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Artistic representation of Baltimore's planned redevelopment project in Port Covington, jointly funded by the City of Baltimore and Under Armor's founder, Kevin Plank. A small group of cybersecurity officials have announced plans to set up in Port Covington, hoping to make the region a leading center for technology jobs and innovation. (Weller Development) ((Courtesy of Weller Development))
Aaron Gregg
Reporter covering defense companies and businesses in the Washington area
At the moment, Baltimore Harbor in Covington does not look like much. Construction is just beginning on a multi-billion dollar project led by Under Armor's founder, Kevin Plank, who wants to build a bustling waterfront business center that will provide well-paying jobs and world renown to a southern part of Baltimore, currently ravaged.
A new effort to attract cybertech companies to the city is at the heart of this initiative as part of a brand initiative called "Cyber Town USA," officials said in a recent development briefing.
"Cyber Town will become its own ecosystem within Port Covington and during the first phase of construction," said Steven Siegel, partner of Weller Development, who oversees the project.
Siegel said his company has reserved space in the Rye Street market in Port Covington, a mixed-use building with approximately 180,000 square feet of office space and a private fiber optic cable system.
Recruitment for this effort is led by DataTribe, a start-up incubator known for creating technology start-ups based on CIA and NSA technology and know-how. On Thursday, the incubator announced that it would leave its headquarters in Fulton, Maryland, to travel to Port Covington once the work was completed.
DataTribe has made a name for itself by creating new security companies, including Enveil and Dragos, both of which have relied heavily on the NSA for its engineering talent. The founder, Mike Janke, a former member of the Navy's Special Forces and founder of the Silent Circle Encryption Company, said he's in negotiation with 28 cybersecurity-related companies that are considering settling in. Port Covington. He declined to note which, stating that they should be announced in installments, the project being almost completed.
Demian Costa, a partner of Sagamore Ventures, a technology venture capital fund powered by Plank's retail wealth, is also involved in recruiting cybersecurity companies for the project.
In Maryland, "we started really well and created cybersecurity businesses, given our proximity to Fort Meade agencies," said Costa. "You can focus on these areas at the regional level and get on very well."
[Departing NSA veterans catch the eye of Silicon Valley investors]
And Maryland's governor, Larry Hogan, also appears to be interested in the issue. He plans to announce the new cybersecurity initiative Thursday morning at a press event in Port Covington.
"Port Covington is a" first "for the nation and for Maryland," Hogan said in remarks prepared by The Washington Post. "The initial build will host the largest concentration of commercial cybersecurity companies in the world – and Port Covington's technological infrastructure is built with the keystone of data security."
There is no public funding behind the effort. But the incubator creates deep ties with investors, including a Silicon Valley venture capital fund called AllegisCyber.
Allegis Capital has established itself in Maryland at the request of founder Bob Ackerman, a long-time Silicon Valley investor who has earned the nickname "cybersecurity's money man" by investing in the industry in its infancy. Through the relationship between the fund and DataTribe, Allegis will have a "dual seat" between Silicon Valley and Baltimore.
[When the titan wants to build the town: Under Armour founder Kevin Plank’s $5.5 billion plan for Baltimore]
In an interview this month, Siegel of Weller Development, said the long-term development of Port Covington would include e-business, as well as education technology and life sciences. The Baltimore Sun has recently moved its headquarters.
The decision of the incubator to move to Baltimore is a blow to the aspirations of the downtown area as a cybersecurity center.
The district's outlying suburbs, located in northern Virginia and Maryland, are considered to be deep pools of talent and cybersecurity technology because of their proximity to US defense and intelligence agencies.
[D.C.-area cybertech companies persuade West Coast investors to head East]
A study conducted in 2017 by Amplifier Ventures and the Kogod School of Business at the American University on Cybersecurity firms in the DC region The study has highlighted a "deep lack" of business ventures. cybersecurity developing cybersecurity products for the business world.
But the district has largely failed to exploit these assets. With notable exceptions, such as Virtru, a young encryption-based encryption company, which raised $ 76.8 million from investors, few large cybersecurity firms are working in the industry. district.
"D.C.'s infrastructure is really good for government and government services, but that's not what we're building here," Ackerman said. "If you go to Silicon Valley, it could not be any different from what you'll find in downtown Washington, D.C."
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