TEDCO’s Impact on Maryland’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

In November’s What’s the Buzz?! LinkedIn Live session, Chris Frew, CEO of BioBuzz and Tammi Thomas, Chief Development & Marketing Officer, TEDCO explored TEDCO’s profound influence on Maryland’s entrepreneurial landscape. For over 26 years, TEDCO has played a pivotal role in fostering the growth of technology and life science startups, driving innovation, creating jobs, and strengthening the regional economy.

The TEDCO Entrepreneur Expo: Connecting Entrepreneurs to Resources

A key highlight of the discussion was the TEDCO Entrepreneur Expo, held in December in Baltimore. As a premier networking event, the Expo provides entrepreneurs with access to critical resources, direct connections with industry leaders, and insights into funding opportunities. Events like these are essential for cultivating an environment where startups can thrive. TEDCO’s funding programs not only inject capital into the economy but also fuel job creation and technological advancements.

The Advantage of Maryland’s Thriving Ecosystem

TEDCO’s presence in Maryland provides significant advantages for startups, reinforcing the state’s appeal as an entrepreneurial hub. As Chris and Tammi highlighted, Maryland offers a wealth of resources - from angel investors to institutional backers like TEDCO - alongside economic development organizations that provide tax incentives and business support.

The state’s central location grants easy access to key federal agencies such as the FDA, NIH, NSA, and NASA, as well as renowned research institutions like Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland, and Morgan State. Additionally, Maryland boasts a strong infrastructure of incubators and accelerators designed to support emerging companies. The state's compact geography allows entrepreneurs to efficiently tap into these resources, fostering collaboration and innovation at an accelerated pace. With a unique combination of university tech transfer, federal research opportunities, and a robust community of investors and mentors, Maryland offers an unparalleled environment for business success.

Key TEDCO Initiatives: Bridging Funding Gaps and Supporting Entrepreneurs

Tammi highlighted how TEDCO continues to expand its impact through a variety of programs designed to empower the life sciences and tech sectors. Some of the organization’s newest initiatives include:

• The Business Resource Information, Development, & Guidance Ecosystem (BRIDGE) Program - A $10 million funding initiative that extends beyond Maryland to support startups across the Mid-Atlantic region. Through partnerships with Small Business Development Centers in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., BRIDGE fosters regional collaboration and strengthens resources for early-stage companies.

• Concept Capital - Designed to close the early-stage funding gap for underrepresented entrepreneurs in Maryland, this initiative provides flexible funding and tailored support to ensure founders are well-prepared for future investment opportunities.

  

TEDCO’s Economic and Technological Impact: Driving Growth in Maryland and Beyond

Beyond funding and mentorship, TEDCO generates substantial economic returns across the state. In 2023 alone, TEDCO’s 442 portfolio companies - supported by six research and investment vehicles - created over 12,000 jobs in Maryland, generated $1.1 billion in labor income, and produced $140.3 million in state and local government revenue.

The technologies TEDCO helps fund span a range of critical sectors, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, biotech, medical devices, and clean energy. These innovations not only strengthen Maryland’s economy but also contribute to national advancements in healthcare, security, and sustainability. By investing in cutting-edge solutions, TEDCO plays a vital role in driving progress that benefits both local communities and the broader U.S. economy.

With its continued commitment to innovation, equity, and economic growth, TEDCO remains a cornerstone of Maryland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, ensuring that startups have the resources and support needed to succeed.

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Transcript:

Chris Frew [00:00:01]:

Hey, everybody. Chris Frew here with BioBuzz for another episode of What's the Buzz?! Where we talk to ecosystem builders all across the markets that we cover. But today we are in our HQ, our place of origin here in Maryland, talking to one of my favorite ecosystem builders there is Tammy Thomas, who is Chief Development and Marketing Officer at TEDCO. Welcome, Tammi.

Tammi Thomas [00:00:28]:

Thank you, Chris. It's always fabulous time being with you.

Chris Frew [00:00:31]:

Likewise.

Tammi Thomas [00:00:32]:

Even if it's virtual.

Chris Frew [00:00:34]:

Likewise. I feel like there's too much virtual these days. But what we're talking about today is an opportunity where probably a thousand or so of us are all going to get together in person. So we'll be able to rectify that pretty soon. Okay, well, I'm excited to talk to you, Tammi. You and I have known each other for almost a decade, and again, I mean that wholeheartedly. You're one of my favorite ecosystem builders that's out there. And not to make you blush or anything, I'm just saying that there's people that build the ecosystem and there's people that build the ecosystem, and I think you're definitely one of the latter.

Chris Frew [00:01:12]:

So why don't we get started here? Let me just do a little housekeeping for everybody. So What's the Buzz?! Is our bimonthly podcast this week. Because of everything going on, we're doing it twice a week. So it's really picking up where we talk about the ecosystem builders and leaders that are building the innovation ecosystems that you, as an entrepreneur or a business owner or a job seeker, need to know about so that you can help support your organization and you know what resources are around you to help you grow and thrive. BioBuzz, as you know, is an ecosystem support platform. We care really about two main things. One is building community and ecosystem, and the other thing is talent and hiring. So I think they go hand in hand, and that's what we focus on each and every day.

Chris Frew [00:01:57]:

So with all the housekeeping out of the way, Tammi, let's get into business.

Tammi Thomas [00:02:02]:

I'm ready, Chris.

Chris Frew [00:02:04]:

So, first of all, we always have some new people joining in. Tell us a little bit about what is TEDCO, and maybe kind of give us a picture of TEDCO's role in Maryland's ecosystem.

Tammi Thomas [00:02:14]:

Okay, thank you for that. I think I'll start with TEDCO's elevator pitch. Basically, we've been here for 26 years, and our mission is to help to identify, invest in, and grow technology and life science startup companies in Maryland.

Chris Frew [00:02:32]:

That's a good mission. I'm sure there's a Lot of people tuning in, going, check. That's me. That's me right here.

Tammi Thomas [00:02:37]:

Right. You need investments where you go to if you need business resources to help you scale. Like what they say in the Ghostbusters, who you want to call TEDCO.

Chris Frew [00:02:48]:

I love that.

Tammi Thomas [00:03:07]:

It froze. Chris, you still there?

Chris Frew [00:03:18]:

I'm back.

Tammi Thomas [00:03:19]:

Okay, great. You froze for me.

Chris Frew [00:03:21]:

Yeah. You froze for me too.

Tammi Thomas [00:03:22]:

Okay.

Chris Frew [00:03:23]:

All right, we'll see what the audience had to say about that. Hopefully, we weren't both frozen. But what I was saying, you can't, can't, you know, can't help with technical difficulties these days. You know, that's what happens when you're virtual, but you support across the Maryland ecosystem. So what is, what is really great about an organization like TEDCO is yes, you provide funding and you provide resources, but you do it with this lens that really kind of. So you have rural programs and urban programs and you, you really do. And I think wholeheartedly in your organization approach this with an equity perspective of looking at, hey, entrepreneurs are coming from everywhere. Let's make sure we have resources for like, if you live in Maryland, like, we want a resource for you.

Tammi Thomas [00:04:11]:

Indeed, if we don't have the resources, we partner with stakeholders who do. So we'll make introductions for the companies that are located in Maryland that need help with growing. For example, if it's a company that we've invested in technology or a life science company and they're trying to have a global footprint, we'll connect them with our sister organization, the Maryland Department of Commerce, to help them with their international growth. So while we might not have all of the resources in house, we will find them outhouse to help you scale and grow.

Chris Frew [00:04:52]:

Yeah. So I know I've heard this term before. So it's not all. You're not only funding and providing support services, but you're like an innovation intermediary, you know?

Tammi Thomas [00:05:00]:

Okay.

Chris Frew [00:05:02]:

Yeah, like the Ask Jeeves of how to. How to grow your business successfully in Maryland.

Tammi Thomas [00:05:07]:

Totally. And it's like, it's just. Even for our life science companies that are scaling at a really fast pace, but they might not have an HR department. We'll connect them with organizations like Biobuzz to help them identify the right talent to scale and grow here in Maryland.

Chris Frew [00:05:27]:

Yeah, that's great. And we really appreciate that. And at BioBuzz, we love supporting early stage companies with growth.

Tammi Thomas [00:05:33]:

Maryland is the place to be. If you are a life science company and you are not growing your startup and you're not in the state of Maryland, you need to think about moving here because not only is it a fabulous place to grow your business, it's a phenomenal place for you to grow your family.

