Craig Dye Named Director of Mtech VentureAccelerator

High-Tech Startup and Angel Investment Veteran Teams with Faculty and Student Startup Ventures at UM

COLLEGE PARK, Md., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Craig Dye, an accomplished entrepreneur, business executive and investor with 15 years of experience in building and mentoring start-up companies, is the new director of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) VentureAccelerator Program, university officials announce today.

VentureAccelerator is a fast-track, early admission program tied to Mtech's Technology Advancement Program (TAP), the first technology company incubator in Maryland.

VentureAccelerator helps University of Maryland inventors speed the process of creating ventures from their technologies by systematically guiding and coaching them through new business processes such as sound business planning, understanding customers and markets, setting goals and priorities, acquiring skills and recruiting talent, and raising capital.

"VentureAccelerator is perhaps the most critical component in the University of Maryland innovation ecosystem in terms of harnessing the half-billion dollars of research here on campus each year and systematically launching and growing successful new high-tech ventures," says Dean Chang, director of Mtech's Venture Programs and director of the TAP incubator. "VentureAccelerator provides the critical functional role of veteran startup CEO and COO for these faculty and student startups, and Craig's rare combination of extensive venture expertise as a founder, executive, business mentor, and investment professional make him perfectly suited to lead the program."

Dye joins Mtech from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, where he was the director of venture investments at the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, a university initiative for enterprise creation and funding. While at Dingman, Dye facilitated investment in companies such as ClassWatch, Gold Lasso Inc., and Sitscape Inc. through the Capital Access Network (CAN), which joins together angel investors with early-stage companies for deals worth up to $1.5 million. 

Prior to joining Dingman, Dye was an advisor to Affinity Lab, an incubator for corporate and social entrepreneurs, where he helped launch and sustain more than 100 companies and non-profits in the mid-Atlantic region.

"Having the opportunity to turn the rich pool of research at the university into startup ventures gives me the feeling of a kid in a candy store," says Dye. "There is so much that gets built here—high-quality, high-tech research—much of which could lead to successful, revenue-producing ventures."

Craig was previously the chief operating officer of Articulated Impact, a software development and Web strategy company that provides solutions to the challenges of top-tier companies, hedge funds, and nonprofits.

Before that, Dye was the founder and CEO of Wheelhouse Networks, delivering enterprise-class computing and telecommunication platforms as a managed service to corporations and professional services firms.

He began his career with Informatics General, one of the first software and computer services firms in the U.S., and subsequently served as the global chief information officer for Hogan Lovells, supporting its growth into a $2 billion legal services leader and more than doubling in size during his tenure.

Dye serves on the board of directors for several companies and advises startups and nonprofits in the D.C. metropolitan area. He received his Bachelor of Arts in political science from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

About the Mtech VentureAccelerator Program (www.va.umd.edu)

VentureAccelerator is a fast-track, early admission program tied to Mtech's Technology Advancement Program, the first technology company incubator in Maryland. VentureAccelerator helps University of Maryland inventors speed the process of creating ventures from their technologies by systematically guiding and coaching inventors through new business processes such as sound business planning, understanding customers and markets, setting goals and priorities, acquiring skills and recruiting talent, and raising capital.

SOURCE Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute