The Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore (EAGB) and BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) officially released the BioHealth Innovation Index for Central Maryland at the Second Annual Regional BioTech Forum, which took place April 18 and 19 in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The Index is a comprehensive analysis of the biohealth industry highlighting the region's strengths, along with those areas that present opportunity for economic growth.

The Index will serve as a guide for the continued development of Maryland's booming biohealth region, by pinpointing key opportunities for future growth to accelerate the region to the top three biotech hubs in the U.S. by 2023.

According to BHI CEO Rich Bendis, who also serves on the Governor of Maryland's Life Sciences Advisory Board, "This index both confirms the region's standing, while also shedding light on what it will take to raise our spot among the top three biotech/biohealth hotbeds in the country. Our region is attracting new and innovative companies at unprecedented speeds. This Index reflects such innovation occurring in Greater Baltimore and Central Maryland, and provides a platform on which to develop a strategic analysis relevant to other U.S. markets such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Raleigh-Durham, San Diego and San Francisco."

The Turnbull Government has today announced $280,000 to bring one of the world’s top startup accelerators to Australia to help our local startup entrepreneurs expand and grow their businesses.

MassChallenge is partnering with Microsoft Australia and the Australian Government to strengthen the nation’s startup ecosystem through idea-pitching competitions, startup boot camps and local and international mentoring.

Gene Roddenberry had a dream. The result of that dream was Star Trek. Roddenberry’s concept was embodied in a future where mankind had, after eons of trial and error, finally grown up. In three hundred years the pettiness of racism, greed, war (among Earth people) and drug abuse crimes have mostly gone the way of the dodo. Warp drive opened the universe to the children of the Earth and showed them the diversity of life elsewhere; and the children, finally, matured.

Image: http://ventureburn.com

As an angel investor in early-stage startups, I’ve long noticed my peers apparent bias toward the strength and character of the founding entrepreneurs, often overriding a strong solution to a painful problem with a big opportunity. In other words, the entrepreneur quality is more important than the idea -- in investor jargon, people invest in the jockey, and not the horse.

I’ve written a few times about the role recombination plays in the innovation process, with the general thesis being that many innovations today rely on taking something that works in one sphere and applying it in another.

It suggests that outsiders can play a crucial role in innovation because they bring access to those ideas and concepts from ‘foreign’ fields.

The EU has outlined its plans for a European Open Science Cloud that will bring together existing infrastructures and open up scientific data across disciplines and across Member States.

‘Science today is about collaboration,’ Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, said during a press briefing on 19 April. ‘What’s the raw material for that collaboration? In my view that raw material is data.

Image: http://horizon-magazine.eu

Being an entrepreneur is a lifestyle that requires staying power, because starting a new business is a long-term process with many tough challenges. As an angel investor, I look diligently for signs that an aspiring startup founder has what it takes to thrive and prosper for the long haul ahead. Passion and vision are necessary, but not sufficient, to really change the world.

Meetings meant to work toward a specific solution can become more of an unproductive brainstorming session than anything else. That’s why we asked 13 entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:

How To Make Meetings More Effective

Use the Business Model Canvas

“The Business Model Canvas is a process that holistically addresses the multi sided nature of developing successful business solutions. It systematically aligns stakeholder interests from your clients to your supply chain and investors, which helps you yield viable, actionable solutions.” ~ Christopher Kelly, Convene

Marketing might help you make a sale, but authenticity is how you earn loyalty… and that doesn’t come from data or slogans. It comes from personal stories, and a whole lot of soul.

Just the other day, a friend complained that the tote bag she’d had her eye on for weeks was completely sold out. When I asked if she could find something similar from another manufacturer, she conceded that she probably could, but, in her words “I really like this particular company. I like their story.”

A 28-year-old dolphin gave birth to her first child on Tuesday — and a Chicago aquarium caught the labor on video 

The precious moment when Katrl, the newly-named baby dolphin, takes his first breath will give you all the feelz. 

