Baltimore Tech Entrepreneur Collaborate Over Startup Weekend

One app can estimate the ratio of single versus married people within a bar. Another app helps teachers use Facebook as a tool. There is even a website that lets owners of vacant property determine what kind of business should move into the neighborhood, reports The Baltimore Sun.

These are a handful of apps that came to life in Baltimore during the city’s first Startup Weekend. More than 125 people descended on Baltimore from as far away as New York City for the chance to rapidly develop their ideas into prototypes, in hopes of becoming the next Facebook or Google.

This crowd — filled with entrepreneurs and technical experts — worked for 54 straight hours in large conference rooms, forming groups from among strangers and building websites and applications for mobile phones. The event was part of simultaneous Startup Weekends in six U.S. cities.

It’s the latest gathering organized by leaders in Baltimore’s growing technology startup scene, who for the past two years have used social media and events to promote the region’s digital entrepreneurs.

“You have to prevent the leaky sieve, where people come here, start companies and then they leave,” said Ron Schmelzer, a judge at Startup Weekend and an entrepreneur. “Weekends like these are sort of proving that there may be enough critical mass” in Baltimore to build a sustainable startup culture the way Boston and Silicon Valley have, he said.

“It’s not about having a few large companies. It’s about having tons and tons of small companies,” Schmelzer said.

Photo by Kathleen Murtagh

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