Four companies affiliated with Mtech programs were awarded grants through the Maryland Department of Commerce’s Build Our Future Grant Pilot Program.
The companies were among ten recipients receiving a total of $6.95 million for projects that support innovation infrastructure development in eligible technology sectors.
Mtech-affiliated awardees included:
HighT-Tech, a company from Mtech Ventures, received $1,000,000 to build a pilot facility that will use a new, fast, high-temperature electric process to make clean-tech materials for advanced batteries and hydrogen fuel systems. The grant will allow HighT-Tech to relocate and upgrade a 10,000 square-foot facility in PG County to begin production of the company’s first product. HighT-Tech is a spinoff from the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University.
Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) company Liatris was awarded $800,000 to construct a prototyping facility for next-generation thermal insulation materials in clean room space adjacent to the company’s existing headquarters. Validation of the technology could lead to an investment in larger-scale mass production.
Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) and Mtech Ventures company Medcura, a biotech company that develops and commercializes a proprietary product from natural biomaterials to provide safe, effective and lower cost bleeding management solutions, received $333,333. The company’s project will transform its headquarters building into an end-to-end manufacturing facility, significantly expanding manufacturing capabilities and moving its complete process back to Maryland.
Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) company Silvec Biologics, an agricultural biotech company licensing University of Maryland technology to develop an RNA therapy to immunize trees, vines and bushes against deadly viral and bacterial pathogens, was awarded $98,000. The company’s project will expand an existing 6,000 square-foot facility—which includes offices, wet labs, and plant growth space—to an adjacent 3,000 square-foot space in the same building, with conversion to lab space, allowing for 10 new jobs.
The Build Our Future Grant Program—part of the Governor Wes Moore’s Innovation Economy Infrastructure Act of 2023—provides grants of up to $2 million to private companies, nonprofit entities, local governments, as well as colleges and universities. Eligible industry sectors include advanced manufacturing, aerospace, agriculture, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, blue technology, cybersecurity, defense, energy and sustainability, life sciences, quantum, and sensors and robotics.