Last year the Kauffman Foundation released State of the Field, a new research tool that compiles overviews of the most recent research on key topics in entrepreneurship.

With so much information out there on entrepreneurship research, the Foundation sought to bring together expert academics to build literature summaries, calls for future research, and data information on different topics.

Image: http://www.kauffman.org

From Shark Tank to Silicon Valley, Elon Musk to Mark Zuckerberg, and Uber to Airbnb, entrepreneurship has never been as highly regarded in pop culture as it is now. Entrepreneurship and firm dynamism are critical for innovation, meaningful employment and a higher quality of life for all Americans. But entrepreneurship is not thriving — at least not yet.

Research indicates that the number of new firms each year has been declining for decades, and the decline only accelerated during the Great Recession. Even with a modest recent uptick, our economy is now following a trend where the rate of business creation in the United States is about half of what it was in the 1980s. The decline in startups – coupled with the concentration of power in a small number of large firms – creates a less dynamic economy.

Image: http://www.riponsociety.org

Between 2011 and 2013, companies with a female CEO got only 3% of the total venture capital dollars available. That’s $1.5 billion out of the total $50.8 billion invested in that two year period—a tiny slice of the pie. This year’s Crunchies, the Oscars for the tech community, had a new award category: the Diversity Include Award. Silicon Valley is as guilty as Hollywood for its lack of diversity.

Image: Flickr user Erik Drost

Of the 27,487 runners who traversed the city of Boston this year for the marathon, 39 were visually impaired.

Running a marathon blind can be terrifying: Hordes of runners are bolting toward you, crowds scream from the sidelines, and you have no idea if you're about to crash into someone ahead of you. But for 31-year-old Simon Wheatcroft, a blind Englishman who completed the marathon on Monday, there is nothing more exhilarating.

Image: Flickr user Malcolm Slaney

It was when Bruce Lee was working on the bent-penis project that he started to wonder about the direction of his career. It was 2011. Lee, an adman who happens to share a Kung Fu master’s name, had opted to go freelance in recent years, which had proven lucrative enough. But the projects were frustrating.

Image: Flickr user European Southern

Project Soli is developing a new interaction sensor using radar technology. The sensor can track sub-millimeter motions at high speed and accuracy. It fits onto a chip, can be produced at scale and built into small devices and everyday objects.

Follow Google ATAP on Twitter for updates on Project Soli: https://twitter.com/GoogleATAP

Europe has driven global innovation for centuries. Modern science, enlightenment, the industrial revolution: This quest for knowledge, evidence, and new solutions has always been the basis of European prosperity. Today we ought to remember this legacy. Europe’s economy can only continue to compete globally if we invest in more innovation.

How much does scaling cost and how long is it going to take? The answer is, it depends. Depending on your company and your industry, the timeline for scaling could be vastly different. The key is to understand which timeline matches your company’s profile, and to adhere your goals and metrics to meet this.

Image: http://www.entrepreneurship.org

KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 — The conversion of university research into economic growth is vital for the future of many nations including Malaysia. 

Every year, millions if not billions are invested in university research and one of the effective ways to gain returns from those investments is through technology transfer. 

What is often regarded as activities practised only by elite universities such as MIT, Stanford University, Oxford, Cambridge etc, is now very relevant to all Malaysian universities nationwide. 

KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 20, 2016 -- Angel investors annually fund an estimated $24 billion in early-stage companies, but what kind of returns do they achieve? Are startups getting too expensive for seed-stage funding to be an acceptable risk?  How will equity crowdfunding change the way capital is raised by startups?  How can angels build more diversity into their community and investments?  The Angel Capital Association (ACA), the world's leading professional association for angel investors, is providing answers to these questions and others at the 2016 ACA Summit – the preeminent annual gathering of angel investors.

Robert Wiltbank will present his latest comprehensive study of returns to angel investors, updating data from his 2007 study that demonstrated an average 27 percent internal rate of return. Wiltbank is professor of strategic management at Willamette University and lead research on angel investing for the Angel Resource Institute.