Meyer leaving Betamore for ZeroFox

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Betamore CEO Jen Meyer told the incubator’s advisory board Thursday night that she planned to take the role of vice president of global customer operations at ZeroFox.

ZeroFox, a cybersecurity firm focused on social media, was the first business to graduate from the Betamore incubator, and it has continued to grow. Earlier this year, the company raised $40 million.

Betamore has launched its search for a new CEO and Meyer will remain part of the incubator’s advisory board.

“While I am moving to a new role, I remain dedicated to the Betamore community and will serve on its advisory board, continuing to push its vision and mission forward,” Meyer wrote in an email.

Under Meyer’s three years as CEO, the incubator expanded from its initial Federal Hill location to a second coworking space at City Garage in partnership with Sagamore Ventures. It became a prominent force for training and for nursing entrepreneurial startups in the Baltimore region.

At the end of last year, Betamore said it had been home to more than 120 companies that had collectively raised more than $57 million in venture capital. Its education and event offerings had served over 16,000 attendees.

Those numbers undoubtedly grew this year with Betamore’s expansion to City Garage.

City Garage memberships were designed to meet the varying needs of a budding entrepreneur or business venture, accommodating part-time remote freelancers to early-stage companies requiring 24/7 keycard access.

Surrounded by other companies, as well as having The Foundery and Under Armor’s Lighthouse also on the City Garage campus, provides Betamore’s resident companies more resources and opportunities, Meyer said when the facility was opened earlier this year.

“This is a place to make and build stuff,” Meyer said. “The whole idea is that say you have a product company, you have an idea and you’re sitting here with your co-founder, and you want to prototype it. You can literally walk around the corner to the Foundery and you can do that.”

Betamore and Sagamore Ventures hosted the third Beta City Sept. 28 at City Garage as part of Build Baltimore, a two-day initiative to focus on startups and entrepreneurs in the city.

More than 1,200 guests attended the event to interact with the 25 demo companies and witness the pitch competition, judged by Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, business leaders, investors and venture capitalists.

Of the six competing startups, fresh produce delivery company Hungry Harvest won the $25,000 prize sponsored by Brown Advisory. Hungry Harvest collects produce from farmers that is unwanted because of its shape or color and sells it through subscription boxes.