Announcing UpRise, a new initiative from UpSurge to support Baltimore’s tech founders
UpRise, a new UpSurge program, responds to local founders' most pressing needs. We’re aligning the entire ecosystem to support startup advancement at scale – from access to experts, advisors and investors, potential customers, local accelerators and incubators.
Today is the launch of phase one: the UpRise MVP. Over time, UpRise will be a roadmap for navigating Baltimore tech, and a broad-based model to support entrepreneurs across sectors and stages. It's been designed around the priorities expressed by our founders and a key piece of UpSurge’s work to grow Baltimore tech and tech-enabled companies faster.
UpRise Experts and Masterclasses
The UpRise Experts program is geared toward founders beyond the concept stage, who have a company, an MVP or live product, and have some outside funding (including pitch competitions and accelerators).
UpRise Experts consists of three components:
- Office Hours with professional services experts in legal, finance, marketing, and other important subjects and functions
- Office Hours with Executives in Residence (EIRs) - Experienced entrepreneurs providing executive coaching, fundraising, strategy, and leadership support
- Startup Strategy Sessions (S3) - A rotating group of local investors/venture capitalists providing feedback in small group sessions
Check out our current slate of UpRise experts and EIRs (listed below as well).
How do you sign up to participate?
It’s simple. First, please fill out the ABACA assessment (it takes 8 - 12 mins).
This tool is helpful so you, and we, can hit the ground running.
- It gives us a common view of your company from YOUR perspective.
- It lets an expert or EIR get a quick snapshot of your business across a range of milestones so they enter the meeting prepared and ready to be helpful.
- The tool can help you self-assess your own business progress and learn which milestones investors look for at each stage, giving you a common language to use when presenting your strengths and challenges (regardless of whether you plan to fundraise or not).
Then, reply to this email with:
- A screenshot of your filled-out ABACA assessment attached to the email;
- Attach a recent deck of one-pager (don't be perfectionist about this 🙂)
- Indicate which Experts or EIRs you want to connect with (Top 3 requests).
Upon receipt, we will respond with directions for the next steps.
UpRise Masterclasses - Sessions open to the entire Equitech community focused on topics of broad interest led by local and national experts. Mark your calendars for our first three sessions:
- [April 18th, 4-5:30pm] Everything a founder needs to know about getting funded by TEDCO: Learn about what TEDCO does and the programs and funds you can plug into. Presenters: Teddy Gresser and Isabel Wen.
- Where? UpSurge Offices, 1501 St. Paul St. Suite 130
- [April 25th, 4-6pm] Building Your Network Before You Need It: Fundraising, Customers, Mentors, Talent. Presenter: Techstars Evangelist and keynote speaker, John Hill, for a deep dive about building networks that create warm intros to investors, customers, and other who can help you grow your business.
- Where? Carey Business School, 100 International Drive
- [May 23rd, 4-5:30] Building your startup in a tough market. Presenter: Adam Phillips, Managing Director Techstars Equitech Accelerator. For any entrepreneur who wants to thrive in today's challenging business landscape, Adam will share how to identify and capitalize on opportunities, extend runway, and make the right decisions when the going is tough.
- Where? UpSurge Offices, 1501 St. Paul St. Suite 130
Look for registration and additional details soon!
Can't keep Baltimore down! Let's rise together.
Kory and the UpSurge team
Professional Experts
Kerriann Blair, Fractional CFO | Finance/Accounting
Stephanie Chin, Hutch | Government Contracts
Heather Fields, PayPal | Marketing
Daniel Mendelsohn, Venable | Legal
Brandon Singer, Capital One | Finance/Strategy
Shalanda Armstrong, Salesforce | Product/Technical Development/GTM Strategy
Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) - Sectors for each are noted here, but please check the Airtable for EIR topic focus.
Smitha Gopal, Exited Entrepreneur, Rendia (Healthcare, Software)
Bill Karpovich Founder & Investor (Software, Data, Crypto)
Jamie McDonald UpSurge CEO (Software, General Executive Coaching)
Ted Olsen, Exited Entrepreneur (Manufacturing, Hard-Tech)
Robert Wray, Serial Founder, Whitebox (E-Commerce, Data, Logistics)
S3 Strategy Session Investors include VCs from Stepstone, JMI, Rare Breed, Conscious Venture Labs, Brown Advisory, Grotech, and other local firms