UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S ROBERT H. SMITH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS DINGMAN CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP ANNUAL REPORT 2021–22 empowereducateequip
To further showcase the impact of this year, I selected a few photos that represent the best of what we do and some of my favorite moments. I look forward to connecting with you on campus, online and in the community.
Holly DeArmond, MBA ’17 | Managing Director
• Since 2016, 60% of all competitors and 78% of all finalist teams in the Pitch Dingman Competition are still in operation.
• The Dingman Center Angels investor network had its most active year to date with 18 transactions that resulted in $3.5 million of investments into early stage companies.
AS I REFLECT on this academic year, what I appreciate most was the ability to create meaningful connections by bringing people on our beautiful University of Maryland campus.
Terp juggling’24BennettAcceleratorStartupfounderGreenspunperfectinghisskills.
Yes, I know, virtual is here to stay and it has made many things better but having the ability to gather the Dingman Center community for a range of in-person experiences was such a delight. I am supremely grateful for the Dingman Center’s talented team who expertly planned and beautifully executed a year’s worth of impactful programming. They could not have done this without the support of time, treasure and talent from our generous community of advisors, donors and volunteers.
Student entrepreneur Takiyah Robert show casing her venture at the Pitch Competition.Dingman Sehej Singh ’20 (l) and Jonathan Schneider ’20 (r) present an award honoring their friend and co-founder Thomas Savransky. Find out who was honored on page 6. Members of the Terp Startup Accelerator and the Dingman Center team on Day 1. Read about the ventures on page 4.
This annual report provides a glimpse into our academic year. You will see the many faces that crossed our paths and the logos of the startups our Terp entrepreneurs are growing. With this letter I want to put a finer point on the impact of this portfolio.
• A deep dive into our Terp Startup Accelerator revealed that since launching in 2015, 44% of the ventures in the program are still operating.
• Since 2020, 100% of the entrepreneurs in the Terp Startup Accelerator have learned to juggle. We teach more that entrepreneurship at the Dingman Center.
2 DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2021-2022 Contents 2 Remarks from the Managing Director 3 A Letter from the Dean 4 Terp Startup 6 Pitch Dingman Competition 8 Inclusive Entrepreneurship Spotlight 9 Dingman Center Angels 10 Campus Collaborations 11 Young Alumni Founders Council 12 Board of Advisors 14 Community, Donors & Sponsors 15 Staff, Faculty & Community Remarks from the Managing Director
A Letter from the Dean
DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2021-2022 3
DEAR DINGMAN CENTER COMMUNITY, As dean of Robert H. Smith School of Business, it is indeed an honor and a privilege to serve this vibrant community. Academic year 2021-22 was a special year watching our campus come back to life with students, alumni, faculty, staff, corporate partners and other community members convening regularly in classes, mentoring sessions, events and special programming. Furthermore, it was an honor to meet so many of you from our entrepreneurship community and I thank you for your commitment to helping the Dingman Center excel.
As we look to the future, we are launching a bold new strategic plan for the Smith School to continue our pursuit of academic excellence and to address the changing marketplace. Our purpose is to generate and disseminate new and impactful knowledge, and to provide a transformational, integrated, interdisciplinary experience that unleashes student creativity to challenge the status quo, builds their ability to think critically and independently, and empowers them to drive a prosperous future for the benefit of all. To do that we will redesign our curriculum. We’ll create opportunities for open, evidencebased learning and conversations that allow students, faculty and staff to grapple with society’s most pressing issues in ways that are authentic, rigorous, challenging, civil and productive. And we’ll be an intellectual hub for those defining the future of work and preparing students to engage successfully with all aspects of new business practices, technology and issues. To inform the entrepreneurship strategy, we formed a faculty committee led by Dingman Center Academic Director Brent Goldfarb. The committee determined that the Smith School and the Dingman Center will leverage its intellectual leadership positions through a three pillar plan: to expand access to Smith expertise and Dingman resources by establishing the Center as the Entrepreneurship Knowledge hub for the community; be a national leader in Inclusive Entrepreneurship by building upon the Smith School’s innovative, experiential approaches to teaching and learning; and launch a Scale School to amplify university innovation through entrepreneurship by leveraging Smith School expertise to help firms grow. We are our most successful when our community is engaged. I know every person reading this letter wants to see the Dingman Center continue to succeed and grow and has big ideas about how to do so. I want to hear those ideas. I encourage you to contact me and connect with me on LinkedIn. Thank you to all who have contributed to the success of the Center, and you can expect me to work for you, every day, to make the Smith School and the Dingman Center an even better place.
Wishing you a great year ahead, Prabhudev Konana, PhD | Dean and Professor of Information Systems
Terp Startup Accelerator 2022 Cohort:
The Waveli team is creating an app that showcases top social events targeted by age and location allowing hip, like-minded people to learn about and attend such events.
Omega 3 is a nutritional food brand pioneering the use of brain-boosting, organic ingredients without compromising quality, taste, or sustainability.
ReGlass | Bennett Greenspun ’24
AFTER TWO YEARS of being virtual, the eighth annual Terp Startup Accelerator was held live at the Edward St. John Learning Center with location partner the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Aside from the program’s weekly workshops and roundtable discussions, each venture received a stipend of $5,000 and a dedicated advisor to help them grow their business. The program culminated in a live demo day where the founders pitched their businesses to our startup community.
