Q2 2021 Investment Report
Diverse Set of Greater Baltimore Companies Raise $165M in Q2 of 2021
The Greater Baltimore region has posted one of its most geographically and industry-diverse investment classes in years, with 26 companies seeing investments across five of the Region’s seven jurisdictions.
Following an outstanding Q1 during which $556M was raised, Q2 investments totaled more than $165M. The remarkable $721M six-month total for 2021 far outpaces the investments in the first half of both 2019 and 2020:
These deals also showcase the Region’s potential for rapid growth as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides in most of the United States. The $165M total for Q2 does not include investments in real estate development, or in Greater Baltimore's existing high-value companies. Investments were tracked for companies at the pre-seed, seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, and Series D rounds, as well as Private Equity investments in early- and mid-stage growth companies.
In Q2, thirteen companies representing a diverse set of industries received i
nvestments of more than $1M. Huntress, a fast-growing cybersecurity company headquartered in Ellicott City, Howard County, topped the list with a publicly- announced investment of $40M. Two Baltimore City companies rank among the top five with Vita Therapeutics (healthcare/life sciences) raising $32M and Protenus (IT/cyber security) raising $21M.
Curio Wellness (medical marijuana), Alterwood Health (managed care), and Pharmaceutics International (Pii) (pharmaceuticals) were three Baltimore County healthcare/life sciences companies that raised $21.2M, $10.4M, and $10M, respectively. Three Baltimore City companies, Emocha Health (digital health -$6.2M), Think|Stack (IT/cybersecurity - $5M), and Gliknik (cancer treatment - $4.3) returned to the list during this quarter with additional rounds of funding. Zentility (energy software - Anne Arundel County), Evon Medics (therapeutics - Howard County) rounded out the lineup by raising $3M, and $2.5M in investments, respectively.
In an effort to create equity in tech by building a pipeline of qualified candidates in STEM careers at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Google and Apple awarded a combined $6.3M to Baltimore City-based Morgan State University (MSU). The $5M funding from Google is part of the company’s Pathways to Tech initiative and the three-year, $1.25M grant from Apple will strengthen the engineering program at MSU as part of Apple’s Racial Equity and Justice initiative.
The second quarter of the year was also notable for the geographic diversity of investments across Greater Baltimore. Baltimore City reported the most deals and the highest total investment value, with eleven deals valued at nearly $76M. Howard County, with six deals, raised a total of $44M and Baltimore County’s five deals raised $42M. Anne Arundel County companies reported two deals worth $3.4M, while Carroll County companies received two investments totaling more than $25,000.
The most active industry for investment was BioHealth, with $88M invested across twelve deals. Technology companies, including cybersecurity, raised nearly $70M in six deals. All other industries reported six deals valued at more than $7M.
Greater Baltimore’s Q2 investment numbers represented in diverse geographic locations and industries are a strong sign that economic recovery is occurring across the Region. With nearly $721M raised in the first six months of 2021, Greater Baltimore is poised for its best investment year on record. These investments will continue to play a pivotal role in attracting additional investment, spurring innovation, creating jobs, and inspiring future companies to locate and expand to this economically vibrant region.