Showcase Details
February 18, 2025, 5:00-9:00 PM
Location: TBA
Mark your calendars for the inaugural showcase to celebrate the nine student ventures selected for the first-ever Pava LaPere Innovation Awards. All nominated student ventures will have an opportunity to expo at the showcase as well.
The MD Intercollegiate Student Venture Showcase & Pava LaPere Innovation Awards is an event/program funded by the Pava LaPere Legacy of Innovation Act of 2024 where the State of Maryland established the Pava LaPere Innovation Acceleration Grant Program in the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) to provide grants to technology-based start-up companies founded by students from institutions located in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The funding will allow TEDCO to disburse nine awards of $50,000 to student ventures from postsecondary institutions in the Baltimore Tech ecosystem.
This is the first go at executing this program, a multi-year commitment.
Representatives from each participating institution will select up to four (4) ventures to move forward. Awardees will have an opportunity to present at the MD Student Venture Showcase in February.
Student Venture Eligibility Requirements
1. A member of the founding and current leadership team must be enrolled at an Baltimore-Towson-Columbia MSA college or university at the time of application.
2. The venture must be a tech-enabled business leveraging some innovation in technology. This includes companies that are building/ have built a new technology, or companies that utilize technological advancement to deliver a new product or service.
3. The venture must be incorporated as a business. (LLC, 501c3, or other entities accepted) Incorporation can happen within 60 days of notice of award.
Eligible Institutions and Steering Committee Representatives
Anne Arundel Community College, Stephanie Goldenberg, slgoldenberg@aacc.edu
Baltimore City Community College, Quintin Davis, qdavis@bccc.edu
Carroll Community College, Amy Yingling, ayingling@carrollcc.edu
Community College of Baltimore County, Dennis Sullivan, dsullivan2@ccbcmd.edu
Coppin State University, Ron Williams, coppinallbusiness@coppin.edu
Goucher College, Maureen Malomba, maureen.malomba@goucher.edu
Harford Community College, Marc Minnick, mminnick@harford.edu
Howard Community College, Helen Rose, hrose@howardcc.edu
Johns Hopkins University, Josh Ambrose, JoshAmbrose@jhu.edu
Loyola University Maryland, Wendy Bolger, webolger@loyola.edu
Maryland Institute College of Art, Stacy Stube, sstube@mica.edu
McDaniel College, Joan Liptrot, jliptrot@mcdaniel.edu
Morgan State University, Onyema Osuagwu, onyema.osuagwu@morgan.edu
Notre Dame of Maryland University, business@ndm.edu
St. John’s College, Jaime Dunn, Jaime.Dunn@sjc.edu
Stevenson University, Dr. Holly, Schiller, hlentz-schiller@stevenson.edu
Towson University, Patrick McQuown, pmcquown@towson.edu
University of Baltimore, Henry Mortimer, hmortimer@ubalt.edu
University of Maryland, Baltimore, Taylor DeBoer, taylor.deboer@umaryland.edu
University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Kevin Fulmer, kevinf@umbc.edu
Evaluation Criteria
Opportunity (25pts)
Is the opportunity big? Is the market there? Or is there a market created by this product? Is there a solvable problem that is painful to customers to deal with?
Business (25pts)
Is there a seemingly viable plan to get the company off the ground? Will people pay for it? Is there a path to initial revenue through paying customers?
Team (25pts)
Is this the team of people to get the product built, a larger team recruited, and money made? Are the founders authentic and passionate?
Technology (15pts)
Is the product innovative, differentiable, and viable? Can it be built by this team? Does this technology unlock a unique and compelling competitive advantage?
Impact (10pts)
How likely is it that the team will commit to staying in Baltimore? If they do, what impact will it have on the region?
Extra Credit
Up to 3 points per evaluator to reward applicants who go above and beyond by demonstrating exemplary research/data, storytelling, or submission quality.
Up to two (2) ventures from the same university may be selected for awards.
The MD Student Venture core organizing committee will finalize selections with considerations of steering committee scoring, external evaluation review committee scoring, and portfolio balance.