Omega 3 | Edwin Bright Djampa ’22
ReGlass makes glasses with interchangeable lenses for people who want a cheaper frame alternative, and people who want greater customization in fashion eyewear. Sparza | Ryan Myer ’22, Kyle Sznoluch Sparza produces games that aim to build community, strong connections, and laughter between family, friends, and even complete strangers.
Arch Dash | Ina Kovacheva ’23 Arch Dash enables architects to make datadriven decisions that will result in healthier, efficient, and more sustainable building designs.
Em G Art Design Studio | Emily Garcia ’22 Em G Art Design Studio offers original handmade products suited as sentimental gifts, or as decorative elements to personalize everyday items.
Bedtime Sports | Josh Doying MBA ’23
UCleaner aims to develop a product that facilitates oral hygiene for the vulnerable demographic of geriatric and hospitalized individuals with reduced fine motor skills. Waveli | Rob (Diego) Castro ’24, Zach Lefkovitz ’24, Samai Patel ’25, Corbin Voorhees ’25 , Joe Beckman ’25, Matt Gashaw ’25, Edward Awe ’25, Neil Kundagrami ’24
Sustainabli | Alisha Pun ’24 Sustainabli implements cost-effective programs in research institutions to facilitate scientist behavioral change towards reducing lab chemical, plastic, and energy waste.
Terp AcceleratorStartup
AC CELER AT OR TERP STARTUPTERP STARTUP
EMPIRE 242 | Kang Ewimbi ’23 EMPIRE 242 is a record label that is run by artists for artists looking for an alternative path from the major recording companies because independence and ownership are paramount to creativity.
For the sports fan with young children, Bedtime Sports provides a weekly opportunity to share their love of a team with the people they love by providing a subscription of tailored, bed-time stories and illustrations about the athletes on their team(s).
JuJu Food Delivery | Weixiang Wang ’22, Nanxin Luo ’25, Zeyang Liu ’22, Keying Sun ’23, Liqianrui Yang ’22, Zirui Zhou
For those who only have limited lunch break time but still want to have a variety of food options, JuJu Food Delivery provides group ordering complete with a variety of food choices at a low price.
Members of the 2022 cohort at Demo Day on July 28.
UCleaner | Robert Choe PhD ’23, Blake Kuzemchak PhD ’23 , Erfan Jabari PhD ’23, Noah Eby PhD ’23
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Thanks to a generous donation from Bill Boyle ’81, chairman of the Center’s board of advisors, the Dingman Center supported five ventures in the Terp Startup Fellows program. The following companies were selected to receive additional resources throughout the academic year, including nondilutive funding of up to $20,000. “The Terp Startup Fellows program opened my eyes to what is possible, giving me wings to pursue my potential. It way.”inandtransformedhasmemycompanyaverypositive
Fancy & Spicy | Brin Xu, PhD ’22 Fancy & Spicy is a digital culinary platform, emphasizing authentic Chinese food through a food blog, website, and published cookbook. Xu plans to offer different kinds of online cooking classes with a variety of recipes to make healthy cooking accessible to everyone.
Terp Startup Fellows:
-BRIN XU, PHD ’22 Athenus Financial Group | Cameron Williams ’21 and Damian Shaw ’24 Athenus Financial Group is a fintech application that allows its users to easily trade foreign exchange. It is powered by Machine Learning AI, which allows users to analyze price data in seconds and then place successful trades without having to learn the market themselves.
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Vitalize is a digital wellness platform specifically for clinicians. Vitalize aims to improve the well-being and professional satisfaction of clinicians by providing them with engaging evidence-based wellness modules specific to working in healthcare, and help hospitals deliver more accessible staff well-being programs.
Door Robotics | Joshua Ermias and Patrick Crowe Door Robotics is a 360-camera indoor capable drone company. The company created a drone with Roomba-like functionality and a follow-me feature that optimizes the capture of quality video and photo shots with a 360 view.
Aurora Tights | Jasmine Snead ’18, MBA/MPP 2021, Sydney Parker ’18, Imani Rickerby ’17 Aurora designs inclusive athletic apparel and hosiery for dancers and ice skaters of all skin tones and sizes.
Vitalize | Sanketh Andhavarapu ’23 and Veeraj Shah ’21
North Star Creations creates products for parents to teach their children how to recognize and understand emotions. These tools will equip their children with self awareness and relationship skills to navigate through life.
Omega 3 LLC | Edwin Djampa ’22 Grand Prize Winner ($20,000) Omega 3 is the nutritional food brand pioneering the use of brain-boosting, organic ingredients without compromising quality, taste, or sustainability.
The David and Robyn Quattrone Venture Track Finalists:
Vitalize | Sanketh Andhavarapu ’23, Veeraj Shah ’21 Grand Prize Winner and Audience Choice ($30,000)
This track is for small businesses with revenue and/or initial customers but currently not focused on scale.
Main Street Track Finalists:
MatMate | James Dawson ’24 Second Place and Audience Choice ($7,500)
AFTER TWO YEARS of virtual competitions, Pitch Dingman Competition returned to a live stage at the Stamp Student Union. The competition also offered more prizes than ever before with over $80,000 in seed funding available. On April 26, over 300 people joined in person and over 500 streamed the competition virtually. The result was one of our most memorable competitions yet.
