Abell Foundation

The Abell Foundation was inaugurated over a half a century ago, Chairman Harry C. Black and the founding board members set an agenda that allocated grants for schools, hospitals, and human service organizations reaching out to the disadvantaged in the Baltimore community and the region. In the past three decades, the Foundation has sharpened its focus to address complex challenges to break through the cycles of urban poverty. Today, the Foundation places the highest priority on creating solutions that are both innovative and will ensure accountability. This is the commitment of The Abell Foundation: to give hope by opening the doors of opportunity to the disenfranchised, knowing that no community can succeed and thrive if those who live on the margins are not included. We invite you to use this website to visit our Publications/Research section where you'll find thought-provoking perspectives on issues affecting the community at large. The Abell Foundation places a priority on supporting efforts that enhance the quality of life in the areas of community development, education, health and human services, criminal justice and addictions, workforce development and to a lesser extent, conservation/environment, and arts and culture. The Foundation is among the largest private foundations in Maryland with assets of more than $314 million.

Robert C. Embry Jr.

President

37 past transactions

Marinalife

Series A in 2023
Marinalife provides premium content and valuable services for all types of boaters. The Marinalife Cruising Club membership offers boaters access to detailed marina information, travel resources including trip itineraries and destination guides to make their next boating adventure stress-free. In addition, the Marinalife magazine, a quarterly travel and lifestyle publication, provides boaters with entertaining and useful articles about destinations, marinas, cruising stories, captain's tips and more.
North American Wave Engine is engaged in the design and development of wave engines for jet wave engines. The company's technology supports recent scientific developments to offer unparalleled levels of Thrust-to-Weight and Thrust-Specific Fuel Consumption without the use of any moving parts.

SIMPLi

Seed Round in 2021
SIMPLi is an ethically-sourced ingredients company with a larger mission of tackling a fraudulent international supply chain. SIMPLi works directly with the growing communities in Peru, Greece and other countries to bypass all the middle parties to bring single origin, nutrient-dense ingredients straight to your kitchen.

ReGelTec

Series A in 2020
ReGelTec provides Biotechnology services.

Spine Align

Seed Round in 2020
Spine Align is developing a portfolio of intraoperative products that both assess and assist with corrective surgeries for spinal alignment. It develops a breakthrough, patent-pending imaging technology that enables on-demand, 3D, full-length measurements of a patient’s spine with a 95% reduction in time and an 80% reduction in radiation exposure compared to current technologies.

NextStep Robotics

Convertible Note in 2020
NextStep Robotics provides clinics the ability to offer personalized robotic therapy to patients through adaptive software that provides a personalized assist as needed approach. This is the first ever clinically proven option to effectively treat foot drop. Their robot is easy to use and designed to be run by lower skilled clinic staff freeing up therapists to focus on more hands modalities. As they collect more data, the software will transition into an AI-based system to assess and assigns training protocols optimized for each patient’s deficit. The improved outcomes will allow clinics to provide reimbursable therapy using existing CPT codes for gait training on a patient base they currently have no treatment for. The device will be registered with the FDA as a Class 1 Exercise Device; and so, it can be sold and used WITHOUT FDA APPROVAL. Allowing NextStep Robotics to immediately generate revenue through: 1) Direct sales/leasing of robots; 2) Subscription to software service; 3) Service contracts.

BurnAlong

Venture Round in 2020
BurnAlong is a personalized wellbeing class and social motivation to help people get the health and wellness they need. BurnAlong delivers personalized corporate wellness classes and social motivation to help employees achieve their health and wellness goals; and companies in turn create great cultures that retain and attract talent. It was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.

Lifesprout

Series A in 2020
LifeSprout is developing the next generation of synthetic soft tissue substitutes for aesthetic and reconstructive medicine. They offer revolutionary products for aesthetic and regenerative medicine. They have created a platform that looks and behaves like the body’s own tissues. The company is turning this into a suite of products for millions of patients each year with soft tissue losses from aging, cancer, and metabolic disease.

