South Baltimore Business Roundup

New Parking Lot at Stadium Square

The former Furst Bros. building was demolished in 2015 to make way for the in-progress, $275-million Stadium Square development. The site was used as a staging space for the Hanover Cross Street apartment building, which is now wrapping up construction, and will be the future site of a new apartment building with first floor retail.

For now, however, developer Caves Valley Partners has paved the lot and will use it as a temporary parking lot. A fence will also be added around the lot. The space is adjacent to the former VacPac facility which is getting converted to a new office building.

Ravens Named the 27th Most Valuable Sports Franchise in the World 

The Baltimore Ravens are currently ranked #27 in Forbes’ The World’s Most Valuable Sports Teams 2017 list. The Ravens are valued at $2.3 billion (a 19% increase over last year) and have an operating income of $103 million. The Ravens are the 14th most valuable franchise in the NFL.

In 2014, the Ravens were the 19th most valuable franchise in the world, but have since been passed by several NFL, NBA, and MLB franchises, even though the Ravens’ value has increased by more than a $1 billion since that time.

ZeroFox Raises $40 million 

ZeroFox, a social media cybersecurity company with an 11,000 sq. ft. office at 1834 S. Charles St., has raised $40 million in capital. From The Baltimore Sun:

The Series C funding round was led by Redline Capital Management, a European venture firm, and Silver Lake Waterman, a fund that focuses on pre-IPO companies. Prior investors New Enterprise Associates, Highland Capital Partners and Core Capital also contributed.

The investment brings ZeroFOX’s total funding to $88 million and advances the company toward some of CEO James C. Foster’s longtime goals: a global reputation and an initial public offering.

“It’s not going to happen tomorrow,” Foster said last week of an initial public offering. “But we are holding ourselves accountable and running like a publicly traded company today, and when the time is right and we get a little bigger.”

ZeroFOX specializes in developing tools to help companies detect and protect against cyberattacks through social media, a growing threat to companies as social media becomes a part of everyday business.

Pigtown Updates

There are multiple business-related updates from around Pigtown:

-His Kingdom Deliverance Ministries has left its space at 783 Washington Blvd. HomeFree USA has also relocated from 788 Washington Blvd. to 765 Washington Blvd., a space that was formerly an extra printing facility for Work Printing and Graphics, which is still open across the street. Businesses interested in either retail space can contact Ben Hyman of Pigtown Main Street at 443-908-7038.

-Facade improvements are underway on five storefronts on the 700 block of Washington Blvd. The project, which is funded through a facade grant program by the Baltimore Development Corporation, will bring new storefronts to Fashion Kings, City Tobacco and Vape Outlet, MetroPCS, The Tax Place, and Afro Fashion and Art.

-Pigtown Main Street is raising money for a pop-up park for a grass space at the corner of Washington Blvd. and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. From the project page on ioby:

Imagine the intersection of Washington Boulevard and MLK as a vibrant, active plaza. Where pedestrians, cyclists and motorists can catch a glimpse of Pigtown’s potential.

The intersection of Washington Blvd and Martin Luther King, Jr Blvd (MLK) is a physical and socioeconomic barrier to the vitality of the three communities that border it: Pigtown, Ridgely’s Delight and Barre Circle. As the first stop for drivers coming from 395 and 295 into Baltimore’s creative, exciting and diverse neighborhoods, the Washington Blvd/MLK intersection has the potential to welcome people, not serve as a barricade that dissects communities. Pigtown Main Street envisions a complete streets plan where these public spaces can serve everyone, not just commuters coming into and out of the city.

That’s why we want to raise funding to partner with the Project for Public Spaces to create a temporary pop-up park. Your support will allow us to purchase cafe tables and chairs, benches, planters and umbrellas, a synthetic lawn and lawn games, and a variety of other assets to make this corner a usable asset for our neighborhoods.

Beta City Adds a Second Event

Beta City, a popular event from Betamore and Sagamore Ventures, is expanding. From Baltimore Business Journal:

Day 1: In its third year, Beta City will include a full day of startup demos and meetings between entrepreneurs and investors, and a venture capital pitch competition. Last year’s event attracted more than 1,000 guests and local startups. TopBox and Tissue Analytics won a collective $75,000 in prizes.

Day 2: The Foundery, City Garage’s makerspace, will host Garage Fest to focus on the Baltimore maker community and their passion projects. Attendees can have an interactive “making” experience involving robots, music, drones, art, health and wellness, and other applications.

“Garage Fest is not just for people who already consider themselves makers,” Jason Hardebeck, CEO of the Foundery, said in a statement. “It will appeal to anyone who’s ever been curious about how something is made or wants to learn how to build something.”

Day 1 will be on September 28th and Day 2 will be on September 30th.

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via http://southbmore.com/2017/07/19/south-baltimore-business-roundup-138/