Frederick Innovative Technology Center, Inc. Congratulates 15 Companies Graduating The Edge Accelerator
The Edge Accelerator Demo Day on March 4 was the culmination of an immersive 12-week program.
Frederick, MD (March 7, 2024): Some of Frederick’s most promising startup entrepreneurs took the stage in front of an esteemed panel of judges for the Frederick Innovative Technology Center, Inc.’s (FITCI) The Edge Accelerator Demo Day on March 4 at its new innovation center, The EDGE at 321, at 321 Ballenger Center Drive in Frederick. The event was the culmination of an immersive 12-week program designed to prepare founders for taking their business to the next level. This third installment of the EDGE Accelerator serves both new and tenured founders by introducing and expanding upon key concepts required for formalizing a business, then revving its progress and growth.
The grand prize, sponsored by Frederick National Lab for Cancer Research and TEDCO, was awarded to Forager Station, Inc’s founder Patrick Ho. The Audience Award, sponsored by The City of Frederick, went to the StrydeLink team including students Shawn Chen, Nicholas Valerio, Charles Bai, Brian Zhu, and Samuel Sun.
A total of 15 companies graduated The Edge Accelerator program, including: Green Revival, GxP Solutions, Biosystems Strategies, Serious About Science, Mandarin Magic for Kids, StrydeLink, Advanced In Vitro, Unraveling Obesity, Phycin Inc, Neopathology Corp, Easy Oat Burgers, Forager Station Inc, Catoctin Bio, Minnodi LLC, and Linganore Winecellars. Twelve of the companies competed on March 4 for the grand prize. The Demo Day event was sponsored by Frederick National Lab for Cancer Research, TEDCO, The City of Frederick, and Linganore Winecellars.
“Congratulations to Forager Station Inc, and to all the companies who have gone through this program with us throughout the past few months. The growth they’ve exhibited from the start through Demo Day is immeasurable, impressive, and inspiring,” says FITCI President and CEO Kathie Callahan Brady. “FITCI is so encouraged by these 15 companies and their growth. We are immensely grateful to everyone in the community who has volunteered to teach and mentor, which made this program a success this year. Credit is due to our sponsors for allowing this event and the prizes to be possible, and to the great teams behind our video wall and IT infrastructure for helping us hold Demo Day without a single hiccup.”
The bootcamp-style startup course was given over 12 weeks by seven volunteer instructors including Bob Stoneking (Pachydermos, LLC), Vladimir Popov (Frederick National Lab for Cancer Research), Gary Evans (TEDCO), Rick Leibowitz (SBDC), Kim Mozingo (TEDCO), Garth Patterson (Mount St. Mary’s University), and Kathie Callahan Brady (FITCI).
The program featured community mentors from Frederick’s business ecosystem to advise the cohort. This year included Teresa Mena (MD Dept. of Juvenile Services), Jonathan Boehman (Startup Advisor), Tamar Osterman (MD Dept. of Commerce), Sam Glickstein (Osprey BioScience), Mel Litter (Frederick Community College), Sue Carr (CarrTech Corp.), Xiaonao Liu (NanoBioFAB), Sharon Crane (Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck), Danny Huntington (Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck), Chad Schneider (Root3 Labs), Karen Zuccardi (TEDCO), Jon Rowley (RoosterBio), Molly Carlson (Frederick Community College), and Amanda Haddaway (HR Answerbox).
Demo Day marks the first event held at FITCI’s new innovation center, The Edge at 321. Founders pitched in front of the Base Camp community space BAT: a HD Ultrawide LED video wall designed and built by Frederick’s own Audio Video Group. Tech infrastructure for the new center was donated by Infopathways, Inc.
FITCI is a nonprofit business incubator/accelerator founded in 2004 with a mission to drive economic development by encouraging technological innovation and accelerating the development of commercially viable businesses in Frederick. The organization works closely with a vast ecosystem of proven CEOs, industry leaders, key service providers, and levels of government to light the path for emerging entrepreneurs and accelerate their business development.
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About FITCI
About Frederick Innovative Technology Center Inc.: Nonprofit FITCI fosters entrepreneurial activity in Frederick, Maryland’s science and technology industries. Its purpose is to enable emerging entrepreneurs, encourage innovation, and accelerate development of commercially viable businesses that contribute to a healthy economy through coaching, connections and equitable access to resources within a cooperative environment. www.fitci.org
