechBUZZ provides a consistent and trusted platform for private, technology-based companies across sector and stage of development through two distinct tracks:
- Early Market Entrants, represent those companies with early customer validation and seed financing, who may be presenting their business for the first time in front of the professional business community
- Momentum, represent slightly more advanced companies that have exhibited proven customer traction and are on a positive growth trajectory
This cohort of 16 selected companies come from five states, and represent a diverse range of industry sectors, including Data/Analytics, EdTech, HealthIT, Cyber/Security, Software/SaaS, AR/VR, Business Services, and more.
Unique Session Showcasing Industry, Innovation, and Investment Taps World-Class Research and Expertise at University of Maryland
TechBUZZ Fall 2018 will feature a newly-added VIP pre-program and luncheon session to bring together industry, investors, and established companies to tackle some of the leading market applications and technology use cases today and in the future. These industry-specific discussions will reflect present and future market demands that utilize leading technologies such as AR/VR, machine learning, AI, IoT, life sciences, data analysis, fintech, cyber/security, and more. Roundtable discussions will also include research and development (R&D) experts and leading faculty from the engineering, sciences, and business departments at the University of Maryland (UMD) for comprehensive discussions around innovative, market-leading applications and technologies.
“MAVA’s Fall TechBUZZ program, while it again will showcase a new cohort of 16 tech and tech-enabled companies from across industry sector and stage, provides a unique opportunity for investors and industry from across the country to engage with companies and leading innovators in our ecosystem,” said Julia Spicer, Executive Director of MAVA. “The multi-faceted pre-program session will focus on use cases by bringing together the perspectives from industry, active investors, start-ups and growth companies, and leading researchers – all who play an important role in advancing the innovation that fuels the next generation of companies and technologies helping to solve societal, consumer, and enterprise problems.”
Over the past 20 editions, TechBUZZ has served as a trusted, independent platform for elevating technology-based solutions to industry problems. Tracked by industry and investors across the country, TechBUZZ has helped launch 385+ companies into the market providing a foundation to increase business ties, customer exposure, and investor interest important during a company’s lifecycle. As an example of the results participation provides, early-market companies having presented on stage have collectively raised more than $800M+ in disclosed post-presentation funding.
Featured companies were selected because of their innovative technology, approach to a consumer or enterprise problem, or a new twist to a market maker’s approach. Each company will take the stage for either four or five minutes, based on their associated track, to describe their respective business, vision, and product or service. Program participants will also hear industry insights and guidance from active institutional and corporate investors, as a means to help educate aspiring and existing entrepreneurs. Presenting companies were selected from a highly competitive pool of diverse startups by a review committee of more than 20 MAVA Member investors and business advisors. The TechBUZZ Fall 2018 Review & Selection Committee was Co-Chaired by Ulhas Jagdale, New Enterprise Associates and Jim Keeratisakdawong, Core Capital Partners. They were joined by active investors from ABS Capital Partners, CIT GAP Funds, Harbert Growth Partners, Osage Venture Partners, Paladin Capital Group, Sands Capital Ventures, TDF Ventures, and Updata Partners and numerous leading professional advisors and coaches from the MAVA community.
COMPANIES SELECTED TO PRESENT DURING THE EARLY MARKET ENTRANT TRACK:
| Company | Headquarters | Industry | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bounce Imaging | Buffalo, NYbounceimaging.com | Robotics/Virtual Reality | Bounce Imaging makes advanced 360-degree/VR imaging systems for first-responders. Their throwable 360-degree and K-9 cameras provide unprecedented situational awareness, allowing many users to look in different directions on their smartphone, tablet, or VR headset. |
| CaryRx | Washington, DCcaryrx.com | Security/Cyber | CaryRx is a tech infused pharmacy of the future. Via their mobile app, they deliver prescriptions on-demand to Washington DC and 2-day service for Maryland and Virginia, for the same copay as traditional pharmacies. |
| Floreo | Washington, DCfloreotech.com | EdTech/HealthTech | Floreo leverages the power of virtual reality to develop a platform that delivers immersive, fun, and affordable lessons for children and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Their learning tool’s ever-growing content is based on established social and communication techniques intended to help individuals with ASD build real world skills. |
| gel-e | College Park, MDgel-e.co/ | HealthTech | gel-e is a clinical-stage medical device company developing versatile hemostatic products for surgical, medical, and consumer applications. With an initial focus on external wounds, gel-e combines the use of safe, inert ingredients with proprietary chemistry that can be designed for use across a broad spectrum of clinical applications, including vascular closure and during surgery |
| Intellei | Washington, DCintellei.com | Software/SaaS | Intellei’s mission is to make communication between individuals and organizations as easy as texting between friends. Intellei’s SaaS platform enables organizations to use AI-powered chatbots engage 1:1 with its audience via SMS, Facebook Messenger, and other mobile messaging networks. Ready with pre-built skills, Intellei chatbots can be used for every part of a customer lifecycle, from marketing to onboarding to customer support. Using Intellei, an organization can carry on personalized conversations with each of its prospects and customers, without adding any staff. |
