The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED), the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), McGladrey, Inc., Citybizlist and Saul Ewing LLP have announced the finalists for the annual Maryland Incubator Company of the Year Awards. The awards recognize the achievements of current and graduate companies within Maryland's incubators.

The finalists for the 2012 ICOY Awards come from all over the state and represent a diverse cross-section of technologies and services. In addition to the diverse categories, one incubator graduate company will be inducted into the Maryland Incubator Company "Hall of Fame."

The Award Recipients will be announced at a ceremony at the Center Club in Baltimore on June 14, 2012.

Finalists for Maryland Incubator Company of the Year Awards:

LIFE SCIENCES COMPANIES

Ambay Immune Sensors & Controls, LLC

Ambay Immune Sensors and Controls (AISC) aims to bring about a revolution in early cancer diagnosis by detecting the disease even before symptoms appear, producing better patient outcomes and reduced healthcare costs. Our initial focus is breast cancer, the most widespread cancer afflicting women around the world. Every 3 minutes, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, and 30% of patients treated for breast cancer show a high level of recurrence. AISC is developing a blood-based test to measure changes in the immune system at the pre-cancer stage, for detecting both breast cancer onset and recurrence. The blood test addresses the deficiencies of mammography and seeks to displace it as the primary screening test for breast cancer. This test will be minimally invasive, convenient, patient friendly & cost effective, allowing physicians to track and predict the course of disease.

KeyGene

KeyGene's main focus is to develop non-Genetically Modified technologies and contribute to the Green Gene Revolution. Our technologies help to increase the productivity of agriculture in a sustainable manner and preserve the Green Earth for the future.

KeyGene assists agricultural and food companies by providing cutting edge technologies and trait improvement platforms for their crop development. This combined approach will enable dramatic improvement of crops, offering exciting new possibilities for fulfilling the growing demand for better Food, Feed, Fuel and Fiber. At the top of our list of solutions is a proprietary non-GM Trait Pipeline.

KeyGene has discovered, validated and patented a number of key genes to generate novel plant traits through its innovative Trait Pipeline. This pipeline covers the entire process in less than a year from the computational identification of specific genetic regulatory elements to validation in crop species.

Noxilizer

Noxilizer has a unique and superior NO₂-based sterilization technology that is revolutionizing two major sterilization markets — medical device/pharmaceutical/biotechnology manufacturing and hospitals. In the manufacturing market, Noxilizer provides sterilization services for next generation medical devices and drug/device combination products. Noxilizer also sells the RTS 360 NO₂ Industrial Sterilizer to companies that sterilize their own products. In hospitals, Noxilizer is developing a system especially for the sensitive, high-tech equipment used in minimally-invasive surgical procedures. The company was founded in 2004 and is privately held. Noxilizer is located at the University of Maryland Baltimore County Technology Center in Baltimore, MD.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES

6^thStreetCommerce

6^thStreetCommerce helps retailers simplify E-commerce by providing a turn-key solution that helps retailers increase sales while reducing operating costs and improving the overall quality of service.

Our unique value to retailers is helping them bring more products to market faster while allowing them to effectively sell those products in more online locations. This is accomplished through our proprietary Storefront Management System SalesWarp™, which connects all the critical back-end systems (ERP, inventory, POS, CRM, financial, order processing and shipping) with the retailer's online stores, allowing them to easily manage through advanced automation, all of their E-commerce operations from one system. In summary, our products will help a retailer sell more products in more locations, while simultaneously reducing operating costs, improving overall quality and strengthening customer loyalty.

Localist

Localist powers online social calendars for higher education institutions, media companies, membership associations, and more. Localist makes it easy for community managers to upload and market events, and quick for members to figure out what's going on. No fighting with difficult technology on either side; Localist makes managing and finding events quick, easy, and social.

Localist white labels technology for organizations including Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, the Dana Farber Cancer Center, and gb.tc.

Strativia Software

Strativia is a software and services provider that specializes in software product development. They help their clients leverage technology to more seamlessly deliver their products and services to the local and global marketplace and enhance their ability to complete against competitors both around the corner and around the world. In addition to developing custom software applications for its clients, Strativia have developed several of their its proprietary SaaS products, including eFinancial Portals and eFinancial Online Calculators.

TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONAL SERVICE COMPANIES

Localist

Please see complete company description under INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Section.

Meridian BioGroup

Meridian BioGroup LLC is a validation and compliance contract service provider to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Meridian brings qualified specialists from manufacturing, quality control, quality assurance, engineering, validation, and related backgrounds to meet its clients' needs in FDA-regulated environments.

