Cerebro Capital Receives $1 Million from TEDCO

Matthew Bjonerud

Baltimore-based Cerebro Capital, which runs a marketplace for commercial borrowers and lenders, has received an equity investment of $1 million from TEDCO’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI).

The six-year-old startup’s previous backers include Maryland’s Sterling Partners, Grotech Ventures, TCP Venture Capital, Inner Loop Capital and Point Field, and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Ulu Ventures. So far, Cerebro has raised $11.9 million to build a marketplace that brings together borrowers and lenders, and uses patented software to speed up loan closures.

“As a former banker, I knew how tedious the traditional process is to access debt capital; this results in too many companies not getting the capital they need to grow,” said Cerebro founder and CEO Matthew Bjonerud, a finance veteran who previously held a senior position at Laureate International Universities. “Through Cerebro Capital, we have used technology and data to make accessing debt capital easier, faster and more equitable.”

Bjonerud was part of the corporate finance team that guided Laureate to the world’s first initial public offering by a public benefit corporation. Prior to Laureate, he was a vice president in the PNC Corporate Banking Group.

“Cerebro Capital is helping businesses stay open through their innovative thinking,” said Katherine Hill Ritchie, TEDCO’s senior director for Venture Funds. “It’s exciting to see companies working to support other entrepreneurs and businesses in Maryland—together, we can create a better, more diverse entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

The SSBCI is one seven programs run by the Maryland Technology Development Corporation to fuel entrepreneurship across the state. It is itself divided into four programs — the Venture Equity Fund, the Social Impact Equity Fund, the Seed Equity Fund program, and the Venture Capital Limited Partnership Equity program.

Since 1998, TEDCO’s portfolio firms have generated more than 10,000 jobs, and made an economic impact to the state estimated at $2.3 billion. Its portfolio companies have also contributed over $100 million in direct state and local revenue. TEDCO’s recent investments include N5 Sensors, Nanobiofab, Astek Diagnostics, Foretrace and SeeTrue.