What it is

StarTUp at the Armory is Towson University's hub for innovation and entrepreneurship and its front door for startups, small businesses and larger companies. It occupies the historic Towson Armory at 307 Washington Avenue, Towson, MD 21204, a 1933 building listed on the National Register of Historic Places that was renovated as part of the Towson Row development. The center opened in 2021 and has 26,000 square feet, including 6,000 square feet of free coworking space and meeting rooms.

What it offers founders

  • Free coworking: no membership, reservation or Towson University affiliation required. The space has 148 workstations, three acoustic booths, three video meeting stations, high-speed Wi-Fi and 48 lockers. Visitors check in at a kiosk at the entrance.
  • Reservable rooms: six rooms available at no cost, ranging from a media room for 5 to 8 people to a mixed-use room for 30 to 95 people.
  • StarTUp Accelerator: an eight-week, cohort-based fellowship that provides a $10,000 equity-free stipend, mentorship and workspace. It is open to TU students, staff and faculty and to founders with no TU affiliation.
  • Community programs: a speaker series, networking events and pitch competitions, plus student and youth entrepreneurship programs.

Who it is for

The center serves startups, small businesses, solo founders, local entrepreneurs, TU students, faculty and staff, local youth and regional companies. The accelerator targets early-stage founders who are working on their venture full time and already have some traction, such as early revenue, users or a product in market. Solo founders may apply, though teams are favored, and programming is in person two to four days a week.

How to engage

Hours are Monday to Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The building is accessible and near bus routes and parking garages. Walk in to use the coworking space, book a room through the reservable rooms page, and read about the StarTUp Accelerator and other programs. The general contact is StarTUp@towson.edu.

Why it matters in the DMV ecosystem

Free, walk-in workspace is rare in the Baltimore region, and the Armory pairs it with a university-run accelerator that pays an equity-free stipend. For a Baltimore County founder it is a low-cost place to work, hold meetings and meet other entrepreneurs, and a practical entry point to Towson University faculty, students and programming.