Incubator awards honor 7 emerging Md. companies

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Cybersecurity, educational tools and a recipe-management app that helps you figure out what — and how — to cook were among the big winners at the 2016 Incubator Company of the Year awards Tuesday night.

Seven growing companies from business incubators and accelerators around central Maryland took home awards in recognition of how successful they’ve been in achieving their goals in areas such as product development, intellectual property, employee growth, revenue growth, innovation and self-sufficiency.

The winners, announced at a ceremony at the American Visionary Art Museum:

• Phoenix Operations Group, a cyber engineering and analytics company located at the bwtech@UMBC research and technology park, was named Best Big Data/Data Analytics Company.
• Another bwtech@UMBC company, Airphoton, whose products include devices that collect air samples for analysis, won Best Tech Product/Apps Company.
• Kitchology, makers of an app to help people with special dietary needs cook that’s at the Germantown location of the Montgomery County Business Innovation Network, won Best Consumer Products Company.
• Integrata Security, at the Emerging Technology Centers Haven Campus in Baltimore, was named Best Cyber Technology Company.
• eThink Education, a tenant of the Betamore incubator in Federal Hill that offers a platform to manage educational resources, was named Best Education Technology Company.
• Betamore alumnus ZeroFOX, which monitors social media to identify threats to its clients — such as scammers impersonating their brands — was named Best Graduate Company.
• Sonavex, maker of a tool that can help surgeons monitor newly connected blood vessels for signs of dangerous clotting and a resident of the Johns Hopkins FastForward incubator, was named Best Med Tech/Life Sciences Company.

The diversity of the winners illustrates the high level of talent and innovation in the state, John Wasilisn, president and CEO of the Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO) one of the program’s sponsors, said in a statement.

Other sponsors include RSM US, Saul Ewing LLP, Emergent BioSolutions, the Maryland Department of Commerce, M&T Bank and the Maryland Business Incubation Association.

A special award was also given to John Korpela, the former head of the Montgomery County Business Innovation Network and founder of several successful companies.