This award honors the memory of Tom Savransky, founder of Enly. Tom launched Enly as a student embodying the spirit of a true entrepreneur, one who is visionary, industrious and brave. Tom was lost to us in a fatal car accident in January 2021. His family created this award to honor a team who exemplifies Tom’s spirit. This year's winner is Quandry pictured with Enly co-founder Jonathan Schneider (right) and Tom's close friend Sehej Singh (left).
Quandry gives small-cap retail traders tools for researching, developing, and deploying automated trading strategies. Tom Savransky Entrepreneurial Spirit Award
The MatMate is a novel, patent pending protective device that stops the driver’s heel from wearing through their car’s floor mat. It attaches with carpet safe adhesive, making it a risk-free, totally unobtrusive solution to this issue.
Pitch Dingman Competition
This track is targeted to students with scalable ventures that already have traction.
Vitalize improves well-being and reduces burnout among healthcare providers. We offer a clinician-centric cognitive behavioral therapy mobile app and web-based dashboard with robust analytics and actionable insights for hospital leadership.
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Chat Health is a digital health assistant that closes gaps in the healthcare-seeking process for university students and helps users access those resources through an empathetic design.
North Star Creations | Mat Parsons, MBA ’22 Third Place ($1,000)
Chat Health | Aishwarya Tare ’22 Second Place ($10,000)
Quandry | Bryan Houlton ’23, Ryan Downing ’22 Third Place ($1,000) and Thomas Savransky Entrepreneurial Award Recipient ($10,000)
•
QuattroneSEMIFINALSVenture Track
Mike Ravenscroft MBA ’21 | Startup Success Manager, Dreamit Ventures Sara Herald MBA ’11 | Director of the University of Maryland's Southern Management Leadership Program Jasmine Snead Ferguson ’18, MBA/MPP ’21 | Co-Founder, Aurora Tights; New Ventures Specialist, M&T Bank Ryan Swann ’06 | Chief Data Analytics Officer, Vanguard Main Street Track Steve Freishtat ’81 | Founder, Next Day Blinds Corporation Kendall Holbrook ’02 | CEO, Dev Technology Group, Inc.
Abby Malchow MBA ’17 | Sr. Business Development Manager, Small Business Empowerment, Amazon Max Weiner ’96 | Owner, Max Weiner Jewelers Founder & CEO, Budge Technology Inc
David Quattrone MBA ’05 | Co-Founder & CTO, Cvent Chris Ballenger | Founder & CEO, APEX Strategies Tom Parsons ’93, MBA ’10 | President, Parsons Ventures, Inc. Ngozi Azubike ’82 | Chief Operating Officer, OBAN Corporation Sarah Frimpong | CEO & Founder, Wellfound Foods Akash Magoon ’18 | Co-Founder & CTO, Nayya Thank you to David and Robyn Quattrone, Chris and Vidya Ballenger ’89, Parsons Ventures, Inc. and Amazon Web Services for providing seed funding for the competition.
Reglass | Bennett Greenspun ’24 Grand Prize Winner ($5,000) ReGlass is a company who makes glasses with interchangeable lenses. It’s made for people who want a cheaper frame alternative and people who want greater customization in fashion eyewear.
PITCH DINGMAN COMPETITION 2022 JUDGES
Specialty Prizes ($1,000): Best Graduate Founder or Team: Gelectric Medical INC - Leah Borden PhD ’22, Matthew Dowling PhD ’10 Best Maryland
•
FINALS
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Smith Student Founder or Team: Pet Passport | Dorian Stephens MBA ’22, Alex Sonnie MBS ’22, Anthony Small MBA ’22, Ogugua Obii-Obioha MBA ’22, Shahriar Jahanbani MBA ’22, Dorian Stephens MBA ’22, Musangu Tanguy Bukasa MBA ’22 • Ladies First Founders: Crys & Co Cosmetics | Crystal Pinckney ’22 • Social Impact: WISE Cities, LLC | Marie Brodsky ’24, Katherine-Aria Close ’23 • Sustainability: Repurpose Farm Plastic LLC. | Krisztina Christmon ’22, Benjamin Rickles PhD ’23 Founders Showcase Audience Choice Award ($1,000): Waveli | Zach Lefkovitz ’24, Samai Patel ’25, Robert Castro ’24, Nathan Tablang ’24, Corben Vorheees ’25, Matthewos Gashaw ’25, Joseph Beckman ’25, Edward Awe ’25, Neil Kundagrami ’24 and Amrit Magesh ’25 The David and Robyn Quattrone Venture Track Finalists with Judges
Fearless Ideas Track Winner: This idea-style challenge celebrates earlier stage venture ideas from across the student body.
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IN HONOR of Black History Month, the Dingman Center hosted its third annual Being Black in Entrepreneurship event virtually on Zoom, in partnership with the Southern Management Leadership Program. This event celebrates Black Terp founders and provides insight and inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs of color.
Moderator & Panelists Sydney Parker '18, Co-founder & Chief Marketing Officer at Aurora Tights & Account Manager at Meta Moderator Sydney Parker has been a performer and dancer since the age of five, which inspired her career and life purpose to empower every person to perform in color. Parker co-founded Aurora Tights, an inclusive athletic hosiery and apparel brand, while she was a student at the University of Maryland. She currently continues to serve as the company's co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer while also serving as an Account Manager for Meta.
