Hopkins Launches Business Accelerator in Stieff Silver Building

Johns Hopkins University’s FastForward business accelerator, designed to turn technology ideas from campus into profit making businesses, is set to be unveiled Thursday.

The Whiting School of Engineering launched FastForward, based in North Baltimore’s Stieff Silver building, and already hosts four companies. Another four are expected to join them in the next six months, according to a university news release.  

"Given the interest we’re already seeing, we’re really on to something here," said FastForward Director John Fini, who also oversees the Homewood Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Commercialization, said in the news release. "It’s already growing very, very fast. And that says something about of Johns Hopkins’ entrepreneurial spirit."

The business accelerator equips the businesses with rent-deferred office space, a shared laboratory and a machine shop to build prototypes.

There is one catch, the start-ups must launch quickly because they cannot stay at FastForward for more than two years.

This is the second business accelerator launched in North Baltimore is just more than a year.

In spring 2012 Loyola University, in partnership with Wasabi Ventures, announced it was launching an accelerator in the Govans community near the school’s Charles Street campus. 

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