Chris Frew [00:05:54]:

Absolutely.

Tammi Thomas [00:05:55]:

Great school systems, wonderful four seasons that give you access to amazing entertainment. You can ski in Maryland, you can whitewater raft in Maryland, you can go to high-end museums, you have a football team, a baseball team. It's just, it's, it's an amazing place.

Chris Frew [00:06:16]:

I love it.

Tammi Thomas [00:06:18]:

Chris, go ahead.

Chris Frew [00:06:19]:

No, you don't digress at all. That's really critical, right? Because when we're building the, the ecosystem, when we're building startup infrastructure, you gotta be, you gotta enjoy. I mean you and I were talking.

Tammi Thomas [00:06:29]:

It'S quality of life. Yeah, amazing.

Chris Frew [00:06:31]:

You and I were talking beforehand, right? Like how busy are you these days?

Tammi Thomas [00:06:34]:

And oh my God, look, we're so, I'm, Chris and I were talking about it. We hardly get any sleep. It's been so busy because there's so many companies here and the ecosystem is so robust. There's always something to do. Like it's so many events to go to, so many networking activities for you to be in the right room with folks that can help you to grow your, your company. We're wore out. Like, it's just amazing. I think yesterday I had four different events to go to in two different type of industry specific and one was geographic specific to the state, State of Maryland.

Tammi Thomas [00:07:12]:

In, in each one of these events there were powerhouse entities that were there that had resources for companies to grow. Whether it was angel investors, family officers, institutional investors, like, like Tecco, business resources with economic development folks that are there to help people with tax credits with other type of business resources to grow their companies. And not only that, we're having fun while we're doing it. So we, if you're looking at me now, it looks like I have some wrinkles and stuff. I'm just tired because I've had too much fun while we're building this ecosystem. Like we need more people to come over here and help us to, to help these companies grow because it's like we can't be at all of these places at one time. It's like just too much great stuff happening. We need some help.

Chris Frew [00:07:59]:

Amen to that. I mean, I'm here at City Garage Science and Tech Park in Baltimore City and I see a different company touring the place every day, every week. Like there's, there's new startups in medtech and life sciences that are coming through and to your point, we need the help, but we're here in Maryland. We're close to the FDA, you know, federal labs. We've got Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland, Morgan State, Compass State, Howard. We've got, we're close to the, you know, D.C. and the DMV.

Tammi Thomas [00:08:33]:

NSA. You have Aberdeen proving, you got NASA, you have NIH. And it is just, it's phenomenal the amount of resources you have in. The beautiful part about it is that Maryland geographically is a small state. So you can get around the state, state to get access to these resources. Like in a few hours you can be in southern Maryland at, you know, 8:00 in the morning and you can be up in Harford county, like just a few hours later meeting with all the resources that you need, like manufacturing resources. They're here in Maryland. It's just, it's phenomenal.

Chris Frew [00:09:12]:

Absolutely. And you guys are located pretty centrally right in Howard County. But I know your team is all, all over the place.

Tammi Thomas [00:09:18]:

We're statewide, so we have people throughout the state. We have them in different pockets of the region where we have full time. We have people physically located there to help companies grow. We support the incubator association that's here. That's phenomenal. Like the accelerators, the, the universities, most of them have some type of entrepreneurship center. Four research institutions, Johns Hopkins, Morgan State, University of Maryland, Baltimore, University of Maryland, Baltimore county and University of Maryland, College Park. So it's five.

Tammi Thomas [00:09:53]:

It's just the amount of tech transfer coming out of those institutions is jaw dropping. And each one of them have incubators at their institutions to help these companies grow. Other support resources. In fact, the state of Maryland, we have what's called the University System in Maryland Momentum Fund. So if you are an entrepreneur and you're wanting to bring the technology out of one of these research institutions, the University System of Maryland has funds available to invest in your startup because you're working with either the faculty that are out of these institutions or the IP that's coming out of these institutions. It's just, this is a. Maryland is a magical place to start and grow your company.