Ladies First Fall Dinner
Ladies First is the Dingman Center’s initiative to increase the number of women and non-binary individuals involved in entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland. This semester, we invited Arion Long, Founder and CEO of Femly, a company that makes plant-based and organic feminine hygiene products to speak to students. Arion discussed her startup journey and the struggles she faces as a female entrepreneur of color particularly when it came to raising capital. To overcome obstacles, she leaned on her network who helped her make meaningful work,withinspiredconnections.investorArionthecrowdherfocusonhardnetworkingandpersistence. Each attendee received Femly menstruation products to take home.Audrey Awasom '18, Founder & CEO at Noble Uprising L. Audrey Awasom is an anti-poverty advocate who is passionate about cultivating the next generation of leaders. As a student at the University of Maryland, College Park, she founded Noble Uprising, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that serves, educates, and empowers women experiencing poverty. Awasom also leads the Young Leaders Program, a highly interactive program designed to cultivate NextGen female leaders and works with Fortune 500 companies in her role at WBENC to provide development programming to women business entrepreneurs.
Arion Long (second from left) pictured with the Dingman Center team.
André Blackman '05, Founder and CEO of Onboard Health André is the Founder and CEO of Onboard Health, a executivespecializedsearchand advisory firm focused on creating a more inclusive future of health. A pioneering strategist with deep ties across the healthcare innovation, startup and digital strategy landscapes. André is dedicated to building the future of health through an equity lens. His work and insights have been featured in outlets such as Business Insider, Fortune, Forbes, NPR, CIO, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report. He was recently named a Fortune Magazine 2020 40 Under 40 in Healthcare.
Inclusive Entrepreneurship Spotlight
Thimble | Thimble is the world's largest online STEM school for teaching kids coding, robotics, and engineering skills.
Investments for the 2021-2022 Season Accencio | Accencio is a innovationcompanytechnologydrivingatthe nexus of molecular science and intellectual property. AmorSui | AmorSui is disrupting the PPE market by offering superior quality, gender-inclusive, and sustainable medical gowns and lab jackets that can be easily purchased through the first completely online PPE shopping and rental experience. Arcascope | Arcascope is a biotechnology company that has built a body timing solution engine helping individuals start timing things the right way, they feel better, sleep better, and report fewer errors.
Ejudicate | Ejudicate is an online settlement and virtual court that utilizes binding arbitration to efficiently resolve disputes. EQL Finance | EQL Finance is a fintech platform focused on changing the financial outcomes of American working-class families and individuals by providing interest-free loans.
Launch Factory | Launch Factory is a venture start-up studio focused on incubating a series of companies leveraging technology.
GameGym | GameGym is an esports training platform that offers a holistic approach to video game play, with live and online structured sessions and professional, certified coaches designed to help children and teenagers game better and smarter. Happied | Happied empowers companies to engage and retain employees by putting team engagement events on auto pilot, creating curated engagement events (in-person, live or hybrid) at a fraction of the cost and time of a company doing it themselves. Impruvon Health | The Impruvon Health Platform automates medication management by eliminating manual storage and administration processes such as record keeping, while aiding independence and security for the individual prescribed. Indicio Tech | Indicio provides companies and markets the ability to create, develop, and launch new Trusted Data Ecosystems, marketplaces, and business models for the exchange of high value information and data assets.
DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2021-2022 9
Resensys | Resensys offers a cost effective wireless solution for real time monitoring of civil and mechanical structure and in particular, highway bridges. Rimstorm | Rimstorm is a managed security service provider focused on cybersecurity compliance for government contractors.
SINCE ITS INCEPTION in 2009-2010, the Dingman Center Angels network has invested $23 million in more than 180 early-stage companies. This year alone, members invested in 18 new companies and deployed $3.5 million in capital via new and follow-on investments. To learn about our full investment portfolio visit our website.
VirgilHR | VirgilHR is the trusted guide that empowers HR professionals to maximize their full potential, equipping organizations with smart data to improve the work experience. Vityl | Vityl is an employee engagement software leveraging machine learning to connect survey data to automated goals and nudges that inspire greater feelings of acceptance, recognition and connection in the workplace.
MetiStream | MetiStream provides a SaaS-based analytics platform to transform unstructured healthcare documents and data to deliver patient and population insights for health and life sciences organizations. QC82 | QC82 is quantumchipsroom-temperaturedevelopingphotonicforscalableuniversalcomputing.
Dingman Center Angels
CollaborationsCampus
website designers and more. Users can discover and patronize Terp-led businesses and continue the tradition of Terps supporting Terps. Check it out at -business-directoryhttps://alumni.umd.edu/terp-referral-exchange
Maryland Smith’s new Blockchain Accelerator, led by the Supply Chain Management Center and the Dingman Center, merges the university’s best capabilities in computer science, engineering and business. The program launched in the spring with an all virtual cohort of early-stage companies from around the country. Leveraging the FounderTrac platform, members got access to content and expert mentorship to systematically advance their businesses. The 45-day program culminated in a Demo Day where participating companies had the opportunity to pitch to investors including members of the Dingman Center Angels.