NextStep Robotics

Seed Round in 2019
NextStep Robotics provides clinics the ability to offer personalized robotic therapy to patients through adaptive software that provides a personalized assist as needed approach. This is the first ever clinically proven option to effectively treat foot drop. Their robot is easy to use and designed to be run by lower skilled clinic staff freeing up therapists to focus on more hands modalities. As they collect more data, the software will transition into an AI-based system to assess and assigns training protocols optimized for each patient’s deficit. The improved outcomes will allow clinics to provide reimbursable therapy using existing CPT codes for gait training on a patient base they currently have no treatment for. The device will be registered with the FDA as a Class 1 Exercise Device; and so, it can be sold and used WITHOUT FDA APPROVAL. Allowing NextStep Robotics to immediately generate revenue through: 1) Direct sales/leasing of robots; 2) Subscription to software service; 3) Service contracts.

Vixiar Medical

Series A in 2019
Vixiar Medical develops non-invasive, cost-effective devices, and systems for monitoring cardiopulmonary diseases, particularly those with a significant clinical and economic burden. The Company’s first product, Indicor, is a handheld point of care device and digital platform for monitoring worsening heart failure.

ReGelTec

Venture Round in 2018
ReGelTec provides Biotechnology services.

Pixelligent

Venture Round in 2018
Producers reinvents the way composite materials are made by synthetically replicating a broad set of metal oxide materials found in nature. Its proprietary product development and fully scaled manufacturing platform, the PixClearProcess®, enables Pixelligent to engineer PixClear® materials to seamlessly integrate into the most common manufacturing processes, including inkjet, nanoimprint, spin coating, dispensing, slot-dye and photolithography.
The University of Maryland, located in College Park and established in 1856, stands as a leading public research university in the United States. Over the last two decades, it has significantly enhanced its reputation and academic accomplishments, positioning itself to compete on a global scale. The university emphasizes research, entrepreneurship, and innovation, aiming to leverage its strengths and capitalize on opportunities for growth. The executive management team oversees the university's assets, ensuring that it pursues ambitious goals with discipline and a forward-thinking approach. The University of Maryland is committed to fulfilling its potential as a premier institution of higher learning.
North American Wave Engine is engaged in the design and development of wave engines for jet wave engines. The company's technology supports recent scientific developments to offer unparalleled levels of Thrust-to-Weight and Thrust-Specific Fuel Consumption without the use of any moving parts.

RoundTrip

Seed Round in 2018
RoundTrip is disrupting the medical transportation industry by providing on-demand medical transportation for hospitals, healthcare organizations, transportation organizations, and health plans.They get the ins and outs of care coordination because they started as paramedics and EMTs before earning MBAs and executive positions at some of the largest healthcare and medical transportation companies in the world. RoundTrip schedules, dispatches, and monitors non-emergency transportation for organizations and their riders in ten states. A few of their major partners include Mount Sinai Health System, Cooper University Health System, MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper, Nemours Children’s Hospital, Crozer-Keystone Health System, and GRTC (the government paratransit program) of Richmond and Henrico Counties, VA. It offers easy-to-use online and mobile platforms that connect patients with non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT).

Lifesprout

Seed Round in 2018
LifeSprout is developing the next generation of synthetic soft tissue substitutes for aesthetic and reconstructive medicine. They offer revolutionary products for aesthetic and regenerative medicine. They have created a platform that looks and behaves like the body’s own tissues. The company is turning this into a suite of products for millions of patients each year with soft tissue losses from aging, cancer, and metabolic disease.

eNeura Therapeutics

Series D in 2018
ENeura Therapeutics is a medical technology company developing transcranial magnetic stimulation devices for the treatment of migraines. It pioneers the use of portable, non-invasive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) devices for the treatment of migraine. Prescribed by physicians but designed for patient use, it is the first truly portable, convenient TMS product that will allow migraine patients to administer treatment as needed—at home, in the office, or on the go.

