Nneka Nnamdi, founder and CEO of Fight Blight Bmore. (Courtesy Photo/fightblightbmore.com)
By AFRO Staff
Three HACK Baltimore teams have been selected for the 2020 AccelerateBaltimore cohort. Five companies in total have been selected to participate in its AccelerateBaltimore 2020 program, each receiving $50,000 in seed funding from the Abell Foundation.
The three HACK Baltimore teams in the cohort are:
Made @ Dent
A ‘maker space’ social enterprise between Baltimore youth and Dent Education focused on design and production of PPEs (currently face shields).
Fight Blight Bmore
A reporting application for informing residents and reporting to city officials about blight and remediation efforts in Baltimore.
The Black Brain Trust (TBBT)
A Justice/Equity/Diversity/Inclusion (JEDI) scoring system created as a standard for companies to measure how equity is centered in their business practices.
In June, HACK Baltimore announced a partnership with the ETC and AccelerateBaltimore. Since 1999 ETC has assisted Baltimore City’s technology entrepreneurs through a wide variety of programs, one of which is AccelerateBaltimore. The goal of this Accelerator program is to close the gap between innovative ideas and getting to market by providing seed capital, resources, mentors, potential partners, and a collaborative community.
Together the two organizations created the HACK Baltimore-ETCAccelerate Challenge. The charge was to address challenges in the focus areas of housing, transportation, health and wellness, education, and public safety. More than 20 entries were received by HACK Baltimore to receive support prior to applying for the Accelerate Baltimore program.
The HACK Baltimore organizers worked with six finalists to help them prepare applications for the 2020 Accelerate Baltimore cohort, refining their solution concept and value proposition. Three HACK Baltimore teams were part of the group of finalists selected by Accelerate Baltimore to go through to the final round, which included a pitch presentation. HACK Baltimore worked with the finalists in the development of their pitch deck and video presentation.
“We are excited to have three HACK Baltimore teams part of the Accelerate Baltimore cohort and look forward to continuing working with them throughout the program as advisors. Our partnership with the ETC has helped to provide emerging entrepreneurs in our communities access to the resources, advice, and support offered in a program like Accelerate Baltimore,” shared HACK Baltimore Co-Chairs Dionne Joyner-Weems and Delali Dzirasa.
As advisors in the Accelerate Program, HACK Baltimore will not only provide its three teams with the support necessary to build out their minimum viable product (MVP), but will also lead the program’s “Community Engagement” Panel. As one of the newest events, the panel is taking a closer look at “Minding Your Business: How Start-Ups Authentically Engage Their Local Community.”
To learn more about HACK Baltimore, visit www.hackbaltimore.io.
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