Chris Frew [00:10:50]:

Absolutely. And I'll throw something else out there, you know, and I know you know, it's the military, I mean, Henry Jackson Foundation, right down Bethesda, Walter Reed, Army Institute of Research, right here, Fort Detrick, Fort Meade. I mean we've got Aberdeen like you said. So like not only the universities, but there is military tech and government tech. That's all coming out. And that's a compliment that not states and regions don't really kind of have in addition to that kind of university pipeline. So. Yeah, so I completely agree and I was just talking to the folks at Scienceworks on Monday and they do a lot with the federal government tech transfer.

Chris Frew [00:11:29]:

And so again the resources are plenty around here.

Tammi Thomas [00:11:32]:

And when you say the federal, it's like it's one of those where you want entrepreneurs to understand the resources that the federal have is a lot of times you, you can have access to non dilutive funds and non-dilutive funds is like grant money. You're not paying this back. So most of them have some kind of SBIR STTR program. Well technical even has a proposal lab to help you write your SBIR and STTR grant proposals. So if you, if you're like for phase one for SBIR grant is $256,000, like that's almost $300,000 non-dilutive funds that you're not paying back. That's helping you to take your idea to the commercialization stage. I mean it's just phenomenal. How many states can you do have those type of resources that help you be more successful in your proposal submittal for non-diluted funds?

Chris Frew [00:12:33]:

Well, you know, we travel around a lot. We're in Philadelphia a lot, North Carolina. And I do hear people talk about marijuana and one of the things they talk about is community and how important that is. And I think that all these things we're talking about, the glue that brings them all together and the roads and the pipes that help people get there is that community. And just in a couple weeks, the roads and pipes are leading us to the TEDCO Expo. And I was, I'm gonna have to say I was looking at the, the lineup of speakers and panels and I said this to you earlier, you and your team have nailed it out of the park. I mean you hit on every kind of button that as a startup that you care about and it's cyber and it's life sciences and it's, and it's advanced manufacturing commercial product. It's, you know, you're even kicking it off with keynote with the Federal Reserve and who today does not really wake up every day going like what's happening with our money policy? Like so can you talk to us a little bit? Like what's all gone into that? Like what from your team perspective, what are the themes and things that you all was important to you to build into this year because this is the first year in a while since COVID we've had the expo.

Tammi Thomas [00:13:48]:

Yes, thank you for that, Chris. Yes. So TEDCO Entrepreneur Expo is a one day event that is all about the entrepreneur that's the primary audience and it's how do we provide a one day extravaganza that not only celebrates them but gives them the tools to continue to scale their companies. So what we have in that day is two keynote sessions morning and the lunch in between is 20 concurrent sessions that has content that helps these companies grow but also helps them have access to the resources that helps them to grow. For example, one track is concentrated on federal programs to help them get access to not only the non dilutive funds for like the SBR SCTR pieces, but also procurement. You need to be able to know how to go after federal contracts for, for your startups. Another track leading innovation to market focuses on the access to capital on the equity side. So you'll hear from CEOs who have raised money from angels, family officers and institutional entities like TechCo.

Tammi Thomas [00:15:20]:

How did they go about doing that? The challenges, the roadblocks and how they were successful. And not only will they be talking about how they access the funds, but the funders will also be on these sessions. So you'll hear from angel investors, family office, fund managers, institutional investors in how to approach them. Because it's different. People don't realize even if you're going after funds from angel investors, they're not all the same, family offices, they're not all the same. So they're going to talk to you a little bit about how can you approach these investment arms. We will have economic development people that will be talking on these sessions to explain the resources that they have to help these companies grow. But not only that, the entrepreneurs will have access to these folks to connect with so that they have a person to help them grow their business.

Tammi Thomas [00:16:19]:

One beautiful thing about the Expo, give a little, a little hack. We do not create a green room for our speakers, even our VIP speakers. So they are always in the midst of the people that attend. So and we ask them that after they're speaking for them to be available for people to come up to them and get access to them to get help. So when we're talking about this is the best place for you to come to network, we're serious about that. So even our keynote speakers, we have them engaged with all participants, all attendees at the Network at the Entrepreneur Expo. And at the end we have what we call fireside chats and that's around 4:00. And these are specific thought leaders to help still raise the conversation about supporting entrepreneurs in Maryland and then at 5, from 5 to 7 o'clock is the reception and exhibit hall.

