University of Md. to Add Competitions in Healthcare IT, Clean Energy

College Park, Maryland – The University of Maryland announced that it plans to hosts four business competitions  this spring and nearly Quarter-Million dollar of prizes to be awarded to selected 4 winners. The competition encompasses startup category and business plans and 2 new addition – Health Care and Clean Energy.

The prizes with a sum of $230,000 will be divided into the different categories during the duration of the competition which will last for three weeks, it will start on March 30 and ends on April 25,2012. Interested competitors have until Feb.24 to register and up to March 6 to submit to submit a proposed plan. UMD is encouraging competitors to be innovative in the healthcare competition and expects teams to come up and use information technology in improving patient care with health care providers.  The teams joining for the healthcare category will be comprised up to 5 members from different universities nationwide. The first prize is $20,000 and runners up will receive $5,000.

The ACC Clean Energy Challenge aims entrepreneurs to engage and propose clean tech business plans, The challenge is open to students from different universities from all Atlantic Coast Conference schools and universities in the southeastern. The winning team will receive $100,000 and will move on to the DOE Grand National Finals in Washington, D.C., in June 2012. The deadline for the video pitch is March 23, 2012.

The nationwide search and competitions is a join project from different universities and departments and aligns with UMD President Wallace Loh’s strategic priority of entrepreneurship and innovation and the university’s goal of creating 100 new companies over the next decade.

Click the link below for the Official Press Release|:

http://www.mtech.umd.edu

DC-Based LivingSocial To Host Events, Classes at DC Building

Washington, D.C. – LivingSocial, the leading  social commerce company and owner of the top daily deal site LivingSocial.com has renovated the historic building Penn Quarter to set-up an experimental ”retail” space. LivingSocial spent $3 million in remodeling the six-story building and will be used for their new offerings such as cooking classes, art lessons like painting classes, events like book club and other events like performances as well.

The new move of LivingSocial makes them not just a coupon company but offering high-end and industry grade services such a cooking classes with kitchens built with high-definition  flat screen monitors with to motion-sensor cameras for better viewing on the chef’s activities and works. There will also be offering such as a intimate session rooms that can host musical performances, yoga classes and can serve as lecture rooms or book club discussions.

“LivingSocial is trying to create a business model no one has ever seen before,” said Morris Panner, a board member of the Software and Information Industry Association. “It’s really cool, but it’s not a slam dunk.”

The move follows the footsteps of giant companies such as Apple, Nike, Harley Davidson and ESPN. LivinsgSocial formerly rents the place and if proven successful, the company also plans to set-up real spaces in other cities to accommodate their new services. According to some experts, by building its own local stores, LivingSocial can target and offer their 63 million subscribers local services such as yoga classes, concerts and other events based on the coupons they purchased.

The newly renovated building of LivingSocial is located at 918 F Street, NW.  One of LivinsgSocial’s current real experience offering is the celebrity-chef Mike Isabella’s new mexican menu for her upcoming restaurant. Though the price is $110 and definitely not a discounted price, the tickets were sold out in just 8 hours.

 Visit LivingSocial’s Official Website:

http://www.livingsocial.com

TV Journalist Launches Summer Camp Search Site CampEasy

McLean, VA – TV Journalist and NBC Correspondent Brooke Salkoff and Wireless Executive Jonathan Salkoff knows the difficulty for working parents in finding and planning the perfect camp experience for their parents and that’s the reason why they decided to launch a summer camp search site called CampEasy.

CampEasy, a startup based in Mclean which provides a comprehensive scheduling tool for families anywhere in the U.S., to select and plan their summer camp calendar. The free web service allows parents to search for camps based on proximity, time, cost and individual interests. According to their website, CampEasy goals are to present a platform where parents discover and plan camps for their kids in one place, and where camps are seen by parents – at the visibility of their choosing — during this decision-making process.

“Our research shows that parents in our area spend more each year on summer camps than they spend on airfares,” said Brooke Salkoff. “But there is no equivalent to Expedia, Kayak or Orbitz to guide parents through their search.”

