Business

The final numbers are still being tallied, but one thing is already clear: 2021 was a record-breaking year for venture capital fundraising in Maryland. The BBJ reported earlier this year that Maryland companies only needed three quarters to raise about $1.6 billion, surpassing the $1.26 billion raised in all of 2020, according to figures provided by the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor report. The Greater Baltimore area was on the cusp of shattering its record, too, with more than $500 million in VC funding as of September.

What does your diamond shape say about you? Which engagement ring suits your astrological sign? What does a 3-carat diamond look like on your hand? These are just some of the video prompts that have helped Baltimore-based Smyth Jewelers rack up nearly 19,000 followers and more than 420,000 likes on TikTok. The company joined the popular social media video platform in late 2020 as a way to try and reach new, and younger, customers.

Could it get any more Baltimore than this? It was a beautiful day in Charm City when James C. Foster took a Midwestern investor to Nick’s Fish House, overlooking the Patapsco River. Foster had an idea for his company, ZeroFox, one of the biggest cybersecurity firms in the area. He wanted ZeroFox to acquire another cybersecurity firm in Oregon and go public — at the same time.

An environmental watchdog group filed a lawsuit against the City of Baltimore on Wednesday, seeking immediate remedies to the millions of gallons of partially untreated sewage released by two Baltimore wastewater treatment plants into the Chesapeake Bay. Last summer, Blue Water Baltimore found high bacteria levels in the city’s harbor near the Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is operated by the city, and reported it to the Maryland Department of the Environment.

The estimated cost of building a connection for passengers to transfer between Metro’s Red Line Bethesda station and the future Purple Line stop nearby has grown by $22.6 million, a Montgomery County official said. The additional funding to build a mezzanine at a new Metro station entrance would increase the project’s budget by 20 percent. Montgomery has allotted $110.2 million to build a southern entrance to the underground Bethesda Metro station at Wisconsin Avenue and Elm Street, near the western terminus for the street-level Purple Line

The state-owned, public marine terminals of the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore received a top security rating for the 13th consecutive year by the U.S. Coast Guard as part of an annual inspection of facilities. The assessment reviewed security procedures and protocols at the six public marine terminals: Dundalk, Seagirt, North Locust Point, South Locust Point (including the cruise passenger terminal), Fairfield and Masonville.

Mercy Medical Center is now offering eligible graduates from an Associate’s Degree Nursing Program the opportunity to financially attain a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree through the hospital’s new RN-BSN Bridge Program. The program provides nurses interested in attaining a BSN degree with tuition assistance of up to $12,000 and a monthly stipend.

Union Craft Brewing is the latest Baltimore business and first Maryland brewery to switch to a worker ownership model, the Baltimore taproom and brewery announced Tuesday. The new model grants ownership shares to employees — whether they be full- or part-time — who have been with the brewery, located in Baltimore’s Medfield neighborhood, for five years. An inaugural group of worker-owners, who were recently granted ownership shares, is made up of six employees who have been with the company for five years or longer, including several of the breweries managerial-level staff members.