Tammi Thomas [00:17:20]:

So that's where you come to have some fun. Let's just say it's open bar, high hors d'oeuvres, a lot of partying. So it's a party with a purpose. While you finish connecting with the 86 exhibitors that are there for the sole purpose of helping companies grow and providing information about their entities. So you'll have startup companies that will be exhibiting there, as well as funding agencies and other business resource providers at the, the exhibit hall from 5 to 7.

Chris Frew [00:17:56]:

That's a lot. That's like, but again, it's, it goes back to, I mean, if you're an entrepreneur or a small business owner, the one day a year you know you can access and get answers to, to probably the, the three dozen questions. I mean, I know I'm an entrepreneur, and every day I wake up and I got another dozen questions I got to answer, problems I got to solve. So the one day of the year coming up, December 4th, is a day you can get all those resources jam packed into one place.

Tammi Thomas [00:18:26]:

Yeah, we have a few other resources there for the companies. Like we have a media room set up where we're interviewing them with video, so they'll have access to free content afterwards that they can use to help promote their companies. We have free professional headshots for all attendees. We have. I can't remember. It's a lot. Again, please forgive me, folks. Give me some grace and mercy.

Tammi Thomas [00:18:56]:

I had a little bit of sleep.

Chris Frew [00:18:58]:

I'm just glad you, I'm just glad you could join us today, Tammi. I still use the headshot from, from 2019, I think it was.

Tammi Thomas [00:19:06]:

Oh, my gosh.

Chris Frew [00:19:07]:

Well, I had more hair then, so I still hold on to that.

Tammi Thomas [00:19:12]:

And mine is just the opposite. I have more hair now than 20.

Chris Frew [00:19:20]:

But no joke, I still have it. Yeah, so those are the, those are the, those are like, that's the icing on the cake there. And, and yeah, the, the, the reception, too. I mean, you know, you're, you're in a, and I can tell you from the past years that I've been you, you're there with funders, you're there with potential strategic partners. And, and, and again, I, I, I know a couple stories of people that met at the Expo that again, did end up coming and partnering together because, you know, as entrepreneurs, we're head down. Right. You're often head down. And you're, you know, you're, you pick your head up and you Race towards solving that problem and you go back to head down.

Chris Frew [00:19:58]:

That's kind of the other benefit of what you're, you're creating something that Troy talks about a lot. Right. These, these purposeful collisions, you're bringing these bodies closer together. So as a startup, when you know, you know, you could have buyers there, you know. Right. Like, you know, buyers are going to be there, potential collaborators there. So it really is, it's fertile ground, I would call it maybe.

Tammi Thomas [00:20:24]:

And that's another thing, like even for your economic development entities, look at them as potential clients. Not just from. Don't look at them as just there for them to help you to grow your business with resources. Most oftentimes, entrepreneurs that are building something, their product or their service can be bought by the county entities, the city entities, the state entity. Like it's just so you expand, expand your mindset of being in a room. Not just about raising money. Yeah, but we want you to think about making money.

Chris Frew [00:21:07]:

And I'll tell you, when you're making money, it's easier to raise money.

Tammi Thomas [00:21:10]:

This is true. And when you're in the rooms like this, like you said, Chris, you're going to meet other companies that you can partner with to go after bigger contracts, you know, or you might find a manufacturer that can help you expedite building your product and you can build your product locally instead of having to have a manufacturer overseas. So for all of those companies that are out of state, this is a great place for you to come the expo. Because many of these investors, they invest outside of Maryland too. So you, you know, it's good for you to come here and you might have companies that you want to partner. Maryland, Maryland based companies you can partner with for you to be more competitive, not only in the United States, but globally. Like, these are phenomenal companies here. Like go and look on a website.

Tammi Thomas [00:22:05]:

On a website, we list the agenda that has the speakers, we it list the exhibitors. So there might be some companies that you're, you're looking to partner with that you don't know how to connect with them. Come to the Expo. It's nothing replaces building a relationship in person. You can do it virtually, but. But it's like it's something magical and special about connecting with somebody one on one. Like, I'm having fun having this conversation with Chris, but I prefer when he and I could do happy hour in person.

Chris Frew [00:22:41]:

Absolutely. Which we'll definitely be doing in a couple weeks because definitely you're gonna be ready for it after a long day. And I remember when you expo like, you're lucky if you get a sentence out of Tim because she is she. You are like the captain of the ship, just making Stu happen.

