COLUMBIA, Md. (May 21, 2015) – The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) today hosted the organization’s fifth annual ICE Awards. Held at the Sheraton Columbia Town Center in Columbia, Md., the awards program recognized outstanding businesses and individuals from TEDCO’s diverse portfolio of more than 300 seed and early-stage companies. Winners were selected from nine finalists in the areas of Innovation, Corporate excellence and Entrepreneurship. More than 200 representatives from TEDCO’s portfolio companies and partnering organizations attended the event.
In addition to the ICE Awards, TEDCO presented the third annual Vanguard Award to former Congresswoman Beverly Byron, the first TEDCO Board Chair, for her integral support of TEDCO and dedication to moving the organization forward from its very first day. Each year this award is given to an individual who has supported the mission of TEDCO, and without whom the organization wouldn’t be the state’s leader in innovation, funding and networking for entrepreneurs and start-ups that it is today.
“Congratulations to each of the awardees celebrated today, who push Maryland’s innovation economy forward and strengthen it through their success and leadership,” said Rob Rosenbaum, president and executive director of TEDCO. “The ICE Awards give us an annual opportunity to highlight the accomplishments of our State’s thriving entrepreneurs, as well as those who have helped TEDCO become the go-to source for start-up funding and support.”
The winners are:
Innovation: Analytical Informatics – Selected for creating a revolutionary data management tool for health care.
Analytical’s products include AI Bridge, a data aggregation and EMR middleware platform that powers suites of clinical analytics and mobile health tools.
Corporate Excellence: Lookingglass – Recognized for its growth in the number of employees, revenue and investments, as well as community involvement and industry recognition. As the leader in threat intelligence that transforms security operations, Lookingglass empowers confident real-time decisions through focused verified multi-source information.
Entrepreneur: Tom Popomaronis, Opiatalk – Selected for outstanding leadership by a company founder. OpiaTalk is a hyper-conversion company with a flagship platform that releases promo codes which disappear (think Snapchat for eCommerce). They combine FOMO (fear of missing out) and urgency to drive immediate conversions.
The event also featured demonstrations by 20 TEDCO portfolio companies of their technologies and prototypes, networking opportunities, the awards presentation and remarks by representatives from the 2014 ICE Award-winning companies.