Today Startup Maryland announced initial dates and the route for Stage One (April 15 – May 31) of the STRT1UP Road Show, the sixth annual state-wide tour and celebration of entrepreneurship and high-growth innovation-centric startup companies.
Additionally, Startup Maryland is announcing that the first stop on the 2017 tour will be the TCO Labs Hatch Innovation Conference being held on the Homewood Main Campus of Johns Hopkins University from 1:00-5:00pm ET. The event is free and open to the public, however, registration is required. Details and additional information can be found here: http://hatch2017.com/
The STRT1UP Road Show will again traverse the state all in the name of celebrating Maryland’s diverse ecosystem of innovation venture building. A sampling of details, key data and results from previous tours follow:
- More than 1500 Startup Maryland companies engaged to-date
- 1200+ ventures participated in tour events from 2012 to 2016;
- 38 tour stops in 2016; 42 in 2015; 35 in 2014; 32 in 2013; 25 in 2012
- The Pitch Across Maryland Competition is composed of four smaller competitive pieces.
- Great Eight / Overall Winner
- Fan Favorite
- Champions’ Choice
- Industry Innovators (CyberSecurity, Manufacturing, and Rural Innovations)
- 2016 Pitch Across Maryland video playlists can be found here:https://www.youtube.com/user/StartupMaryland/playlists?sort=dd&view=1
- Startup Maryland teamed with Spark Baltimore to host the national Startup Champions Network Fall Summit in Baltimore during the 2016 tour convening leading national ecosystem builders around the theme of Inclusive Entrepreneurship
- More than 75 “Rock Star” tour sponsors/partners including (universities, economic development agencies, angel/VC investors, incubators/accelerators, affinity brand owners, service providers)
- Months of media coverage and press impressions; ad-rate value over $3 million
- Startup Maryland and WithTheFilm unveiled a documentary film entitled STRT1UP: Venturing Through the Land of Pleasant Living about the Road Show during the Santa Barbara Film Festival
- Startup Maryland was asked by other national startup ecosystem builders to discuss how the STRT1UP Road Show helps cultivate strong startup communities sharing details at the SCN Spring Summit in Santa Barbara, CA
“After celebrating our fifth anniversary last year, we are now refining our mission and attention to the next 50 years and what we have learned in our first five years is how dynamic the Maryland and broader Mid-Atlantic region are with regards to industry sectors and innovation categories,” stated Michael Binko, Founder | CEO of Startup Maryland. “In order to drive a deeper awareness of Maryland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem we decided to extend the STRT1UP Road Show and the Pitch Across Maryland competitions to be a year-long series of events. This change affords us more time to be on-site with each tour stop host community and to share more of the Startup Maryland mission and initiatives.”
The expanded STRT1UP Road Show efforts will include programming tailored jointly with the Startup Maryland Champion community and designed to help the Startup Maryland portfolio inflect their visions forward. At each STRT1UP Road Show tour stop hosts will again convene rallies sharing information about their entrepreneurial ecosystems. Entrepreneurs are provided coaching, guidance and support from business mentors and other leaders from academia, incubators/accelerators, economic development agencies, service providers as well as active angel/VC investors.
As the tour unfolds, entrepreneurs climb onto the Startup Maryland bus and pitch their idea/business in the mobile UpStart Show™ video studio. Videos are uploaded to the Startup Maryland YouTube® Channel and then open to public viewing/voting. This aspect of theSTRT1UP Road Show embodies the Pitch Across Maryland competition allowing the entrepreneurs, sponsors, investors and tour hosts to activate social networks for even broader awareness and celebration.
For more information see scheduled STRT1UP Road Show tour dates and tentative route locations below or visit http://www.startupmd.org for regular updates:
About Startup Maryland:
Startup Maryland (www.startupmd.org) is an ecosystem and venture development initiative driven from within the community of innovation-centric entrepreneurs. Forged with Maryland Pride By Entrepreneurs … For Entrepreneurs Startup Maryland strives to remain nimble and inclusive. Startup Maryland works to connect innovation communities and rallies entrepreneurs, supporters and other innovation stakeholders around four main initiatives: Celebration, Coaching, Curation and Capital while also bringing together entrepreneurs in a community of support to drive greater social as well as economic outcomes.
