Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII)

MII — Company Formation

Offers grant for Maryland startups that have licensed technology from a qualifying through the MII Company Formation.

The Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) Company Formation phase is a grant programme administered by TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, an independent instrumentality of the State of Maryland established by the General Assembly in 1998. It provides grants to early-stage Maryland-based for-profit companies to fund commercialisation activities for technologies licensed from qualifying Maryland research universities. To be eligible, a company must have executed a technology license agreement with one of five qualifying institutions — Johns Hopkins University, Morgan State University, the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB), UMBC, or the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) — within the 12 months immediately preceding the submission date. Awards are up to $300,000 per company and cover a nine-month period of performance. Submissions are accepted quarterly with deadlines on January 15, April 15, July 15, and October 15 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time. Applicants must complete a one-time TEDCO ID registration before their first submission, and must engage a Site Miner — a TEDCO-designated industry expert who evaluates the technology's commercial landscape — at least 30 days before the submission deadline; a letter of support from the Site Miner is required in the application. The Company Formation phase sits immediately downstream of the MII Technology Assessment phase, which funds university faculty to evaluate commercial potential with awards up to $180,000. Companies whose founding technology originated from an MII Technology Assessment project are well-positioned to apply, as the commercial evaluation work and Site Miner relationship may already be established. The $300,000 award is intended to fund initial commercialisation activities such as prototype development, market validation, regulatory scoping, or early business development. Inquiries are directed to sgoncalves@tedcomd.com.