缅北禁地

By Kyle Hobstetter on December 3, 2020

When 缅北禁地 University鈥檚 Executive Director of Entrepreneurship Patrick McQuown arrived on campus in February, the StarTUp Accelerator was one of his first priorities. Ten months later, McQuown and the Accelerator reached one of their first major milestones.

On Dec. 3, the StarTUp Accelerator fellows introduced themselves at the TU StarTUp Accelerator Showcase, livestreamed on the Division of Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research (SPAR) website.

The StarTUp Accelerator was planned to be an in-person residency in summer 2020. Things didn鈥檛 pan out as planned. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, six startups collaborated to accelerate their ventures鈥攙irtually鈥攆or eight weeks during the fall. 

Each member started with a $10,000 equity-free stipend and received mentorship from McQuown and alumni of other accelerator programs.

鈥淭U鈥檚 greatest impact can be made in the areas of entrepreneurship and leadership, and it starts with programs like this,鈥� said 缅北禁地 University President Kim Schatzel in her opening remarks.

鈥淸The StarTUp Accelerator] reflects the university-wide effort to place entrepreneurship and leadership as a university priority. With programs like the accelerator, TU is well positioned for leadership at this exciting juncture.鈥�

Emma Simpson, Venture for America鈥檚 Baltimore community manager, introduced three ventures: Halal Beauty, SmartBridge Health and Lockbox Adventures.

鈥淧rograms like the 缅北禁地 University StarTUp Accelerator are fundamental to the success of our work and the success of our fellows,鈥� Simpson said in her introduction.

was founded by Adeel Afshar, a Venture for America alumna. It is a 100% halal certified makeup brand for women around the world.

Other fellows of the StarTUp Accelerator cohort include , which connects patients, caregivers and survivors with top cancer doctors for remote consultations, expert second opinions and clinical trial navigation, and , a game where players get a locked box without a combination. They must solve a series of puzzles to reveal the combination and gain access to their prize.

Related story: 缅北禁地 University introduces new StarTUp Accelerator

The cohort鈥檚 other three ventures presented five-minute pitches. Each fellow showcased their products, business models, monetization strategies, and team members.  

Shark Market is the only member of the StarTUp Accelerator cohort made up entirely of college students鈥攆our from three TU colleges and another from UMD College Park. The concept is a sports betting platform that combines classic sports betting with aspects of fantasy sports.

was co-founded by TU alumnus and computer science lecturer Jal Irani, with Derek Battle and James Soldinger. It is a mobile app that incentivizes foodies to eat local instead of at chain restaurants through gamification and personalized friend recommendations.

, which was co-founded by Dr. Jeremiah Hinson, Eric Hamrock and Scott Levin, provides ground-breaking products and services that harness large-scale electronic health record (EHR) data to give care teams real-time predictive insight for smoother, more affordable care.

In the future, the StarTUp Accelerator Showcase is planned to be held at The StarTUP at The Armory[BROKEN LINK], a 20,000-square-foot, two-story facility located at the historic Maryland National Guard Armory property in downtown 缅北禁地. The building will open in spring 2021.

This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel鈥檚 priorities for 缅北禁地 University: BTU-Partnerships at Work for Greater Baltimore.