Blockchain Accelerator
Founders Forum A highlight of each month is the Founders Forum meetup where both current and alumni gather for peer-to-peer networking and roundtable-type discussions on relevant topics. This program is in partnership with the Startup Shell, UMD’s student-run incubator. These meetups also allow the founders to have time to socialize and chat as they support each other in growing their businesses.
andplanners,offeaturingonlineaReferrallaunchcampusotherswithhappyThisideasadvancehelpalumnientrepreneurialconnectingourAssociationAlumniislifelinetowithwhocanourstudentstheirandmindset.year,weweretopartnerthemandacrossintheoftheTerpExchange,searchabledirectorybusinessesallkinds—eventhealthwellnesscoaches,
Business
. Student and alumni entrepreneurs at The Hall CP for Founders Forum. Madison Mazer ’23 and Alex Onufrak ’21 attending the launch event.
10 DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2021-2022
The
Terp Referral Exchange Directory UMD
Jordan Greenwald ’16 | Office of The President of North America, Mastercard As a student, Jordan started an e-commerce brand called Meta Cartel. At Mastercard he supports senior leadership in managing a team of 1,100 employees across a variety of functions.
Tyler Denk ’16 | Cofounder & CEO, beehiiv After graduating, Tyler joined Morning Brew as the second employee helping them scale up until the acquisition by Business Insider in 2020. Most recently, Tyler launched beehiiv, a creator-friendly newsletter platform.
Amit Puri ’10, MBA ’19 | General Partner, Pure Play Ventures Amit is the Founder and General Partner of Pure Play Ventures. As a Smith MBA, he co-led sourcing, screening, and preliminary diligence for the Dingman Center Angels.
Brianna Queen ’19 | Entrepreneur, Onboarding Specialist at Amazon Small Business Empowerment Brianna has experience in cosmetic entrepreneurship with the company she founded, Beeqbox, LLC. She is a staff member of Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator team where she helps streamline the selling experience for product-based minority-owned businesses nationwide.
Caroline Ta ’21 | Founder & CEO, SweetsbyCaroline While studying at UMD, Caroline grew her company by participating in several Dingman Center programs. She was awarded the 2021 Rudy Award for Student Entrepreneur of the Year and currently runs SweetsbyCaroline full time, taking online orders and popping up at food events.
Daniel Raithel ’21 | Project Manager, General Dynamics Information Technology Daniel is an entrepreneur with a strong leadership background who as a student launched a business through his involvement with the Center. He is determined to utilize his passion for business development and analytics to create scalable business ventures.
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Kirk Morris ’17 | Program and Strategy Lead, Global Partnerships at Google At Google, Kirk leads programs to drive product adoption and negotiates deals with media partners. He previously managed advertiser relationships at Facebook.
Abb Kapoor | Co-Founder & COO, Curu Abb studied electrical engineering at UMD before starting Curu in 2016 to help eliminate rejection from credit-based decisions. After completing a few fintech accelerators, Abb and his team are hard at work growing the company completing a series A in 2020.
Sam Feldman ’16 | Founder at TechGuides Sam has founded several companies as both a student entrepreneur and an alumnus including Quickmailcheck, CardBuddy, and most recently TechGuides. He currently resides in Austin, Texas.
Sydney Parker ’18 | Co-founder & Chief Marketing Officer, Aurora Tights Account Manager, Facebook As a student, Sydney co-founded Aurora Tights, an inclusive athletic hosiery and apparel brand. She continues to serve as the company's co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer while also working at Facebook.
THIS COUNCIL works to guide the development of young alumni engagement in order to strengthen connections between the Center and alumni.
Camilo Melnyk ’21 | Co-Founder and CEO of Blimp Logistics Inc Blimp Logistics Inc. is a drone delivery company for rural and suburban markets. The team won the grand prize at Pitch Dingman Competition in 2021 and was also named by DC Inno as one of the 25 Under 25 Class of 2021.
Barathi Aravindan ’21 | As a student, Barathi served as a Dingman Center intern and founded Azelle, a company that manufactured charm bracelets to raise awareness of the precarious condition of the Chesapeake Bay. Currently Barathi works in wealth advising at Goldman Sachs.
Young Alumni Founders Council
David Engle ’15 | CEO & Co-founder, Upright Labs Upright Labs is a software and service company focused on secondhand e-commerce with seven figures in revenue, bootstrapped, fully profitable, and a team of 18+ team members. Upright was recently acquired by Cordance.
Natalie Urban ’19 | Designer As a student Natalie was part of the inaugural cohort of Ladies First Founders. After working for TXN Advisors, Natalie launched her own Brand Strategy and Design business. She is also a freelance designer for StartEngine, a crowdfunding platform for startups.
Mat Parsons, MBA ’22 | Founder, North Star Creations Upon being motivated by the Fearless Ideas track at Pitch Dingman Competition in 2021, Mat launched North Star Creations with his wife to address the gaps in emotional intelligence development for pre-elementary school children. Mat also works at Pepsico in the sales strategy department.
Ray Joyce ’17 | Growth Equity Investor, Lead Edge Capital Ray helps lead the evaluation of software and technology investments. While a student, Ray was heavily involved with the Dingman Center and was a Co-Founder of 301 Ventures, UMD’s first student-run venture firm.
James Weitzman ’15 | Co-Founder & CEO of 1sm James is the Co-Founder & CEO of 1sm, a Techstars company. He is also a Partner at Social Venture Partners, a charity organiza tion focused on making positive changes in education, workforce development, economic security, and race equity.
L. Audrey Awasom ’18 | Founder, Noble Uprising & Young Leaders Program Manager, Women’s Business National Council (WBENC) Noble Uprising is a nonprofit that serves, educates, and empowers women experiencing poverty. In her role at WBENC, she leads the Young Leaders Program designed to cultivate NextGen female leaders and entrepreneurs.