Snag-A-Slip

Series A in 2017
Snag-A-Slip is a cloud-based technology platform that connects boaters with marina owners and allows boaters to book transient slips with ease and confidence wherever and whenever they choose. No booking fees for the boater. Ever. Just…Explore. Book. Boat. Marina owners have access to a cloud-based back-end inventory management system to easily maintain available slips. Marinas pay a transaction fee only when slips are booked. No Commitment. No Risk. As an avid boater and 20-year veteran of the hospitality industry, Dan Cowens, Founder and CEO of Snag-A-Slip, sought to build a company that would make boating easier and more fun for everyone. Snag-A-Slip has made tremendous traction changing the way boaters and marinas owners think about the boating experience.

Sugar

Seed Round in 2017
Formerly known as Jetpack, Sugar builds community and transforms the residential experience by integrating with technology stacks that power modern buildings. Sugar's product is built in partnership with real estate investment groups and property management companies to build the most relevant features. The product works with a smart intercom device that allows residents to unlock both private and communal doors inside the Sugar app. Unlike other smart locks, Sugar doesn’t require any lock replacements. Their goal is to leverage technology and design thinking to deliver an amazing living experience to residents by making daily tasks and community engagement significantly easier.

Vixiar Medical

Seed Round in 2017
Vixiar Medical develops non-invasive, cost-effective devices, and systems for monitoring cardiopulmonary diseases, particularly those with a significant clinical and economic burden. The Company’s first product, Indicor, is a handheld point of care device and digital platform for monitoring worsening heart failure.

Arbit

Seed Round in 2017
Arbit is a polling application that gives brands and people the ability to create polls, share opinions, aggregate results, and view analytics all in real-time. Backed by NBA players Steve Blake, Anthony Tolliver, Caron Butler, and Ty Lawson, Arbit is growing among the top names in sports and pop culture. From a B2B perspective, brands are utilizing Arbit as they poll across the platform in order to better gauge consumer sentiment towards their products, giving them an instantaneous, interactive platform to engage with their target audience.

Sonavex

Series A in 2017
Sonavex is committed to improving outcomes for surgical patients by using cutting-edge imaging technology to provide clinicians with visualization of critical data -- directly at the point of care. The company's technology offers a proprietary technology platform that utilizes ultrasound to detect blood clots after surgery, enabling clinicians to measure critical intravascular flow metrics to detect post-operative clots directly at the point of care and improve outcomes.

Marigold Health

Seed Round in 2017
Marigold Health uses AI-augmented chat support groups to reach and retain patients with behavioral health needs in community-based treatment. Patients receive a personalized wraparound support while care teams see dramatic gains in capacity using patients to engage each other. We partner directly with treatment providers and managed care organizations in the Medicaid market.

Awarables

Grant in 2016
Provider of an application to assess sleep quality and for identifying sleep disorders. The company provides a sleep analytic system which combines physiologic signals captured by microsensors and proprietary signal processing algorithms to provide reliable sleep quantity and quality

Sisu Global Health

Seed Round in 2016
Sisu Global Health manufactures medical devices that salvage, filter, and recycle blood from patients suffering internal bleeding. In its medical device, physicians will be able to use blood collected from internal hemorrhages during surgery to augment or replace donor blood during emergencies, such as blunt traumas and pregnancy complications. The device is a handheld mechanical device.

Pixelligent

Series C in 2016
Producers reinvents the way composite materials are made by synthetically replicating a broad set of metal oxide materials found in nature. Its proprietary product development and fully scaled manufacturing platform, the PixClearProcess®, enables Pixelligent to engineer PixClear® materials to seamlessly integrate into the most common manufacturing processes, including inkjet, nanoimprint, spin coating, dispensing, slot-dye and photolithography.

Loople Mobile

Seed Round in 2016
Loople Mobile offers a business intelligence product and marketing solution for the alcohol industry. The smartphone application enables individuals to find and go to bars and restaurants in the vicinities based on drink specials, seating arrangements, and offers. Loople Mobile was founded by David Phelan and Philip DiMuro in February 2014 and is based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Sonavex

Seed Round in 2015
Sonavex is committed to improving outcomes for surgical patients by using cutting-edge imaging technology to provide clinicians with visualization of critical data -- directly at the point of care. The company's technology offers a proprietary technology platform that utilizes ultrasound to detect blood clots after surgery, enabling clinicians to measure critical intravascular flow metrics to detect post-operative clots directly at the point of care and improve outcomes.

