The event brings Maryland’s tech and business ecosystem together in one place, offering teachable moments, strategic partnerships and growth opportunities for attendees all in one day.

Growing a company takes more than just capital — it takes connections, a reality that TEDCO (the Maryland Technology Development Corporation) not only understands, but embraces. The creation of the Entrepreneur Expo, an award-winning, one day conference, was spurred forward by this idea, allowing entrepreneurs, investors, startups, economic development leaders, international entities and more to gather in one space, enabling introductions and sparking partnerships, funding and growth across Maryland.

So, when a LinkedIn post about the event popped up on Mike Malloy’s feed for the first time in May 2024, he immediately saw the appeal.

As the leader of the consulting firm Malloy Industries, he aims to connect companies with experienced leaders who can join part-time or on a project basis to fill strategic gaps in a business; in other words, he is working to link clients with the right people at the right time.

The expo seemed to be a natural extension of his own work — a place where the state’s entrepreneurial community could overcome the usual barriers to networking and build the kind of relationships that drive businesses forward.

“The TEDCO Entrepreneur Expo has been one of the best events of the year for Malloy Industries to set up a table the past two years,” Malloy said. “It’s been great to meet so many entrepreneurs, service providers, investors and really all of the different types of players in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Maryland.”

In that sense, the expo is designed to eliminate some of the natural friction of the startup world — the missed introductions, untapped opportunities and gaps between talent and funding that can stall growth.

This year, the Entrepreneur Expo takes place on Tuesday, October 27, at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor hotel.

Drawing more than 1,000 attendees each year, the event has become a mainstay for founders, investors, policymakers, university innovators and international entities. It features startup pitches, panel discussions and networking sessions aimed at helping companies at all stages access strategic partnerships.

Turning connections into action

RPM Tech president and founder Cyrus Etemad-Moghadam’s favorite parts of the Entrepreneur Expo are the serendipitous meetings that happen there.

He leads a multidisciplinary team — including systems, electrical, mechanical, firmware and software engineers, industrial designers, machinists and technicians — that helps founders move from concept to production.

RPM Tech has guided more than 120 companies through design, prototyping and manufacturing. Its clients primarily include startups or early-stage ventures, and the biggest hurdles they face aren’t always technical. They’re strategic.

“We’ll get individuals and companies and startups that come to us and have a great idea, a great product, but it doesn’t solve a problem in the market,” Etemad-Moghadam said. 

That’s where events like the Entrepreneur Expo make a difference.

By bringing together funders and service providers in one place, the event creates opportunities for real-time feedback that can help entrepreneurs refine their strategies.

After first attending the event in 2017 and exhibiting the following year, Etemad-Moghadam said the expo put RPM Tech “on the map.” It opened the door to a vast array of founders and partners across Maryland’s ecosystem.

That yearly boost to exposure has contributed to RPM Tech accumulating more than $37 million in revenue to date since its inception in 2006.  

“No one else does something that’s that broad in terms of the attendance, the sponsors and so on,” Etemad-Moghadam said. “I’m still learning to this day. I think it’s an opportunity to potentially learn from each other. We learn a lot of lessons from meeting with people, seeing what people are interested in.”

Building your network with contacts, existing and new 

The benefits have been just as tangible for Malloy.

One of his standout moments from last year’s expo illustrates how the event accelerates growth.

While enjoying all-you-can-eat crab cakes, he ran into the entrepreneur behind Southeastern Roastery, whom he’d known for several years. She was opening a new location and scrambling to onboard five new employees in just 10 days — with no human resources system in place.

Malloy quickly assessed the project and realized he could connect her with the perfect “fractional executive” — a term for seasoned experts who help clients delegate operational work without the time, cost or commitment of a full-time hire.

In fact, it was just earlier that day that Malloy met Justin Volman, CEO of Volman HR Strategies, for the first time. Within days, Volman joined Malloy Industries as a fractional HR executive and helped the roastery’s team, setting up interviews, completing paperwork and onboarding all the new employees.

“If you’re an early-stage entrepreneur who doesn’t have a lot of money, resources or time, this is a phenomenal place to learn from people who are ahead in their journey and apply that knowledge back to your own businesses,” Malloy said.

Each year Malloy attended the event, he managed to accumulate at least 70 new contacts. This has helped him compile a roster of more than 600 fractional executives.

In one instance, a connection made on the expo floor led to the fastest deal his company has ever closed at under 30 minutes. 

‘Many smart people’ doing interesting things

Together, Malloy and Etemad-Moghadam’s experiences highlight one of the Entrepreneur Expo’s core values, compressing the time between idea, execution and growth.

For companies looking to grow, the concentration of opportunities, connections and resources are a massive advantage. Instead of relying on scattered outreach or chance encounters, the event offers an environment where relationships form quickly and constructive criticism is immediate.

In short, the expo turns potential into momentum — whether that means refining a product, building a leadership team, securing funding or connecting with the right partners to scale.

“If you get a lot of molecules in a tight, dense space, they’re going to collide with one another and different things are going to happen,” Malloy said. “And that’s basically what the expo is. It’s so many smart people in a small space that every 15 feet you’re meeting somebody cool and smart who’s doing something interesting.”

Register for the 2026 TEDCO Entrepreneur Expo

Source: Technical.ly