Tammi Thomas [00:22:59]:

I'm a worker. Be behind the scenes, folks. Work could be behind the scenes. But I'll tell you, my team, my phenomenal team. Cassie, Rachel, Dejana, Lauren, Britney, they're the ones that they're, they, they are the secret sauce to Techco. They're making all of this, this happen and, and I work for them and we all work for Troy, which Chris mentioned. That's our, that's our CEO. We hope that he will stay on script at the Expo, but no promises on that one either.

Chris Frew [00:23:31]:

Either way, it's always good. Well, a couple other, a couple other things that I wanted to bring up that I saw in here. A couple things that just because I want to give people some, you know, reasons to go check out the website, some additional regions. Not like we haven't just poured it all on them, but one thing that I saw was interesting. So there's a, a new program called the Bridge program that TEDCO is rolling.

Tammi Thomas [00:23:54]:

Out million dollars and that one is a partnership with other states. TEDCO is leading it, but it's funding for a funding opportunity for companies even outside of Maryland for them to take advantage of. Won't provide any more information on the interview today because we want you to come to the Expo to find out how you can get access, how you can submit for funding from that, that program. That's $10 million. We also have the Cyber Maryland session that will talk about funding that's available with that program. We have the Concept Capital. It is a new funding initiative that's being rolled out from TEDCO. We will unveil it there at the Expo with a few companies already pitching to receive up to $125,000.

Tammi Thomas [00:24:53]:

But it's being unveiled at the Expo. But this will be funding that will be available after the Expo as well. But you should come so you can find out how you can get access to this funding.

Chris Frew [00:25:06]:

Absolutely. And I also saw that there's a HBCU student pitch competition.

Tammi Thomas [00:25:12]:

Oh, yes. So it will be quite a few students pitching and I think that it's spanning across six universities that are out of Maryland, D.C. and Virginia.

Chris Frew [00:25:29]:

That's awesome. Like I said, you're hitting every button. Tammi. You and your team that you just talked about really kind of really pulled together something amazing here. So I hope everybody that's listening is planning to attend.

Tammi Thomas [00:25:41]:

And I want to plug one more. The lunch. The lunch panel, keynote panel. That's with Maryland Secretary of Commerce, Kevin Anderson, with MEDCO's CEO Tom Sadowski, and with the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore CEO Shalonda Stokes. Troy will be moderating that panel, and they will be talking about statewide resources as well as regional resources for companies to grow and how all of these entities are coming together and collaborating to make it happen. So Maryland is, I would say, unique. I've lived in a lot of states, and I've never seen anything like this where folks don't work in silos. You call them up and they're just trying to figure out a way to work together.

Tammi Thomas [00:26:40]:

You have. You have companies that don't see county lines, for example. They're not wanting counties to be pitched against each other when they need access to resources because they might have their company on a line of another county. And they're like, okay, we need you county execs to work together to help my company be successful. That's what Maryland is about. We even have a lot of our economic development entities. They get on, like, monthly calls together and talk about how they can collaborate and work with each other to have all their companies, you know, stay in the state and grow, even if it means that they got to help another company help a company that that's headquartered in theirs be successful in another county. Yeah, that is beautiful.

Chris Frew [00:27:32]:

It really is. It's. It's a true rising tide. And I. I'm even more encouraged under Governor Moore's, you know, vision and leadership for Maryland as well, with which I feel like is even pulling that kind of.

Tammi Thomas [00:27:45]:

Definitely. It's a one Maryland, one Maryland message that all we see is Marylanders, period. That's it.

Chris Frew [00:27:54]:

I love it.

Tammi Thomas [00:27:55]:

Yeah. So it's a beautiful thing. It's like, I like to call it agape love.

Chris Frew [00:28:02]:

That's good. I get agape love. Well, I definitely have that for TEDCO. And I'm drinking the Kool Aid, but I'm drinking the coffee for you right here.

Tammi Thomas [00:28:13]:

It's gonna be some cool swag giveaways, too.

Chris Frew [00:28:16]:

All right, so.

Tammi Thomas [00:28:17]:

So please come. Please come and have some fun with us. Part of purpose.

