Jared Marmen ’00 and Courtney Young Marmen ’02 launched Chord in 2014, a pet collar with phone app for dog and cat owners to use for force-free positive rewards-based training (http://chordcollar.com) The idea was pitched successfully in the “Shark Tank Susquehanna” for Harford and Cecil Counties, Md., received TEDCO prototype funding, won the rural innovation challenge in Start Up Maryland’s STRT1UP Showcase in December 2016 and was selected as one of six in the 2017 cohort for Accelerate Baltimore. On April 19, Chord was the Accelerate Baltimore winner of $100,000 prize.
Chord is slated to hit markets in fall 2017.