From Grants to Growth: How TEDCO’s Equity Growth Fund Is Building Maryland’s Biotech Backbone

At Maryland’s recent Insights to Impact event, the conversation was not just about startups, science, or even funding. It was about infrastructure — the less visible but essential scaffolding that determines whether innovation ecosystems thrive or stagnate.

When Karen Zuccardi of TEDCO described the state’s innovation landscape as a garden, she framed the moment clearly. TEDCO, she said, has long been “watering the flowers” — investing directly into promising companies. But through its Equity Growth Fund (EGF), the organization is now “working underneath the surface,” strengthening the soil itself.

That distinction matters.