Entrepreneurs Make Pitches in Columbia

Chadwick Van Erbie held onto a small basil plant in front of a large yellow bus emblazoned with "Startup Maryland" as he waited with his business partner Maria Louzon to make their pitch.

"We create a self-roll-out garden program that empowers urban dwellers to grown their own food," said Van Erbie.

Van Erbie and Louzon were at the Startup Maryland event on Friday hoping to attract venture capitalists to invest in their company, Urbn Earth, which creates 3x2 foot roll out landscaping material that customers put the seed balls into to grow food in small spaces.

The University of Maryland graduates were among many entrepreneurs at the event on Friday recording video pitches in hopes of gaining the attention of investors.

The Startup Maryland program is now in its second year of touring the state with its big yellow bus, attracting budding entrepreneurs and guiding them to resources to help build their business.

"We have all the resources here in Maryland to be an even greater job creation center," said Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, who visited the bus at the Howard County Economic Development Authority on Bendix Road Friday. "What we need to do is connect the dots."

Julie Lenzer-Kirk, the director of the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship and co-chair of Staurtup Maryland, said the goal of the two-week tour around Maryland is to provide entrepreneurs with connections, coaching, celebration and capital.

"What says celebration better than a big yellow bus," said Lenzer-Kirk.

The bus is supported by Maryland companies such as Under Armour, TEDCO and Grotech. Entrepreneurs who stop by the bus record short videos of their business pitches, which are later reviewed and the best ones are entered in the InvestMaryland Challenge. InvestMaryland will invest $400,000 in grants to winning Maryland businesses.

The initial funding for Startup Maryland came from the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship, which is part of the Howard County Economic Development Authority.

CoFoundersLab, an online service for connecting entrepreneurs, won the StartupMaryland pitch contest in 2012, which allowed the company free entry and the right to skip the first round of InvestMaryland.

This year, entrepreneurs like Van Erbie, Louzon and Ellicott City's Noah Berk are hoping to bring attention to their startups.

Berk is the founder of Freshspace, a startup focused on improving indoor air quality. He said he started the company with the idea to improve air quality using indoor plants, but soon learned "you need a jungle."

After that, his focus turned to advanced air cleaners in HVAC systems, and coatings on walls and carpets. Berk works on his business at the incubator at the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship, and said he decided to pitch his company on Friday after being encouraged by staff at the building.

"I want to have fun, but also get the word out," said Berk.