Business Pitch Bus Tour Ends in Columbia Friday

A bus tour designed to highlight Maryland's budding businesses will end its two-week trip around the state with a party celebrating Maryland's entrepreneurs on Friday at Merriweather Post Pavilion.

The bus tour, called Pitch Across Maryland, began on Sept. 11 and proceeded to make its way around the state giving entrepreneurs the chance to pitch ideas and connect with sources of financing.

"Our goal for the tour is bring together entrepreneurs from across the state, introduce them to mentors, find critical resources, and provide them with the guidance they need to be successful," said Mike Binko, co-chair of Startup Maryland at the beginning of the tour.

The last stop in Columbia, will feature music, food, a cash bar, a speech by Slava Rubin, CEO of crowd funding company Indiegogo and a farewell address from Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, according to Startup Maryland.

“Howard County is pleased to host this important Last Stop, First Step event,” said County Executive Ken Ulman, in a statement. “Startup Maryland’s Pitch Across Maryland bus tour has been a fantastic opportunity to showcase the state’s innovation economy.”

A spokesperson for the pitch bus said that so far the tour has generated over 100 video business pitches, and that they are expecting more than 200 by the time the tour concludes.

All the video pitches made during the tour will be posted online and people will be able to vote for their favorite ideas, according to the spokesperson. The top eight in the poll will move on to the MD Entrepreneur Expo in November, where a winner and runner-up will be chosen, according to the spokesperson.

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