Start-up Born in UMD FPE Receives $1.2M Investment from Newly Established Maryland Momentum Fund
Baltimore, Md. – MF Fire, a Baltimore-based start-up company offering clean-energy efficient wood stoves at an affordable cost, is the recipient of the first investment - $1.2 million – from the recently established Maryland Momentum Fund offered by the University System of Maryland (USM). Fisher - the company COO - and Myers – the CTO – have teamed up with 28-year business veteran and entrepreneur Paul LaPorte (CEO) to develop a commercial model for the company. The team was relieved to learn about the USM investment opportunity. “There aren’t many venture capital funds in this area, so we applied immediately,” said Fisher. “We actually pitched our idea to the Maryland Momentum Fund twice, and were thrilled when we heard about their investment.” David Wise, a longtime regional business innovator now serving as director of the Maryland Momentum Fund stated, “We are very excited to have MF Fire as the initial investment from the Momentum Fund. The company offers an efficient product based on combustion science and it emerged out of a center of excellence at the University of Maryland.” Fisher and Myers are both originally from Frederick County. They went to school at the University of Maryland and then started their business in Baltimore, so it's fitting that they are now receiving an investment from USM. “It’s definitely a point of pride for us to keep this entire process so close to home,” Fisher continued. “We plan to use the funds to increase the visibility of MF Fire around the U.S. and Canada, and to aid in the development of a second product, which will be lower cost and available next winter.”
November 9, 2017 Prev Next |