According to Brroke Salkoff (also know as Brroke Hart in NBC), the startup came up as her needs to find the perfect summer camp for her kids are not meet by just searching in the net. Salkoff also announced that they are open for seed funding from VC and angel investors in the future.

You can visit CampEasy from their Official website:

http://www.campeasy.com

Chantilly-Based Digital Signal Corp. Raises $10.3 Million

Chantily, Virginia -Digital Signal Corporation, a company which engages in the research and development of three-dimensional facial recognition systems for the department of defense and other federal agencies has raised a fresh round of funding amounting to $10.3 million according to a filing with the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC).

According to the regulatory filing, seven venture capital firm took part of the funding which includes its existing backers Columbia Capital, City Light Capital, SilverHaze Partners, Novak Biddle Venture Partners and Paladin Capital Group. Last April of 2011, DSC (Digital Signal Corp.) has raised $15 million from the same backers.

Digital Signal Corporation (DSC) is currently the top in the industry of three dimensional (3D) long-range facial recognition solutions which are used by the government and enterprises for security and business processes.

You can visit Digital Signal Corporation’s Official Website for more information:

http://www.digitalsignalcorp.com/

Online Education Startup 2tor Hires New CEO, Moving HQ to Landover

Landover, Maryland – 2tor, a startup which  partners with universities to build, administer, and market online degree programs has appointed its President and co-founder Chip Paucek as the new CEO. As part of the appointment, 2tor will be shifting its headquarters from from New York to Landover which the new CEO currently resides. John Katzman, the former CEO and founder of the company will remain as Executive Chairman of the board.

2tor will still maintain its New York operations even though its headquarters has been relocated to Maryland. The company has also offices in Chapel Hill, Los Angeles and Hong kong.

2tor created a system for universities to offer graduate degree programs online. 2tor’s framework is currently used by Georgetown University for its nursing school and the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. According to the new CEO Chip Paucek, the company will be launching two new additional academic categories in the fall.

2tor has raised $62.5 million since its founding in 2008. Its investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, City Light Capital, and Redpoint Ventures. Even with new hires planned and the expected expansion into new schools, the company is in no hurry to seek more capital, Paucek says.

Catalyst Investors Buys Major Stake in Bethesda-Based WeddingWire

Bethesda, Md. — WeddingWire, U.S. leading online wedding company serving the $70 billion wedding industry has announced the acquisition of its largest non-founder stakeholder the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia by the New York-based private equity firm Catalyst Investors.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. is a multi media and merchandise company which operates in different fields such as cooking and entertainment, holidays, crafts, home, whole living, weddings, organizing, and gardening. The company manages four very successful segments such as the Publishing, Merchandising, Internet, and Broadcasting. It produces the hit show Martha Stewart show and also handles the internet merchandise site MarthaStewart.com.

“WeddingWire is a very attractive investment opportunity. The Company has grown rapidly and will continue to do so. WeddingWire has an exceptionally strong management team with a terrific vision,” said McNally. “Its business model provides proven value to its customer base in the wedding market – a more than $70 billion industry – and their core technologies are transportable to other verticals.”

As part of the deal, Catalyst co-founders Ryan McNally and Brian Rich will join WeddingWire’s board of directors.

This year, WeddingWire acquired one of its major competitors ProjectWedding.com from eHarmony and partnered with Conde Nast’s Brides.com.

For more information on WeddingWire, Visit their Official Site at:

http://www.weddingwire.com/

Baltimore City to Launch Technology Accelerator Program

Baltimore, Maryland – The city of Baltimore, known for its active support on technology firms and incubator programs has launched another incubator program to support start-ups called “Accelerate Baltimore” which is intended to guide and propel with the latest trends by launching its own accelerator program.

The newly launched tech accelerator program is backed by a $110,000 of seed funding and financial supports from The Abell Foundation. The city’s Emerging Technology Centers (ETC) manages and operates the incubator programs and p-lans to create an environment similar to the successful incubator programs like Y Combinator and BetaWorks.