Perceptive Navigation

Seed Round in 2015
The company’s core technology provides for an image-guided interventional device that seeks to significantly improve both the safety and efficacy of millions of procedures performed each year in the areas of radiology, cardiology, interventional oncology, and urology. The company expects to launch its first product, Vu-Path, in late 2016 under a 510(k) class II submission. Physicians use several different techniques to perform minimally-invasive procedures, such as line placements, aspirations, and therapeutic injections. Interventional options include open surgery or image guidance by surface ultrasound, CT, X-Ray, and MRI. However, these techniques can be expensive, inconvenient, risky, and may not be usable for the critically ill. For example, current surface ultrasound systems are difficult to maneuver, do not apply to “difficult cases,” and inadequately detect the tip of the needle or catheter, potentially leading to puncture of nearby structures and organs. The high cost and substantial training requirements of existing imaging solutions have greatly limited acceptance. Vu-Path addresses the current unmet need by quickly, safely, and precisely accessing organs and internal structures. The patented core technology is unique in integrating a forward-viewing imaging element that allows accurate and precise placement of a probe’s tip. Perceptive’s first product, Vu-Path, will be the first intracorporeal (“within the body”) ultrasound probe that does not occupy a lumen in the body (such as the esophagus). This composite probe combines ultrasound imaging with a versatile portal that can be used for introducer needles, biopsy needles, guide wires, or the delivery of therapeutics. By replacing surface ultrasound, CT, X-Ray, and MRI in complex surgical and percutaneous procedures, Vu-Path will shorten procedural times while reducing staff needs, facility requirements, and equipment costs.

Vasoptic Medical

Seed Round in 2015
We are developing a low-cost, easy-to-use, portable retinal imager designed to non-invasively capture physiological information from the retinal microvasculature, providing a quantitative means of monitoring the progression of various metrics indicative of ophthalmic and systemic disease. Our approach eliminates the need for pupil dilation or contrast dyes and allows for important eye exams to be performed in primary care and community care environments. By positioning our devices in primary care centers, healthcare facilities, pharmacies, and community clinics worldwide, we hope to increase access to high-quality, essential care for millions of at-risk and underserved individuals while reducing the cost of care associated with eye exams.

CoolTech

Grant in 2015
CoolTech develops transnasal cooling technology for non-invasive fever control and neuroprotection. Its CoolStat device is small, lightweight, and portable, able to move throughout the hospital with the patient. The device generates a source of filtered air that is delivered to the patient via a single-use air tubing set.

Pixelligent

Venture Round in 2013
Producers reinvents the way composite materials are made by synthetically replicating a broad set of metal oxide materials found in nature. Its proprietary product development and fully scaled manufacturing platform, the PixClearProcess®, enables Pixelligent to engineer PixClear® materials to seamlessly integrate into the most common manufacturing processes, including inkjet, nanoimprint, spin coating, dispensing, slot-dye and photolithography.

SeeFuture

Seed Round in 2013
SeeFuture allows college students to sign up as early as freshmen year and apply to their member companies for mentorship. Once accepted students are paired with a mentor from the company who works with the student through company specific learning modules. All interaction between students and mentors is conducted face to face via webcam technology built into the SeeFuture platform. From their students are immersed into the organization, are able to build real networks, and have a better chance at securing an internship or even entry level job with the company.

GiveCorps

Angel Round in 2012
GiveCorps' mission is to nurture an online community where people find their passion to GIVE , local non-profits find their CORPS supporters, and local merchants reward donors for giving. Highlighting compelling local projects, GiveCorps seeks to raise more than $5 million a year in each city by inspiring at least 500 local citizens daily to give $25 to improve the quality of life in their City.

TidePoint

Series A in 2000
A provider of business partner infrastructure solutions

IC-USA

Series B in 2000
IC-USA is a business consulting firm that assists both domestic and foreign nationals in establishing investments. It also offers passive investments for investing, which refers broadly to a buy-and-hold portfolio strategy for long-term investment.
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