Maurice Boissiere ’89 | DataTribe
Charles G. Carr '85 | RSM Chuck is a Partner at RSM, the leading U.S. provider of audit, tax and consulting services focused on the middle market. He primarily serves technology and life science clients, as well as numerous restaurant/hospitality clients. Chuck has assisted many companies with their IPO process.
Bill Boyle ’81, Board Chair | FiberGate, Inc. Bill founded FiberGate, Inc., a Washington D.C. metro area provider of dark fiber services. He ran the company for 17 years and successfully exited in the fall of 2012. Currently, Bill invests and works with startup companies through the Dingman Center Angels.
Stephen B. Ferber '90 | Golden Gate BPO Solutions, LLC Stephen is CEO & Managing Partner of Golden Gate BPO Solutions, LLC, which he founded in 2006 in conjunction with Paxys, Inc. and Advanced Contact Solutions, one of the largest outsourced providers of contact center and BPO solutions in Southeast Asia.
Harry Geller '81 | Serial Entrepreneur Harry is an entrepreneur whose career has spanned a broad range of successful startup companies. Geller has launched, owned and managed fourteen multi-million dollar businesses, primarily focused on the fields of logistics, food services and real estate.
Jeff Grinspoon '90, MBA '95 | VWG Wealth Management Jeff is Managing Director, Partner at VWG where he works with business owners and executives formulating business succession plans, managing liquidity events and executing wealth transfer strategies.
David Quattrone, MBA '05 | Cvent David is Co-founder and CTO at Cvent, for which he designed and supervised the development of Cvent's original beta product as well as all of Cvent's subsequent product releases, upgrades and redesigns.
Maurice is the Chief Customer Officer of DataTribe, a cyber foundry that invests and co-builds cybersecurity ventures. He has more than 20 years of product leadership experience at early-stage ventures and is an Adjunct Professor at UMD.
Ish Dugal ’05 | Golden Arc Capital Ish is the Founder and Managing Partner at GoldenArc Capital, a Silicon Valley based private investment firm. Ish has 14 years of venture capital and private equity investment experience and has invested in 15+ high growth ventures with 3 IPOs and multiple M&A exits from his portfolio.
Board of Advisors
Gloria Jacobovitz, Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University Applied LaboratoryPhysics Gloria is an entrepreneur, angel investor and technology manager. She has over 20 years of experience in research, technology based startups and entrepreneurship, as well as Fortune 500 companies worldwide.
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Harry Alford, III ’07 humble ventures Harry is the Co-Founder of humble ventures, a DCbased venture development firm that drives innovation forward in partnership with startups, investors, and established organizations.
MUCH OF THE Dingman Center’s strength of vision can be attributed to the innovators on our Advisory board. This year the Center brought on four new alumni members who are strong leaders in the entrepreneurship ecosystem and faithful advocates of our programs.
Matthew Fishlinger '07 Gramercy Risk Holdings, LLC In 2014, Matthew formed Gramercy Risk Holdings, LLC with his father, William Fishlinger, former CEO and Chairman of The Wright Insurance Group. Gramercy provides financial, operational and legal resources for both domestic and foreign property and casualty insurance entities.
Jennifer Hsin ’98 CNF Investments LLC Jennifer is a Director and CFO at CNF Investments LLC, where she is responsible for sourcing and managing portfolio companies with a focus on SaaS and tech-enabled businesses.
Polly is a consultant who develops strategies and implementation plans for clients on branding and business development. Her past clients include the International Lyme Disease Society and GeniusRocket, where she served as business development director and president. Max Weiner ’96 | Max Weiner Jewelers
Womble Bond Dickinson At Womble Carlyle, Pam founded and leads the firm’s Impact Economy team. Providing both cutting edge strategic consulting and a fullbreadth of legal services, Pam’s team helps companies and entrepreneurs “grow their competitive advantage, with Impact.”
New Members (2021-22)
Michael Schwab | D&H Distributing Company
Elana Fine ’97 | VWG Wealth Management
Michael began his D&H career in 1989 as an outside sales rep. in the Philadelphia area. Over the years, he has overseen D&H's staff of product managers, growing the department from two to more than 50 representatives. Michael became copresident in 2008.
Pam Rothenberg
Elana is the chief operating officer of VWG Wealth Management, where she oversees VWG’s financial management, client services operations, human resources, professional development, compliance and marketing. Before joining VWG, Elana served as the executive director of the Dingman Center.
Max is an Entrepreneur, Real Estate Investor and Gemologist who works mainly in second-hand jewelry markets buying and selling Diamonds, Watches, Coins and precious metals.
DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2021-2022 13
Polly Vail | Turnstyle Partners
Ralph P. Sita, Jr., CPA ’84 | Cybrary Ralph is the Co-Founder and CEO of Cybrary, a crowdsourced Cyber Security and IT career development and training platform. Prior to starting Cybrary, he founded a CPA firm that operated for over 22 years. Kathryn Stewart | Cranbrook Capital Kathryn is Founder and Managing Director of Cranbrook Capital, which provides seed and early stage capital to emerging tech-focused companies. The firm has invested in Apio Systems, CircleUp, Canvas, Homesnap, GoTenna, Passive Capital Management and SalesWarp.