The program will start with 5 startups in Baltimore and provide them with a 3 month boot camp program with expert mentors and also provide them with rent free offices at the ETC in Canton during the program. As part of the requirements for the program, the startup must remain at Baltimore for at least 5 years.

According to Ann Lansinger, the president of the ETC, the new accelerator would fill a gap for early-stage entrepreneurs.

“How do we really flesh out the full ecosystem for Baltimore?” said Lansinger. “There are gaps in pre- and post-incubation. We’ve been looking at how to fill that out.

Part of the deal with the startup is ETC and Abell will take an 8 percent equity stake in each company and a 2.5 percent royalty, capped at $150,000.

To know more about the program, you can visit Accelerate Baltimore’s website:

http://acceleratebaltimore.r2ismash.com/

Baltimore-Based CSA Medical Raises $20.5 Million in Second Round

Baltimore, Maryland – CSA Medical, a provider of cryotherapy systems and offers  CryoSpray Ablation system, which enables the physicians to freeze, destroy, and remove unwanted tissues has raised $20.5 M of series B funding from InterSouth Funding and  First Analysis and backed up by S.V. Life Sciences, Rose Park, Blue Heron Capital and other existing investors from its January round of funding.

Aside from the new funding, CSA Medical also announced that Tracy Marshbanks from First Analysis, Dr. Rick Kent of Intersouth Partners, and Paul LaViolette from S.V. Life Sciences will join the CSA’s board of directors.

“CSA’s platform technology has the potential to revolutionize current approaches to the treatment of multiple disease states for which there is clearly an unmet clinical need,” noted Rick Kent, partner at Intersouth Partners. “The company has already demonstrated an ability to bring novel medical devices through development and into the market, as evidenced by its progress in the gastrointestinal space, and we are pleased to support their efforts to address new applications for Spray Cryotherapy.”

The new funding will be used on on new marketing strategies, research and studies and also to fund and support new development of products and continuing the success of the company’s Spray Cryotherapy system.

Visit CSA Medical for more details:

http://www.csamedical.com

Jessup-Based Vorbeck Materials Raises $10 Million in Third Round

Jessup, Maryland –  Vorbeck Materials, a specialty materials company, manufactures and supplies graphene sheets and materials for electronics has raised $10 million of series C funding from Black Powder and Fairbridge ventures and was backed up by 15 other investors.

Vorbeck is currently the first company in the world with graphene-based products in the market. Vorbeck’s new materials technology called Graphene allows transformational innovations in industries ranging from consumer goods to aerospace. Vorbeck is also the first and only company to receive EPA approval for the commercial production and sale of graphene-based products.

Vorbeck will be using the new funding to expand sales of Vor-ink, its patented graphene-based mew technology ink for printed electronics. The Vor-ink technology enables highly conductive and flexible electronics used in the security, medical diagnostics, building infrastructure and aerospace industries.

The company was founded in 2006 and led by President John S. Lettow, Vorbeck manufactures and develop applications using Vor-x™, its patented graphene material developed at Princeton University.

McLean-Based TroopSwap.com Lands $2.5 Million in Seed Funding

McLean, Virginia – TroopSwap, an e-Commerce site dedicated to the veterans an family members has secured a $2.5 million of seed funding from  McCombs Partners, Blu Venture Investors, Access Ventures and from angel investors Jay Campion, Roy Terracina, Mary Abbott, Larry Cochran and Kelly Perdew.

The startup which was launched just last  May 23, 2011 by two veterans and Harvard Business School alumni Blake Hall and Matthew Thompson has more than 30,000 members now and partnered with top merchants to provide deals and also employs military wife to support the military community.

“Military discounts are commonly offered throughout the country, but national retailers and online stores previously did not have a way to offer those discounts online,” said CEO Blake Hall. “TroopSwap has addressed that problem by forming strategic relationships that allow us to validate military affiliation online in a secure manner.”

TroopSwap.com plans to use the new funding to further develop its technology and platform to better provide great deals to military community.

The service is currently available in Hampton Roads, Virginia; San Diego, California; Washington, DC and National.

Visit their site at:

https://www.troopswap.com/