Defence giant Northrop Grumman has announced plans to partner with Johns Hopkins University and non-profit biotech research commercialisation firm BioHealth Innovation for a new business accelerator.
Joining the three is DreamIt Ventures. The venture firm has been expanding into providing accelerator support over the past year, most recently partnering with Drexel University, and currently operates accelerator programmes in Austin, Baltimore, New York, and Tel Aviv.
The accelerator will start in mid-January, with 10 selected startups joining a four month programme. Each will receive $50,000 in seed funding, as well as mentorship, legal support, and introduction to new networks.
Amy Caro, vice president of health IT programmes at Northrop, told news provider The Washington Post that the accelerator would provide the defence contractor with an opportunity to discover technologies useful to the firm.
She added: “With the Affordable Care Act, it’s created an opportunity with the adoption of electronic health records. There’s a better demand and better understanding of what is needed to take care of this data.”