Steve is the founder and former CEO of the Next Day Blinds Corporation, a leading window blind manufacturer and retailer. He retired from Next Day Blinds upon its acquisition in 2019. Currently, Steve is a speaker and presenter for Vistage Worldwide, a leading CEO peer advisory organization, where he conducts CEO workshops.
Steven Krein '92 | StartUp Health
Steven is the CEO, Cofounder & Managing Partner of StartUp Health, whose mission is to solve the biggest health challenges of our time. StartUp Health invests globally in a large diversified portfolio of seed and early-stage digital health and biotech startups.
Manpreet Singh '03 Singh Capital Partners Manpreet is the CIO of Singh Capital Partners, an investment office based in the Washington, DC area managing the wealth of the Singh families. The company directs investments into venture capital, real estate, and growth equity.
Jon Chapman, MBA '07 | EverFi Jon is the president and co-founder of EverFi, a K-16 digital education program driving social change through teaching critical life skills such as personal finance, health and wellness, digital living, energy and student loans.
Steve Freishtat '81 Next Day Blinds
Thomas Parsons '93 Parsons Ventures, Inc. Tom formed Parsons Ventures, Inc. and in 2012 purchased B&R Associates, an automotive equipment company. Tom has established himself as a respected leader in the automotive equipment industry while serving as a board member on the Washington Area New Automobile Dealers Association.
Ngozi Irondi-Azubike '82 OBAN Corporation Ngozi is the founder of two companies, each acquired after 10 years of successful growth. Currently, she is COO/EVP of OBAN Corporation, a management consulting firm providing professional services to governments.
Newly Elected (2021-22)
WHETHER IT IS TIME , talent or treasure, the Dingman Center network gives back in immeasurable ways. Thank you to our donors and corporate sponsors for your generous support.
Mr. Kurt R. Aarsand and Mrs. Jeanne Aarsand Mr. Jitin (Miki) Ahuja Ms. Seble Alemayehu Mr. Harry C. Alford, III Mr. Donald H. Baker Mr. Christopher Ballenger and Mrs. Vidya S. Ballenger Mr. Benjamin Baltrotsky Dr. J. Robert Baum Mr. Adam Beckerman Ms. Rebecca Bellinger Ms. Hillary Shenk Berman Mr. Andrew Bewick Mr. Maurice Boissiere, Jr. Mr. Matthew E. Brach Mr. Nicholas J. Brennan and Patrick J. Brennan, M.B.A. Ms. Charlotte M. Byram Dr. Rachel A. Cassidy Mr. Jonathan H. Chapman Mr. Daniel J. Connors, Jr. Mr. Ian Costello Mr. Jared Coy Ms. Jessica Davies Mr. Christopher Dax Mrs. Holly DeArmond Mrs. Allison Decker Mr. Ishdeep and Priya Dugal Mr. Stephen J. Edelmann
Virginia Venture Partners
Mr. Adam VanWagner Ms. Alexandra von Paris Mr. Max Weiner Ms. Laura Winn Mrs. Rebecca Winner Mr. Michael Zhu Giving Day 2022:
Crypto for a Cause Dingman Center board member Harry Alford ’08 and his twin brother Thomas '07 established the Kay DeBow Alford and Harry Alford, Jr. Endowed Scholarship for Men’s Lacrosse through a $50,000 contribution in bitcoin, the first major cryptocurrency gift to UMD. In addition, the Giving Block, a company that accepts and converts crypto donations into dollars for nonprofit organizations like UMD, matched the Alfords’ gift, providing $25,000 for the Alford Family Current-Use Scholarship in honor of Val Skeeter, who served as the director of administrative services in the Department of African American Studies for 25 years, and another $25,000 for the Dingman Center to provide seed funding to student founders.
We would like to thank our donors for the overwhelming support we received on Giving Day 2022. A special thank you to the four board members who led our challenges: Jennifer Hsin ’98, Matthew Fishlinger ’07, Polly Vail, and Jeff Grinspoon ’90, MBA ’95. We were able to meet all four of our challenges and raise more than $70,000 for our Center. This funding allowed us to host an expanded Pitch Dingman Competition with added specialty prizes for our quarter and semifinalists.
