Baltimore Homecoming opens Crab Tank for local entrepreneurs, $25,000 prize

Baltimore Homecoming reopened Crab Tank with a $25,000 grand prize and a $2,500 People’s Choice Award, putting fresh attention on Baltimore founders who want more than applause at the pitch stage. Applications were open through June 29 for companies based in or serving the Greater Baltimore region, as the program again tried to turn local ideas into businesses with real commercial reach.

The competition was built to do more than hand out a check. Baltimore Homecoming said Crab Tank was designed to lift up entrepreneurs who often face isolation, thin networks and limited exposure to customers or backers, especially in a city where the distance between a promising idea and a sustainable business can be wide. To qualify, a company had to be revenue-generating, based in or serving Greater Baltimore, and led by a principal owner who is a legal resident of Maryland and at least 18 years old.

The selection process moved in stages. A committee was set to narrow the field to 10 semifinalists, the public would vote those businesses down to five finalists, and those five would pitch live at Baltimore Homecoming’s signature event in spring 2027. The judging criteria centered on the quality of the business proposal, community impact, business improvement and overall presentation, underscoring that the program is looking for companies with staying power, not just polished slides.

Crab Tank has been part of Baltimore Homecoming since 2019, when it launched in direct response to alumni interest in the city’s startup scene. The inaugural competition drew 48 applicants and selected five to pitch. By 2025, the program had nearly doubled in scale, drawing nearly 90 local business applicants and narrowing them to 10 semifinalists and five finalists.

M&T Bank has backed the effort since 2019, and company leaders have described small businesses as the backbone of the city economy. The list of past winners shows the range of businesses Baltimore Homecoming has been willing to support: Femly in 2019, WhitePaws RunMitts in 2022, Hiatus Cheesecake in 2023 and Myya in 2025.

Myya founder Jasmine Jones took home both the $25,000 grand prize and the $2,500 People’s Choice Award in 2025. Myya has been described as the first direct-to-consumer post-mastectomy brand to sell post-mastectomy bras, breast prostheses and other supplies, a reminder that Crab Tank has sometimes backed companies with direct community value as well as commercial promise.

Baltimore Homecoming has framed the program as part of a broader effort to connect accomplished Baltimore natives and alumni with founders across the city. In a year when the organization has linked its signature event to places like Oriole Park at Camden Yards and 4MLK, the University of Maryland BioPark’s life sciences hub on the west side, Crab Tank remained one of its clearest bets on turning Baltimore ties into Baltimore jobs, customers and neighborhood wealth.