COLUMBIA, MD – The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) has announced that it has provided $225,000 in new funding to three early-stage technology start-ups and $100,000 to a pair of university researchers. The funds came from TEDCO’s Marlyand Technology Transfer Fund (MTTF), which helps technology startups work with universities and government organizations to develop technology.
The recipients of the funds include Frederick, MD-based ChromoTrax, a company that develops technology designed to improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients suffering from genetic-based diseases; the three-person company is working with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute.
Another startup to receive the funding was Foligo Therapeutics, a developer of technology designed to inhibit the protein production of a cancer-promoting gene; the company, also working with the NIH employees, employees one person and is based in Rockville, MD.
The three-person, Boyds-based Zylacta, a biotech firm developing compounds with the potential to have anti-apoptotic activity and antioxidant effects, received a portion of the MTTF funds.
The University researchers who received the funds were Stephen Freeland, Ph.D., an assistant biology professor at University of Maryland Baltimore County who is developing software for a web-based system allowing people to discuss documents or photos regardless of physical location or synchrony; and Sheryl Ehrman, Ph.D., an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Maryland College Park, who is working on a potentially more efficient way to generate power.
TEDCO, founded in 1998 by the Maryland General Assembly, was ranked number 1 in July 2004 and June 2005 by Entrepreneur Magazine for the largest number of investments in start-up or early stage companies for the second consecutive year. The 39 MTTF companies that have finished their funded projects, based on a total TEDCO investment of $2,188,544, have collectively raised $60,700,000 in downstream funding.
www.marlyandtedco.org
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