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| (L to R) Lawrence Morris, technology officer; Fatima Dicko, DEO; and Ryan Middleton, chief marketing officer |
For the last 5 years, Accelerate Baltimore has been helping innovative companies in cybersecurity, edtech, health and consumer startups in Baltimore by giving them $25,000 in seed funding. This year, they added a bonus award of $100,000. The first company to win this award was MyBestBox, a Black-owned subscription box service company based in Baltimore, Maryland.
Founded by entrepreneurs Lawrence Morris, Fatima Dicko, and Ryan Middleton, MyBestBox is an online retailer of healthy food products as well as healthy products for the skin, sleep aids, and more - all in a box. They not only deliver boxes with goods that help facilitate healthier lifestyles, but they also donate portions of their profits to nonprofit organizations.
Not just funding
Accelerate Baltimore choses a total of 6 companies each year to receive seed funding and participate in a four-month program where they learn business information from experts in the areas of marketing, corporate strategy, business development, product launch and more.
In addition, the winning companies receive access to business-building sessions, mentoring, office space and other support from Emerging Technology Centers (ETC).
The program has already giving away awards of more than $800K
ETC was founded in the late 1990s as a non-profit venture of the Baltimore Development Corporation. ETC promotes economic growth by providing its member companies with resources such as seed capital, mentors, and partners. Since the Accelerate Baltimore program began, it has awarded $800,000 to 28 companies.
For more details about Accelerate Baltimore, visit www.acceleratebaltimore.com
For more details about MyBestBox, visit www.mybestbox.com