Our services include validation of utility systems, process equipment, processes and support equipment; validation master planning; quality audits and gap analyses; development of entire quality systems; and assistance with the many requirements of GMP, GLP, GTP and ISO.

Meridian tailors its service offerings to meet the individual needs of its clients, whether large established biotechnology companies with commercial manufacturing capabilities or small start-up companies ready to move into clinical trials. Our business model is based on serving the Maryland bioscience community with locally-based professionals.

StormCenter Communications, Inc.

StormCenter Communications, Inc. develops and implements real-time geospatial collaboration technology to improve situational awareness, decision making, planning and response. The Federal Government has determined that StormCenter's technology is ‘unique' and ‘profoundly valuable to the federal government'. The company's ability to deliver a real-time common operating platform (COP) is enabling NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and state emergency operation centers to share data and information to plan, present and execute preparedness, warning and response operations protecting life and property.

StormCenter's technology can improve environmental strategy, emergency response and vulnerability assessments throughout multiple sectors and regions. Our technology enables insurance companies, energy exploration, training operations and much more with collaborative geospatial solutions and helps customers manage global events, track human and other mobile assets in real-time and provide cyber security to networks and software. StormCenter allows decision makers, subject matter experts and other users to share live 3D imagery and other data in real time on geo-browsers with smartphones, tablets and other mobile and desktop devices.

CYBER/HOMELAND SECURITY COMPANIES

Secured Sciences Group

Secured Sciences Group (SSG) is a woman-owned small business based in the bwtech@UMBC Research and Technology Park, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, MD. Our mission is to help our clients with compliance and IT management through technology services and products.

With SSG's Surveillant™ compliance management system, customers are able to streamline the time required to determine whether an organization is compliant with multiple policies that have the same or similar controls. Through technology developed at the bwtech@UMBC CyberIncubator and tested at the UMBC CIO's office, the Surveillant™ system cuts down the time an organization needs to spend on compliance by:

• Recommending other policies that apply to the organization,
• Tracking and managing evidence as proof of compliance
• Tracking user activities and remediation.

SSG also provides professional service offerings complementary to Surveillant in the areas of Management Support, Information Technology Services, Cybersecurity Services, and compliance management.

StormCenter Communications

Please see complete company description under TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONAL SERVICE Section.

Treeminer, Inc.

More data will be collected this year than in the past 5,000 years of human existence combined. The volume of this data is overwhelming our ability to analyze it for knowledge, as today's analytics techniques cannot keep up. This has been termed the problem of "Big Data".

Treeminer's focus is on closing this analysis gap. Our patented methods of Big Data analysis drop analysis times from hours to minutes, by operating on data in thin vertical strips rather than in rows as traditional solutions do. As a result, organizations can gain critical business and mission insights significantly faster.

Initially focused on the security, defense and intelligence segments, Treeminer is bringing to market a range of data mining solutions based upon vertical techniques.

Treeminer received a grant under TEDCO's MTTCF, and is a member company of the Chesapeake Innovation Center in Annapolis, Maryland.

GREEN COMPANY

KeyGene

Please see complete company description under LIFE SCIENCES Section.

SemaConnect, Inc.

SemaConnect is the leader in developing and producing electric vehicle charging stations and sophisticated software for commercial applications. Their charging stations are extremely intuitive, safe, reliable and easy-to-use. Station owners enjoy features like time-of-use pricing, sustainability reporting, and open or restricted access for use. With over 1,000 stations deployed nationwide and growing, SemaConnect has emerged as the electric vehicle charging company of choice for top commercial real estate companies across the nation.

Sol Vista

SOL VISTA aligns the seemingly incompatible considerations of environment and capitalism by offering simple and innovative solutions that reduce operational waste in commercial buildings while also quickly and significantly increasing owner profits. Our unique service model integrates diverse expertise in real estate, energy, and technology allowing us to offer comprehensive strategies as turnkey solutions. This makes reducing environmental impact not only simple, but also a financial imperative for prudent commercial building owners.

Our service model includes three distinct but integrated steps—assessment, implementation, and management. Each step feeds the next in a continuous loop. For our assessment services we gather and analyze building data to create implementation plans that prioritize low cost, high-return strategies. Our implementation services put the implementation plans into action.

Our management services leverage myVista™, our proprietary building performance management tool, to provide ongoing monitoring and reporting that delivers building managers actionable intelligence for continuous improvement.

