A group of 11 Baltimore entrepreneurs pitched their businesses Tuesday night during Loyola University Maryland’s Demo Day event, the capstone of its yearly business accelerator program.

The Baltipreneurs Accelerator program raised $10.4 million in capital between 2019 and 2023 for its business founders, a majority of whom are from underrepresented backgrounds, according to Loyola’s website.

Participants attend 10 in-person sessions between December and March to refine their businesses, culminating in Demo Day.

The “Baltipreneurs” voted amongst themselves to give out four $5,000 awards to their peers last week, but the audience voted Tuesday night for the crowd favorite, which also receives $5,000.

Having a business accelerator on campus was part of the original vision for the Simon Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, said Wendy Bolger, the center’s director.

“I feel like it’s a story that doesn’t get out there about Baltimore, that we have an amazing entrepreneurial ecosystem,” Bolger told The Baltimore Sun hours before the event. Fostering that community, the program matches Baltipreneurs with local business mentors.

Award-winning spirit brand Los Hermanos 1978 Tequila, student mindfulness app Clymb and gift maker Keppel & Kismet are all former Baltipreneurs, Bolger said. Eleven companies make up this year’s cohort, with sectors spanning artificial intelligence, fashion and coffee.

Cofounders Mantej Singh and Prem Umang Satyavolu are behind two of the startups: Modelus, which uses artificial intelligence to predict the success of drug trials, and Neurobarr, which uses machine learning to monitor intracranial pressure. Modelus and Neurobarr jointly won the Greyhound Award, given to the Baltipreneurs most likely to achieve 10x growth.

The companies plan to stay “lean” funding-wise by building and scaling their software platforms before they progress to human trials, Satyavolu said.

Canopy Minerals, founded by former Oxford professor of ecology Elizabeth Jeffers, operates by isolating crystals found in tree leaves to determine where mineral deposits are. This analysis could save mining companies money while sparing the environmental impacts of exploratory drilling, Jeffers said.

The Baltipreneurs were largely excited to keep their businesses in the city. Shannan Herbert, CEO of the Washington Area Community Investment Fund and former Baltipreneur mentor, told the audience Tuesday that 84% of the 65 jobs created by Baltipreneurs so far stayed in the city.

Danielle Nicklas of women’s health company Novva, whose flagship product is a patent-pending menstrual cup, called Baltimore an “ideal location” to start a medical device company due to her connections at the Johns Hopkins University and the city’s proximity to the Food and Drug Administration.

At least one of the small businesses has felt the strain of federal funding uncertainty. Annapolis native Savannah Mitchell, of Sunday Morning Coffee, said her efforts to secure a $1.4 million Small Business Administration loan collapsed three weeks ago after three different banks refused to partner with either her company or the government agency.

Now looking into other funding options for her brand’s first brick-and-mortar, Mitchell said the issue was a “direct impact of what’s happening” in Washington.

Despite the changing economic landscape, “entrepreneurship can become even more attractive in tough times,” Bolger said, with entrepreneurs “well-suited” for uncertain times.

Many of the small businesses were either founded by or oriented toward women: City & Sea Boutique, Solsis Beauty, women’s investment club The Queens’ Sisterhood Society, “culturally representative” coloring book company The Creative Representation Empire and moms’ wellness network Nü Momish, which won both the Hustle Award, given to the Baltipreneur who achieved the most throughout the program, and the Audience Choice Award.

Solsis Beauty won the Peerless Award, which is given to the Baltipreneur who best used the cohort to network and support themselves and other members.

E-sports and STEM education company REAL DigitizED won the Impact Award for the Baltipreneur whose business promises the greatest social or environmental impact on Baltimore.

Applying to the program has become “extremely competitive,” Bolger said, with over 100 applications each year. Entrepreneurs that have completed the program are eligible to apply for the Loyola Angels Fund, a $250,000 investment raised from alumni and other supporters of local small businesses, she said.

“Loyola is committed to job creation and to wealth creation in Baltimore,” Bolger told the Demo Day audience.

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