Loyola announces finalists for 2021 Baltipreneurs Accelerator Program

Loyola’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship has selected 13 companies and social ventures as finalists in the Baltipreneurs Accelerator Program. The second annual cohort of Baltipreneur finalists was selected from a competitive pool of more than 80 applicants. 

“While Baltipreneurs is still very new, the word is out, and we reviewed a highly competitive pool of applicants that was 34% larger than last year’s,” said Wendy Bolger, director of the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. “It made selection tough, but we feel confident we can expect a lot from the 13 ventures that made the cut. Baltimore will be relying on innovators like the Baltipreneurs for the revitalization we need in our economy coming out of the pandemic and our history of racial injustice.”

Participants in the Baltipreneurs Accelerator Program attend 10 virtual sessions from November through February, ending with a Demo Day pitch in early spring.

The recipients will receive business and entrepreneurship instruction from Loyola faculty members and other partners, as well as mentorship, one-on-one pitch training, networking, a $2,000 stipend, and up to $20,000 in additional awards.

The awardees are:

• Afterrhome Inc., a platform that uses artificial intelligence to help users book remote home inspections;
• AlgenAir LLC, a natural air purifying company;
• ATP-MD LLC, a patented combined remediation biomass and bio-product production (CRBBP) Process to plant and multi-tasks bio-crops, to do good things for the health and wellbeing of people, the planet, and local economies, less expensively;
• Blue Bone Jewelry, a business that sells hand-made jewelry nationally in stores and online;
• Ekiben, an Asian fusion food stand with restaurants in Baltimore;
• Equalyze, an online platform designed to serve Baltimore’s small business community by connecting them with knowledgeable undergraduate business students via personalized virtual consultations; 
• Hiatus Cheesecake, a family-owned dessert company based in Baltimore that specializes in cheesecake;
• Infinite Focus Schools, a mindfulness and socio-emotional learning software for children;
• Mentoring Mentors Inc., a Baltimore based 501(c)(3) mentorship non-profit organization established to promote community interdependency and long-term relationships for urban African American youth;
• Project Own, an app that assists with equalizing access to property wealth creation for Black Americans—beginning with homeownership;
• Silent Venus, a company that installs restrooms at any location without major construction;
• Sporty Dog Creations, a gourmet hot dog supplier with a mission to change the eating culture in urban communities;
• Supir, a transportation staffing platform that empowers better transit by prioritizing driver freedom, superior customer service, and bus reliability.

Loyola faculty and students are involved in three of the 13 companies and social ventures selected in this year’s cohort. Maria Jaeckel, ’22, a business management major with a minor in digital media is the founder and designer of Blue Bone Jewelry, which was selected as one of the finalists in this year’s Baltipreneur cohort.

"I am extremely passionate about making my small business, Blue Bone Jewelry, the absolute best it can be,” said Jaeckel, who is from Warren, N.J. “The passion I have for jewelry design gives me a type of energy that is unmatched in anything else I do and I’m confident that Baltipreneurs Accelerator will allow me to take my small business to the next level. I look forward to meeting my mentor and the other cohorts soon."

For more information on the Baltipreneurs Accelerator Program, visit www.loyola.edu/accelerator.