TEDCO invests $225K in 1104Health to expand cancer clinical-trial access
What's the deal? TEDCODealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Maryland's technology development corporation, has made a $225,000 investment in 1104HealthDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Bethesda-based digital health startup building a platform to connect cancer patients with clinical trials and specialist care. The funding came through TEDCO's Social Impact Funds, part of the federal State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) programme.
1104Health operates the Shared Care Network — a platform that connects local oncologists with academic subspecialists to coordinate patient care and identify clinical trial options. It is free for physicians.
The company was founded by CEO Rose Wang, whose husband died from melanoma after the family learned too late that he had been eligible for a clinical trial at diagnosis. "Oncologists want to do right by their patients — they need the tools and connections to make it possible," Wang said.
Why now? TEDCO is one of three organisations tasked with deploying Maryland's SSBCI funds, a federal programme designed to boost early-stage investment in underserved communities. The initiative specifically targets small, micro, and socially and economically disadvantaged businesses.
Maryland ranks first in the nation for National Institutes of Health research and development awards, pulling in more than $1 billion annually — making it a natural home for health-tech startups like 1104Health.
What could go wrong? At $225,000, this is a modest cheque. Building the infrastructure to coordinate oncology care across institutions is complex, and adoption by busy clinicians is never guaranteed. The platform also needs to prove it can meaningfully improve patient outcomes — not just facilitate connections.
The signal: 1104Health is classified as an "early growth" stage company on Dealroom, suggesting it has moved beyond pure concept validation — yet a $225,000 cheque from a corporate investor like TEDCO underscores how capital-constrained the clinical-trial-access niche remains compared to flashier digital health segments. The investment signals that government-backed vehicles are stepping in where traditional venture capital has been slow to act, particularly for startups tackling systemic oncology care gaps rather than chasing consumer-facing scale.
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