StartUp Road Show Brings Pitch Bus to Frederick for Entrepreneur Competition
The StartUp Road Show made its way through the City of Frederick on Tuesday, September 12, 2017 as part of a yearlong “Pitch Across Maryland” entrepreneurship celebration.
Hosted in partnership with Startup Maryland, the Cybersecurity Association of Maryland (CAMI), Frederick County Office of Economic Development (OED) and the City of Frederick Department of Economic Development (DED), the tour day highlighted the life sciences and technology ecosystems in Frederick and provided innovative start-ups and second stage companies the opportunity to share their visions as part of the "Pitch Across Maryland" competition.
Dragon Distillery opened in 2015 as the City of Frederick's first distillery. The venture's success has since inspired two more distilleries to open in Frederick, complimenting the five craft-breweries already established within City limits.
The tour kicked-off the day at a stop jointly hosted by Dragon Distillery and the Frederick Municipal Airport in celebration of both Frederick's growing craft beverage industry, and exciting new infrastructure improvements.
The City's FDK airport is currently undergoing a major capital project to extend the runway and create space for future private hangar construction opportunities.
The STRT1UP bus traveled on to James M. Stockman Cancer Institute, where researchers shared their stories of innovative cancer treatment research and provided tours of the new facility, opened in July of this year.
The final stop of the day was hosted by Yakabod and Frederick County Bank in downtown Frederick.
Yakabod, a successful information sharing tech company, was chosen to represent the flourishing local technology industry that is being attracted to the Downtown setting.
Frederick County Bank, in turn, exemplifies the underlying ecosystem in place facilitating business development in Frederick.
The daylong tour and celebration culminated in a networking event hosted by CAMI at the newly-opened Serendipity market, gallery & meeting place in downtown Frederick.
The StartUp Maryland Roadshow is the largest statewide celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Mid-Atlantic. Entrepreneurs and local innovators have the opportunity to create a video pitch for their business, with their words and their passion, on the Startup Maryland Bus. The pitch videos are edited and given to the entrepreneurs for free as well as entered into the annual Pitch Across Maryland Competition. The top pitch videos are given the opportunity to then present to investors and serial entrepreneurs at the 2018 StartUp Maryland Showcase.