| Malartu | Raleigh, NCmalartu.co | Fintech/Data Analytics | Malartu is an automated reporting and business intelligence platform for accountants, advisors, and investors to generate insights from client and portfolio data. Malartu’s unique approach enables their customers to provide insightful, timely, and actionable advice to their clients and portfolios. |
| MileMarker | Baltimore, MDmilemarker.me | EdTech | MileMarker is an on the job, real-time assessment software for medical training to help universities, attendings and residents meet evolving regulatory requirements for competency-based learning, while reducing training costs, facilitating communication and increasing efficiency. |
| Pet Connect | Silver Spring, MDpetconnectapp.com | Software/SaaS | Pet Connect is a sales & marketing platform for pet businesses and a pet-friendly, mobile community for pet owners. Our mission is to help pet owners connect to all the resources they need through a mobile experience, while helping our business describers showcase their brands and sell their services within our community. |
| Sorcero | Washington, DCsorcero.com | Software/SaaS | Sorcero is a workforce knowledge and learning solution that helps employees find better answers by bridging the gap between learning and productivity with all the simplicity of asking a question—directly in your workflow. |
| Untethered Labs | College Park, MDgkchain.com | Security/Cyber | Untethered Labs prevents unauthorized access to computers. Their product GateKeeper, is a combination of wireless hardware, and software tools for automatically locking computer systems and providing secure access on demand. Our active proximity based locking of computer is unique in the market since we do not rely on timeout policies or require the users to do perform any actions to lock computers. Easily scalable from 5 to 5000 computers, our enterprise platform makes it easy for organizations to comply with policies like HIPAA and CJIS. |
COMPANIES SELECTED TO PRESENT DURING THE T/B MOMENTUM TRACK:
| Company | Headquarters | Industry | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cybrary | Greenbelt, MDcybrary.it | EdTech/Cyber Security | Cybrary is creating the ability to bring all the best cyber security learning elements and content together, from the people who are doing it, the people who have done it, the people who have learned from it and the companies that are innovating on it, and deliver that for free to anyone who needs or wants to learn from it. |
| Knowledge to Practice | Bethesda, MDknowledgetopractice.com | EdTech/HealthTech | Knowledge to Practice’s healthcare education solutions help transform patient care, enable continuity of care, and mitigate risks across hospitals and healthcare systems. |
| M3D | Fulton, MDprintm3d.com | 3D Printing | M3D is a printer innovation and manufacturing company that makes cutting edge technologies more affordable and easy to use. |
| Phone2Action | Arlington, VAphone2action.com | Mobile/CRM | Phone2Action is the nation’s leading digital advocacy platform for public policy campaigns, powering movements that change the world. |
| Vemo Education | Arlington, VAvemo.com | EdTech | Vemo Education is a mission-driven educational technology company focused on expanding educational access for all Americans. We partner directly with colleges, universities, and other educational providers to design, implement, and maintain income share agreement (ISA) programs to help increase educational opportunity and reduce financial barriers to economic mobility. |
| 3CLogic | Rockville, MD3clogic.com | Business Services | 3CLogic is the leader in cloud and multichannel communications as a service to help accelerate sales, optimize customer engagements, and enhance call center efficiency. |
MAVA would like to thank UMD’s A. James Clark School of Engineering, Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech), Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, Division of Research, and UM Ventures for its ongoing efforts in support of TechBUZZ Fall 2018. Through this unique partnership, MAVA will foster and expand connections between entrepreneurs, industry, technology investors, and those conducting some of the world’s most advanced research – which is integral to building viable market applications for solving societal, consumer and business problems.
About TechBUZZ and MAVA: Piloted in Baltimore in 2010, TechBUZZ is hosted by MAVA, an independent, member-owned organization representing the full spectrum of private equity, corporate strategic, industry and venture capital investment interests across the Mid-Atlantic, nationally, and internationally. For more than 30 years, MAVA has served the full community of innovators, companies, corporate partners, private capital, and key advisors needed to build successful businesses from start-up to exit. From venture to private equity, angel to growth equity, and family office to strategic corporates, MAVA brings together the full spectrum of capital and key resources necessary to accelerate the growth of companies across industry sectors and stages of development. MAVA provides a wide range of programs designed to stimulate revenue and company growth, create efficiencies for conducting business, facilitate quality deal flow, encourage collaboration, and foster relationships among entrepreneurs, corporate decision makers, investors, strategic partners and customers.
To join us as a partner, or to learn more about MAVA, MAVA’s members and the services and programs the association provides, visit mava.org.
To join us as a partner, email us at mava@mava.org to learn about available opportunities.
For additional information regarding TechBUZZ, visit: techbuzz.mava.org.