NEW INCUBATOR COMPANIES

Authentik Solutions LLC

Protecting What Matters has always been the driving force for biometric study and development. Our company Authentik Solutions, LLC is bringing to the market those products that will provide opportunity for the commercial sector to Protect What Matters in today's business environment. Our initial focus will be on Authentiktime, a remote access biometric time and attendance system for human capital management. Subsequent initiatives will include a system providing biometric access and activity management for vehicle and a third focus will be expanding the use of biometrics for access control.

AuthentikTime is a most unique Time and Attendance System. The attributes of AuthentikTime provide the industry with a fully featured remote biometric web-based system that is affordable, effective and adaptable to the changing workforce.

We are honored to be have been nominated and are thankful for the support and guidance of the Chesapeake Innovation Center. The help they have given us is measurable and goes beyond what anyone could ever anticipate.

Branchpoint Technologies

Branchpoint Technologies has developed an implantable wireless intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring device that will improve the current state of the art wired devices by delivering increased accuracy, reduced infection risks, and lower cost of hospital stay.

The current state-of-the-art ICP monitors are required to be hard-wired to a patient monitor. This procedure requires a high-cost stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), loses accuracy after a short period of time, and requires a wired connection through the skin to an external monitor putting patients at a 7-13% risk of meningitis infection due to the wire acting as a bacterial route to brain tissue.

Branchpoint's wireless ICP monitor is subcutaneous, eliminating the risk of infection and enabling patients to move to less costly non-ICU beds. It maintains accuracy over months or years, enabling long-term outpatient ICP monitoring.

Subject7 LLC

Subject7 LLC, a Maryland-based company, was founded in March of 2011. In November 2011, Subject7 was admitted to the Chesapeake Innovation Center's incubation program. Subject7 founders have over 23 years of combined experience in all phases of software development and have worked for startup to enterprise level companies, commercial and government contractors, fortune 500 companies, and projects of hundreds of thousands of dollars in size to multi-billion dollars. Subject7 has created its first software product and platform called Proof. It is a SaaS cloud-based scalable automated web testing framework that provides an end-to-end solution to web testing automation without requiring any coding by testers. Proof provides a simple web interface that allows testers write their test cases. It further allows authoring and maintaining test cases easily, running them on demand or based on a schedule, and view report of the results.

GRADUATE COMPANY

LiveHealthier (RIC)

LiveHealthier is a global provider of innovative health management programs that are tailored to each individual and customized to support the unique culture of each organization. We pride ourselves on being nimble and flexible in finding creative solutions to actively engage employees in identifying, achieving and maintaining their health goals. We have a proven track record of data-driven program customizations delivered through cutting-edge technology that drives high levels of engagement and participation, which is key to improved health outcomes and productivity.

Our clients range in size from a 250-person law firm to a national grocery chain with 300,000 employees. Our clients include multi-national corporations such as Microsoft Corporation, government contractors such as SRA International, national professional services companies such as Airlines Reporting Company, national non-profits such as TurnFirst.org and regional medical centers such as Dean Medical Center in Madison, WI and Washington D.C. and local construction companies.

Moodlerooms (ETC)

Moodlerooms, Inc. was founded in 2005 by Tom Murdock, Sheila Gatling and Gina Russell Stevens, three Baltimore-based former educators. They wanted to make effective e-Learning solutions more accessible and affordable for all educators and learners. To deliver the most affordable and sustainable e-Learning solution possible, Moodlerooms was founded on the basis of harnessing the open-source teaching and learning software, Moodle, at the core of its solutions.

Moodlerooms is part of the Moodle partner network, providing e-Learning solutions institutions, schools, corporations and non-profit organizations While Moodlerooms offers a variety of Moodle services, what makes Moodlerooms special is joule®--an e-Learning platform that builds on a Moodle core to combine next-generation functionality and dedicated service into an affordable and adaptable turnkey solution. Moodlerooms has created joule to meet unique enterprise needs by delivering enhanced features, needs-based consultative services and community-driven innovations.

NeWo Technologies, LLC

NeWo Technologies, LLC, specializing in "concept to prototype" design, is a leading electronic product development firm that brings wholesale research and development to the masses. NeWo specializes in the development of real-time data harvesting and wireless transmission technologies. The service aspect of NeWo provides 100% in-house product development: concept, requirements, hardware, mechanical, software, and interface; while employing team project management to avoid technical hurdles that occur with isolated development teams. Each member of our staff has distinct strengths and special abilities. Our commitment to on-going professional development training ensures an understanding of the latest technical and code requirements and new techniques and systems to save energy and life cycle costs and enhance the experience of the occupants of the building. The product aspect on NeWo cultivates proprietary concepts for distinct markets, providing in-house NeWo brand.