Chris Frew [00:28:24]:

I tell you, it's a. You know, if people didn't leave today's conversation with us excited about it, I don't know what's going to get them jazzed out, but I know can.

Tammi Thomas [00:28:32]:

One more plug, though, Chris, and this is not Expo related. I just want to make sure. For those that are looking for investments from TEDCO and you have questions, please sign up to attend one of our Virtual monthly investment open forms. It's always conducted by one of our investment fund managers. So you get to know the fund manager, you can ask questions about any of the, the funds that, investment funds that we have. I'm hoping that one of my teammates will put in the chat a link to the, the upcoming investment open forum. But we just want to make sure, look, it is our job to deploy every cent that we have. We, we're not trying to hold on to the money.

Tammi Thomas [00:29:14]:

We want to deploy all of it. And we, we want to make sure that any entrepreneur that should have access to this money should have this investment that you're going to, you're going to get access to it. So please help us help you.

Chris Frew [00:29:32]:

Yeah, it's great. And you have those. So you have the monthly information sessions and you have prelude to a pitch, which is like a coaching session.

Tammi Thomas [00:29:40]:

Yeah.

Chris Frew [00:29:41]:

Prepared for it, where you get partnered with a mentor and then you can get the application in. So you, you know, a lot of VCs are like, send me your pitch deck and that's all you hear from them. But when you work with TEDCO, there's this like, almost like a Sherpa approach where you know, you have someone helping you with your bags while you're climbing up the hill. And. Yeah, so also please know that at.

Tammi Thomas [00:30:05]:

TechCo, the way that you get access to our investments is you have to apply. And it's a, it's, it's a blind process. So we're, we, we don't know who you are when you're applying. So for people that feel like you, you might not have gotten a fair shake when you were going for funding in other places, just know that, that you won't get that, that treatment at TEDCO. So again, like, we have resources to help you, as Chris said, get to the point that you can apply to us for the funding. But just know that we're, we're interested in deploying all of our money to all entrepreneurs that are, that, that are eligible for the money. Okay. And it's statewide.

Tammi Thomas [00:30:58]:

It doesn't matter where you are in Maryland, but you have to be headquartered in Maryland. You'll get more information when you go to our website. It tells you per, per fund, what are the, what's the criteria? But again, if you have any questions, just show up to one of our monthly investment open forms. Thanks, Chris.

Chris Frew [00:31:15]:

Absolutely. And there's, like I said, I know there's space here at City Garage. Our friends over at Wexford Connect Labs have some space in Baltimore opening up. So there's plenty of place for you. So if you're listening to this and you're from out of state, come down and visit us at the expo. Get to know exactly how amazing this community is. You know, start, start moving towards your agape love for, for Maryland yourself. And again, I guarantee you're gonna like what you see.

Chris Frew [00:31:47]:

And when you do, we'll make sure we partner you with the right place to set up shops so that you can start your journey with TEDCO and the rest of our community. All right, well, thank you, Tammi. I'm stoked to see you in a couple weeks. I know you got a sprint that you're on until then, so keep strong. Thank you for all, everything you do. Thank you for your team. Your team is amazing. I've worked with them for years too, and amazing team that they do.

Chris Frew [00:32:14]:

And again for everybody joining in, a couple closing notes. This is also Baltimore Together week, so make sure you check out the events coming up. There's going to be a life science event on Thursday here in Baltimore where you're going to hear about some, some new resources you're going to hear about etc and some new resources they're launching. There's a med tech event at City Garage that night. There's a cell and gene therapy event down at our partners at Children's National Hospital. So yeah, so you can't wait until already with etc.

Tammi Thomas [00:32:51]:

So this is just, that's what we're talking about. It's a love fest. We know everybody because Maryland is that tight knit.

Chris Frew [00:32:57]:

Yep. Amen to that. So. Well, hey, I know you all have a lot of work to do building your businesses and so does Tammi and so do I. So thank you for joining this week. We'll be back again in a couple weeks with our next one. Tammi, as always, such a pleasure and I'm excited to see you in a couple weeks.

Tammi Thomas [00:33:15]:

Thanks, Chris.

Chris Frew [00:33:17]:

All right, thanks, everybody.

Tammi Thomas [00:33:19]:

Bye.