Silver | $5,000–$9,999
|
Bronze$10,000–$19,999 Up to $4,999
|
Mr. Tigh J. Eisenberg-Rayburn Mr. Nima Farshchi Mr. Sam Feldman Stephen Ferber, Esq. and Melissa Ferber, R.D.H. Mrs. Elana R. Fine Mr. C. Martin Fisher Mr. Matthew J. Fishlinger and Mrs. Meaghan Fishlinger Jonathan M. Forster, Esq. and Mrs. Andrea S. Forster Mr. Steven I. Freishtat and Mrs. Sheryl Freishtat Mr. Harry Geller Mr. Jordan Greenwald Mr. Jeffrey Grinspoon Ms. Linda Guerrine Ms. Sara Herald Mr. Mark Hollinger Mr. Dinming Hsin and Mrs. Jennifer K. Hsin Dr. Gloria Jacobovitz Mr. Rami Kandel Mr. Dhivyan Karunakaran Ms. Yvette King Mrs. Claire Knight Mr. John Kristianson Mr. Neal Kursban Dr. Rudolph P. Lamone and Mrs. Linda H. Lamone Mrs. Catherine MacNeil-Hollinger Mr. Jesse Mates Mr. Ryan M. Miller Mr. Salomon Camhi Molieri Mr. Kirk Morris, Jr. Mr. Alexei Onufrak Mr. Mathew Parsons Mr. Thomas Parsons Mr. Amit Puri Mr. Pramod B. Raheja Ms. Pam Rothenberg Mr. Thomas Ryan, Jr. Mr. Randall Sawyer Mr. Donald Scheeler Mr. Brandon Schwab Mr. Michael Schwab Ms. Allison Schwarz Mr. Andrew Siden Mr. Manpreet Singh Mr. Ralph P. Sita, Jr., C.P.A. Mr. Adam Stettner Mrs. Kathryn Stewart Ms. Anne E. Strand Ms. Allison Fette Sullivan Mr. Keith Sullivan and Mrs. Allison Sullivan Mr. Benjamin D. Taragin Mr. Charles J. Thomas and Ms. Karen Thomas Mr. Rohit Tripathi Ms. Diane Leslie Ty Ms. Mary Blair (Polly) Vail
Community, Donors & Sponsors Gold
Honor Roll of Donors
14 DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2021-2022 CORPORATE PARTNERS
DINGMAN CENTER ANNUAL REPORT 2021-2022 15 Staff, Faculty & Community Publishing Team Holly DeArmond, MBA ’17 Haley Mates ’14 Graphic Design Jennifer Paul ’93 Photography PAGES 2 (bottom), 4, 6 AND 7: Ross Lewin, Lewin Creative Group Icons courtesy of the Noun Project: COVER: Idea by Icon Master; Mortar Board by Stephen Borengasser; Lightning by Trevor Dsouza; Toolbox by Arthur Schmitt, CA PAGE 2: Speech Bubble by Alex Podolsky PAGE 3: Letter by P Thanga Vignesh PAGE 8: Spotlight by Loritas Medina PAGE 10: Collaboration by Poombatta PAGE 15: People by Anastasia Latysheva Adobe Stock Images: PAGE 14: bitcoin by Ilias Legal Advisors Rob Berman ’15, MBA ’18, JD ’19 Dan Connors ’82 Jon Forster ‘86 Scott Kimpel Jay JulianaLevineNeelbauer, JD ’12 Minh-Quan Pham, Ph. D. ’99 Stephen Plotnick ’96 Corinne Pouliquen ’89 Josh Udler, MBA ’00 Chris Yook Venture Mentors Athena Abbott, MBA ’91 Moe Abutaleb ’79 Manar Al-Badarneh ’21 Christina Austria Ngozi Azubike ’82 Drew Bewick ’88 Jonathan Blanton Jennie Blumenthal Janice Burg-Levi Paul Capriolo ’06 Jon Chapman, MBA ’07 Jennifer Daniels Matthew Davis ’21 Theresa Daytner ’89 Lorena Diaz Aurelia Flores Steve Freishtat ’81 Sam LaKishaJohnnyJourdieGangaGodleyGrahamGreenwade, MBA ’11 Henrik de Gyor Jennifer Hsin ’98 Abb NealShaneBenHilinaKapoorKebedeKhakshoorKimKursban Mark Lawrence ’02 Reneida Leon, MBA ’11 Bob London ’83 Monique Maley Martin Mayorga Sam ZekiJulianaMedileMejiaMokhtarzada ’00 Akash Mongoon ’18 Deepen Parikh Drew AmitLisaAkashPascalePatelPretePuri’10, MBA ’19 Jonathan Saewitz Kanitha Sar Brett Schulman ’95 Aneesha Sehgal Kapil Sharma Evan AdamShubinStettner ’94 Kathryn BenjaminStewartTaragin ’19 Ben Tchoubineh ’93 Le-Marie Thompson Anuraag Tripathi Polly AdamVailVanWagner ’11, MPS ’15 Francie Wasser Max Weiner ’96 Pitch Dingman Competition Coaches Paul Capriolo ’06 Abb AdamKapoorVanWagner ’11, MPS ’15 Student Workers Michelle Hunt ’23 Grace Lee ’23 Madison Mazer ’23 Takiya KrystalRobertsSpriggs, MBA ’22 Dingman Center Professional Staff Holly DeArmond, MBA ’17, Managing Director Brent Goldfarb, Academic Director and Dean’s Professor of Entrepreneurship Tsega Tadesse Belachew, Director of Venture Development Stan Smith, Venture Investment Manager Lottie Byram, MPH, Venture Programs Manager Haley Mates ’14, Events and Marketing Manager Alex Onufrak ’21, Venture Programs and Operations Coordinator Rudolph P. Lamone, Founding Director Sara Herald, MBA ’11, Staff Affiliate Faculty Affiliates Protiti Dastidar, Associate Department Chair and Clinical Professor Waverly Ding, Associate Professor Anil Gupta, Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship David Kirsch, Associate Professor Oliver Schlake, Clinical Professor Andrew Sherman, Adjunct Professor Evan Starr, Assistant Professor Joe Bailey, Research Associate Professor
FACEBOOK: /dingmancenter TWITTER: @UMD_Dingman LINKEDIN: Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship WORDPRESS: dingmanblog.com INSTAGRAM: @dingmancenter Robert H. Smith School of Business Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship 2518 Van Munching Hall College Park, MD www.rhsmith.umd.edu/Dingmanrhsmith-dingman@umd.edu20742
