Baltimore is a city of many names. President John Quincy Adams gave nicknamed it the “Monumental City” because its skyline was marked by various monuments and churches. In the 1850s it was dubbed “Mob Town” because of how quickly its residents would find an excuse to riot. And most recently, former Mayor Martin O’Malley launched a marketing campaign in 2000 to brand it the “Greatest City in America.”
In coming years, Baltimore might just claim the moniker “Startup City” or the “Entrepreneur Enclave.” Okay, let’s hope they find a better name-giver than this writer… But the point remains the same: The Baltimore startup scene is quickly coming into its own. In fact, in Entrepreneur magazine’s “9 Hot Startup U.S. Cities That Aren’t San Francisco or New York,” it placed second.
“There’s a quiet revolution happening in Baltimore, which has become a booming hub of education-focused companies anchored by Johns Hopkins University, named the best grad school for education by U.S. News & World Report,” read the Entrepreneur article.
Entrepreneur added:
“Now Baltimore is luring ed-tech startups. Citelighter, which helps K-12 students and teachers organize and share research via a browser plug-in, recently moved there from New York City and received $100,000 as a housewarming gift from Technology Development Corp., Maryland’s public fund investing in tech companies.”
“Baltimore teachers work with diverse student populations and are entrepreneur-friendly, willing to test out new tech and ideas in classrooms. The city regularly hosts events to connect entrepreneurs with educators; a recent Baltimore Tech for Schools event drew 1,100 teachers and school administrators to check out product demos.”
Citelighter is a great example of a successful, growing tech startup laying roots in the “Clipper City,” the “Land of Pleasant Living,” “Charm City”—okay, we’ll just stick to Baltimore. Here’s a list of five Baltimore Startups to Watch in 2016.
- Allovue: This Baltimore-based startup makes a software product called Balance, which connects with financial systems in K-12 school districts to allow administrators and other school employees to track financial information daily. What makes the platform unique is how it puts financial considerations side by side with outcomes: The program allows schools to view the finances alongside education performance indicators like test scores and attendance. Last year, Allovue closed a $1 million seed round.
- Girl Develop It: Girl Develop It is a nonprofit organization that provides affordable programs for adult women interested in learning web and software development in a judgment-free environment. According to the firm, by teaching women around the world from diverse backgrounds to learn software development, women can improve their careers and confidence in their everyday lives. The startup’s goal is to provide powerful hands-on programs to women seeking professional help in software development and create basic to advanced web and mobile applications.
- TEDCO: TEDCO is a unique and independent organization created by the Maryland State Legislature in 1998 to serve Maryland’s startups and entrepreneurs. Even though it’s been around for a while, it’s important to list TEDCO due to the sheer amount of mentoring, funding and networking resources it provides to individuals and companies throughout the state of Maryland. TEDCO also has Baltimore-specific programs and initiatives, like the Propel Baltimore Fund, which makes investments of up to $250,000 in early-stage technology companies located in Baltimore City.
- Parking Panda: This startup has created an online parking marketplace that enables parking spot owners to rent their open spots and optimize pricing depending on demand and inventory in Baltimore. The company recently made headlines when struck a partnership deal with Amtrak.
- Betamore: Located in downtown Baltimore, Betamore is a campus for technology and entrepreneurship. According to its website, the average company working out of its space hires a new employee every 13 days. Betamore also has various educational resources under its Betamore Academy umbrella, including multi-week courses on front-end and back-end development and workshops on various systems and platforms.
If you want to learn more about how to leverage your MBA to land Baltimore startup jobs then make sure to check out our article How MBA Grads Can Land Startup Jobs.