TEDCO Awards $2.1 Million to 13 Maryland Innovation Initiative Projects

Apr 15, 2026
TEDCO has announced over $2.1 million in funding through the Maryland Innovation Initiative, supporting 13 research commercialization projects from universities across the state.

TEDCO has awarded more than $2.1 million to 13 projects through the Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII), announced in a press release. The funding includes two Company Formation awards and eleven Technology Assessment awards aimed at advancing research commercialization from Maryland universities.

The Company Formation awards, each worth $300,000, were granted to Nuquantic, LLC for its environmental DNA system and Aletira Therapeutics, Inc. for a gene therapy targeting hereditary hearing loss. Both projects originated from Johns Hopkins University.

The Technology Assessment awards, valued between $130,000 and $180,000, support nine-month projects that validate commercial potential beyond basic research. Recipients include researchers from Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, College Park, the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Projects cover areas such as AI-augmented diagnostics, quantum sensing, biologics development, and cancer treatment.

MII is managed by TEDCO in partnership with five Maryland research universities. The program aims to transition academic innovations into market-ready technologies and has expanded its reach through initiatives like the Baltimore Innovation Initiative to support equitable entrepreneurship across the state.

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