Maryland shakes up broadband, commerce

Newsletter for February 5, 2025

Did everyone see that Maryland officials revealed their designs for the structure to replace the Francis Scott Key Bridge? It's supposed to be less susceptible to ship strikes and will cost more than $1.7 billion. How will the Trump administration's attitude toward federal loans fit into this? Let's chat about it.

Speaking of money, let's get into today's newsletter. The Baltimore region raised a lot more venture capital to close out 2024 than in the fall — nearly double what it saw in Q3. But most of the funds went to later-stage companies.

The public sector has also been busy. The governor and agency leadership came out with several executive orders and economic reorganizations in the new year. Keep scrolling to get those details.

— Kaela, Technical.ly lead reporter in Baltimore and DC

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Following a languid Q3, Baltimore saw $158 million in venture capital funding across 13 deals during 2024’s final three months.

Funders still look for more mature companies in which to invest, per Mike Ravenscroft, the managing director of the University System of Maryland Momentum Fund. That was the case for most of 2023 and 2024, so he doesn’t find this continuation surprising. The uptick in cash is promising, but nowhere near as robust as 2021’s highs, he explained.

“I do not think that the average startup is, or should be, throwing caution to the wind,” Ravenscroft told me, “and thinking that the environment is picked up and that everything’s turned around.”

➡️ Learn more about the latest venture capital trends here

Rather than hiking taxes, Gov. Moore has chosen to close glaring budget gaps by relying on economic growth. This priority has already affected recent policy.

For example, he established the Digital Infrastructure Group, a new entity tasked with managing digital frameworks across state government agencies.

Eric Bathras, the group’s new leader and the Department of Information Technology's CTO of infrastructure, said he’s creating a “single view” of the state’s broadband assets and compiling all of the data so agencies can better coordinate their work.

“We’re taking a playbook from the private industry,” Bathras told me. “We’re going to coalesce all of our data assets into a public sector view.”

➡️ Get the details on this and other government changes here

• Coppin State University nabbed half a million dollars from JPMorgan Chase to expand its data science programming. [Coppin State]

• Tickets are live for Technical.ly's Builders Conference in May. Attend to meet fellow technologists and entrepreneurs across the Mid-Atlantic. Plus, apply to be a speaker. [Technical.ly]

• Black business owners in Baltimore are worried about the cuts to federally subsidized programs and grants under the Trump administration. [Baltimore Banner]

• Baltimore food startup SIMPLi moved its HQ from Baltimore to Philly. [Baltimore Biz Journal]

• Lawmakers are developing a slew of bills focused on lowering consumer energy bills and fostering more energy production in Maryland, including calling for a new power plant to be built in the state. [Maryland Matters]

• The HBCUniverse Summit at Morgan State University is coming up this weekend, and its creator and founder of the accelerator Venture for T.H.E.M. Kiante Bush talked about the mission behind the event for entrepreneurship and innovation on CBS. [Venture for T.H.E.M/WJZ/Technical.ly]

• As the Trump administration continues to remove undocumented residents and limit immigration, know your constitutional rights as someone living in the US, regardless of your status. [Baltimore Beat]

• LA's military-grade AI platform developer Atlas UP acquired Latch, an AI-based change management platform. Latch's developer, SHIFT, was once headquartered in Fells Point but now operates out of Northern Virginia. [Atlas UP/Technical.ly]

• Baltimore is suing the Trump administration for its executive orders that seek to end diversity programs. [Reuters]