TEDCO Invests in Start-Up

TEDCO https://www.tedcomd.com Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced that TEDCO’s Builder Fund has invested $100,000 in Astek Diagnostics https://astekdx.com, a medical device start-up based in Maryland.

For entrepreneurs applying for their first investment from TEDCO’s Builder Fund, the company must be based in Maryland and economically disadvantaged.

Astek Diagnostics, Inc. based in Baltimore, is a University of Maryland Baltimore County spinout building the Eugris platform scheduled to be launched in 2023, to help guide physicians in prescribing appropriate antibiotics for patients with bacterial sepsis within one hour.

According to Mustafa Al-Adhami, CEO, Astek Diagnostics, “ Sepsis affects more than one million patients a year in the U.S and even more patients around the globe. Sepsis is the cause of more than eight million deaths worldwide. Getting the correct antibiotics to patients suffering from sepsis is absolutely crucial to their wellbeing. That is why the company developed the Eugris Platform.”

Astek has received funding from other programs within TEDCO as well. In addition, guidance and mentoring was obtained through the Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII). Astek also has received $165,000 in grants from the MII Technology Assessment Phase to de-risk the technology, followed by a $10,000 investment through MII’s Company Formation Phase in 2020.

Astek also successfully participated in TEDCO’s SBIR/STTR Proposal Lab which provides expert advice and proposal writing support to companies applying for federal funding. and was awarded an NSF SBIR grant for $256,000.

Go to https://www.tedcomd.com/funding/builder-fund for information on TEDCO’s Builder Fund.