The University of Maryland held its inaugural UMD Startup Showcase, a networking, demonstration and presentation event spotlighting innovation and entrepreneurship across campus and in the region, on Friday, October 10, 2025, at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center.
The event, designed to introduce investors to UMD-affiliated technology startups, attracted 179 attendees from across the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia metropolitan-area entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem, including 34 startup companies and 38 investors. The showcase was also a chance for students to find internships, professors to seek out projects for their courses, startups to find potential employees, and alumni to forge new connections.
The event kicked off with an introduction from Dean Chang, chief innovation officer and associate vice president for Innovation & Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, University of Maryland, and Rob Cohen, program manager of Mtech Ventures.
Chang then moderated a panel titled “Navigating the Funding Landscape: Working With (and Without) Venture Capital,” featuring panelists Kaija Gisolfi-McCready, investment associate, Lockheed Martin Ventures; Mehdi Kalantari Khandani, president and CTO, Resensys; and Rajesh Rai, investor at Innovation Invention Partners and chair of TiE DC.
A “Quick Pitch” session ensued, with 26 entrepreneurs presenting their companies in less than two minutes, moderated by Josh Doying, startup success manager, UM Ventures.
The event closed with lunch and a special exhibit hall showcasing all 34 participating startups, enabling investors and other attendees to network. A full list of participating startups is available here.
The event was hosted by UM Ventures, Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech), Quantum Startup Foundry, and the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing.
Sponsors for the showcase included Pinnacle Technology Partners, Inc., TEDCO, Terrapin Development Company, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Andy Kopsidas, Resensys, Calderon Safran & Wright P.C. (CSW), Cahill Gordon & Reindel, LLP, Lex Generalis, and Snyder Cohn, PC.
View initial event photos here. This page will be updated with the full set of showcase photos soon.
