The Latest from FITCI: Funding, Awards, and Student Outreach
By Erica Riley
February 9, 2023
The Frederick Innovative Technology Center, Inc. (FITCI) had a big year in 2022 as it officially broke ground (or rather, walls) on its new EDGE@321 Building in Ballenger Creek. FITCI has continued that momentum since then – catch up on FITCI’s recent news and progress below:
TRUIST Foundation awards FITCI $88,000 for IDEA Lab
In late December, FITCI announced it received an $88,000 grant from Truist Foundation to assist in funding the Innovation Driven Entrepreneurship Accelerator (IDEA) Lab at FITCI’s new EDGE@321 building. This program will help early-stage entrepreneurs start their businesses and get them on the road to success.
“FITCI has been needing an IDEA Lab to help the earliest stage of startups. Now, thanks to Truist Foundation, we can finally assemble resources necessary to successfully help early – and idea-stage – companies build and come to fruition,” says FITCI President and CEO Kathie Callahan Brady. “We’ve proven our track record with incubating companies in our programs for the last 18 years, and now FITCI will be able to better open doors for the earliest-stage entrepreneurs.”
With the new funding, FITCI will be able to increase the number of idea-stage, early-startup businesses in the incubator. The IDEA Lab will also help create more diverse entrepreneurial cohorts of trainees and sustain more minority-owned-and-operated small businesses through coaching, capital, and connections.
Additionally, a diverse mentoring board of successful business owners and entrepreneurs will serve as the lab’s foundation to help mentor new members.
NanoBioFAB takes home award from showcase
NanoBioFAB, a FITCI member and nanotechnology startup, took home an award of $10,000 from the Universities of Shady Grove Equity Incubator Showcase. The company presented its intelligent medical sensor, RAPID-iNose, at the showcase, which included a field of 60 applicants and five presenters.
RAPID-iNose is a real-time agnostic patch that measures small chemical variations produced by the body in order to detect and care for infected wounds. Combining a patented, wireless and highly sensitive nanosensor array with artificial intelligence algorithms, RAPID-iNose automatically and continuously captures information on the types and amounts of pathogens. Using the results, the product can alert medical professionals of infection much earlier than without such a device.
For example, said founder Dr. Xiaonao Liu, if a patient got an infection after surgery, it might take a long time to identify and start surgery. That delay not only puts the patient in danger but can add tens of thousands of dollars in healthcare costs.
RAPID-iNose is now in development and has applications for military and private use.
Universities of Shady Grove Equity Incubator Showcase is the culmination of an eight-week program for local emerging startups sponsored by the David and Mikel Blair Family Foundation.
UMBC TLST students visit FITCI
FITCI hosted students from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Shady Grove campus at its ROOT location on Market Street in December to provide them with networking practice and personal connections with successful startup founders. The visit was the second annual event of its kind. The event was organized by FITCI and Dr. Annica Wayman, Associate Dean for Shady Grove Affairs in the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences at UMBC at the Universities of Shady Grove.
FITCI board members Jodie Bollinger (Acting Director of Economic and Workforce Development, Frederick County) and Richard Griffin (Director of Economic Development, The City of Frederick) gave a professional information session to the students, who are juniors and seniors majoring in Translational Life Science Technology (TLST).
Afterward, students sat in on a panel of FITCI entrepreneurs, including ake Butt (Deepspace Applications), Alison Demarest (Pace Life Sciences, formerly Meridian Biogroup), Michael Mesa (Mesa Science Associates and MesaGreen Pharmaceuticals), Kwabena Okrah (Alirtify), and Stephen Turner (Nanocrine), who spoke about their own journeys and the importance of networking. Students then practiced networking with the panel members, FITCI board members, and FITCI staff.
“It is very important to connect the next generation of innovators to those who are going through it and work in the field now while they are still in their educational journey,” says Brady. “I hope the students got some internship ideas and opportunities from the visit as well.”
More About FITCI
To learn more about the Frederick Innovative Technology Center, Inc., visit their website.
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Erika Riley is a journalist who covers topics including business, real estate, and economics. She is based in Frederick, Maryland.
