UpSurge Releases Equitech: 2030, the UpSurge Teams’ Strategic Priorities for Building the Country’s First Equitech City

Business, community, civic and academic leaders craft bold vision for growth

UpSurge Baltimore launched , intent on building the country’s first ‘Equitech’ city in Baltimore – one that recognizes diversity as a force-multiplier for building a thriving tech economy. UpSurge Teams consisting of 210 civic, startup, corporate, and community partners from across the city were formed to design constituent-driven solutions for achieving the ambitious Equitech vision. The result is the release of Equitech: 2030, a comprehensive and actionable report that includes recommendations across 18 sectors and activities in Baltimore for growing a ‘tech-for-all’ city.

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On the heels of – and in line with – last week’s release of the Baltimore Development Corporation’s comprehensive Baltimore Together plan, the Equitech 2030 Report dives deep into the innovation economy and high growth startups as a key lever in driving inclusive growth in every corner of the city. The report outlines a bold and ambitious vision that reaches from the upper echelons of corporate America to elementary school classrooms in Baltimore’s neighborhood schools and is the culmination of nearly 3,600 hours spent by UpSurge staff and Teams developing key priorities and recommendations.

“Equitech is about much more than just how to grow the number of tech companies; it’s about how you create a center of gravity for the country around a tech city that embraces the brilliance of its community as it grows. The momentum and energy in Baltimore’s tech ecosystem is high, and the thoughtful, visionary recommendations of the UpSurge Teams will add fuel to a fire that is ready to burn brightly over the next decade,” said UpSurge CEO, Jamie McDonald.

The Report synthesizes work done by UpSurge Team members, comprised of hand-raisers from tech, industry, academia, and the community – each with expertise and experience in the sectors (ClimateTech, ConsumerTech, etc.) and activities (Inclusive Entrepreneurship, Investor Cultivation, etc.) that makeup Baltimore’s diverse tech and growth startup ecosystems. Teams convened through a series of summer meetings to consider how UpSurge should focus its work across three timeframes: 1) Quick wins, or initiatives we can accomplish now, before the end of 2022; 2) Systems changes, or efforts that will require more time but can be done by the end of 2029; and 3) Moonshots, or big ideas that could fundamentally change the Baltimore ecosystem by 2030.

In the report, each UpSurge Team presents its strategic priorities within the three timeframes, for a total of 152 recommendations. Among these recommendations, certain themes, ideas, and needs were echoed across multiple sectors and activities, including the need for increased consideration of and access to incentives for businesses looking to stay or relocate in Baltimore; more robust aggregation of data, resources, and information that promotes collaboration for startups within and across sectors; fostering stronger links between startups and corporations to drive mentorship, connection, community and placemaking; and expanding and deepening exposure to coding and other tech-related skills in schools and through accessible extracurricular programs and paid internships.

“The release of this report is just a start. The real work is ahead, and we look forward to tackling the challenges and opportunities outlined with growing coalitions of people and organizations who believe in Baltimore and in the potential of Equitech,“ said McDonald.

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With the support and leadership of city institutions like Brown Advisory, Point Field Partners, T. Rowe Price, the Abell Foundation, and Johns Hopkins University, UpSurge has made tremendous progress since its launch. Through partnerships in Baltimore and across the country, UpSurge has already begun building momentum around the report’s key priorities—supporting and building networks for Baltimore startups; launching two new Equitech-focused accelerators in Baltimore; assembling entrepreneurship resources to make them accessible to founders, companies, and budding entrepreneurs; building out formal and informal networks across the ecosystem in ways that foster connection; and developing new channels through which to showcase our city and the talent within it.

UpSurge is working with more than half of all Baltimore tech companies and engaged with nearly 100 investors here and across the country; released baseline data on the state of Baltimore’s startup ecosystem; engaged in conversations with 14 global corporations about an Equitech Accelerator hub; and, kicked off a talent pathways working group with 40 partners from across the city.

With the release of Equitech 2030, UpSurge plans to enlist support from partners across the ecosystem to continue the work of moving the Teams’ priorities from ideas into action. This will include providing a tailored version of the report to each partner named as a potential collaborator, connecting with city and state leaders to create alignment with goals and priorities, and developing a specific set of priorities around the work that UpSurge can lead or carry forward on its own. In the meantime, the organization will continue convening interested partners, starting with members of the UpSurge Teams, to build the coalitions needed to attain their goals.