How much do you value an hour of your time? Two hours? Electric scooter companies like Lime and Bird offer an expedited way to get from Point A to B, where a walk that might take 20 minutes gets cut in half. Taking an Uber or Lyft can improve commute times. These apps offer steps for eliminating the minutiae of everyday life. Out of sight, out of mind isn’t just an expression—it’s the goal.

Maryland natives Freddie Ephraim and Mike Laroque have taken this idea and applied it to what usually occupies the top line of a weekend chores list: the car wash. With SpotWash, by simply downloading an app, you can schedule a car wash while you’re sleeping or while you’re at work. “We designed it where you basically have to do nothing,” Ephraim says. “That’s the whole goal.”

Ephraim and Laroque are quick to credit Accelerate Baltimore and the Emerging Technology Centers, which, according to its website, is committed to providing a “nurturing, innovative, and transformative experience for technology-focused entrepreneurs who are passionate about their businesses, motivated to succeed and committed to making a difference.” Accelerate is an incubator within ETC that allows entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas in exchange for consulting and counseling, and the chance to win $100,000 in funding. SpotWash received that funding, and its founders say that the program and its people are “everything you need them to be.”

Two friends who’ve known each other since they were 14, the duo got the idea for SpotWash when Ephraim returned from a trip in Dubai and noticed a similar concept. Neither has a background in the car wash business, but both have business experience of one kind or another. “It was nothing more than spending a lot of time together and formulating a process,” says Ephraim, who helped start Charm City Helicopters with his wife, who owns the business. The two recognized the annoyances of braving the lines and the assembly-line backdrop of a brick and mortar car wash and sought to eradicate it.

SpotWash is not dissimilar to ride-sharing or electric scooter apps. Ephraim and Laroque don’t shy away from the gig economy label either. Each of their employees are like an Uber driver, showing up to wash your car at a designated chosen time. With an apartment building, users simply leave their keys in a bin and let the process happen. The two prioritize background checks and don’t hire anyone with a criminal record, acknowledging the inherent value a car holds and the need to ensure safety.

The company has partnered with dozens of buildings in the Baltimore area and have received more than 1,000 downloads in 10 months. They have a proof of concept, but the issue, as it always is with services of this nature, is gaining an entry point and marketing the idea. “We’re selling you time,” Ephraim says. “We’re not just selling you a wash.” It’s a succinct summary that gets to the heart of why the two feel their service is worth the $39 dollars it will cost you for a full interior and exterior wash—$45 if you own an SUV.

Being eco-friendly is also a priority for the company: each wash uses about a pint of water per car. SpotWash instead uses an American-made product they buy that gets the job done. Ephraim and Laroque insist that this doesn’t affect the quality of the wash and estimate that they are saving over 100 gallons of water with each wash.

As for the future, there are plans to extend into Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.—word of mouth among developers and real estate companies travels fast. If all goes well, SpotWash hopes it can become the next great timesaver.

“[Baltimore] is a relatively smaller city, and not many people think to come to Baltimore to start a startup or a company in general,” Laroque says. “In the past, Baltimore has kind of gotten a bad rap. But I think it’s a great place to start and grind your teeth and figure out what you’re doing wrong and adjust. We’re new to the scene. I know [the community] is a pretty tight knit group of people that are always together and they help one another.”

On April 19, the Emerging Technology Centers (ETC) hosted a Shark Tank style event in which six startup companies pitched their ideas in hopes of receiving $100,000. Now in its sixth year, Accelerate Baltimore—a collaborative initiative of ETC and the Abell Foundation—awards startups $25,000 in seed funding to bring their innovative ideas to fruition.

“ETC was a very well known incubator and co-working space that was really at the top of its game in 2012,” said Deb Tillett, president of ETC. “We reached out to the Abell Foundation and said,  ‘We’ll do it if you come up with the funds,’ making the case that technology was trending. Sure enough, they agreed to help us.”

Last year was the first time the Abell Foundation awarded an additional $100,000 in funding because Tillett says she noticed a troubling trend. Instead of moving their businesses forward after the 13-week program, many startups spent most of their time seeking additional funding and investors.

Tillett teamed up with a Johns Hopkins University intern and pulled together an early-stage funding report, which found that money was required to run a successful tech company. With the modified program, Abell still awards six companies $25,000 each, but one special startup receives an additional $100,000. To date, the foundation has awarded nearly $925,000 in investor funding.

Not only do the winners receive funding, but they also get access to additional resources and mentors. Obtaining a spot in this intense program is no easy feat, as the ETC received 100 applications and ultimately narrows it down to six.

Tillett says the selection process begins with the company’s personalities and how they would use the funding. “It’s a lot about the team, it’s a lot about the founder, and it’s a lot about if there’s a large enough investable market,” she said. “And frankly, is $25,000 going to make a difference for you?”

This year, the companies were a distinct bunch: Barttron, a wearable tech company for pets; Gunbail, a company founded by a former inmate; Reciprocare, a startup run by a doctor who’s also a lawyer; Swaggle, an online consignment shop for men; Arbit, a company to connect celebrities with their fans; and The Wealth Factory, which developed a game to promote financial literacy.”

Each startup had just seven minutes to convince a panel of six judges that their company should be awarded the moneys from Abell.

“We want to take talented people with great ideas and make them into wonderful businesses,” said one of the judges, Abell CFO Eileen O’Rourke. “I think the ETC has done an excellent job in supporting and coaching these companies. They are a very polished group that made the decision hard.”

Ultimately, Barttron ended the night victorious with the creation of Chord—a smart collar that uses positive reinforcement to train pets. “I originally started by trying to create a better shock collar,” said Barttron president Jared Marmen. “But then my partner, Dr. Nina Cracknell, introduced me to punishment-free training.”

Cracknell, an animal behaviorist, performed a blind study comparing the effects of punishment versus reward with dog training. She found that dogs that were punished became more skittish, but dogs receiving rewards and positive reinforcements were more likely to comply.

“I can press a button and my dog will hear my voice and respond,” Marmen said. “The commands are given to the pet by vibrations in the collar and can train the pet to respond even when you’re not around.”

The adjustable Chord collar, for both dogs and cats, works in conjunction with the Chord app and contains the latest GPS and sensor technology that allows an owner to monitor and communicate with their pets.

Barttron, which had humble beginnings in Marmen’s garage, is currently in the beta-testing phase with hopes to manufacture 1,000 handmade collars by this summer and distribute to places like the Baltimore Humane Society. As a former robotics engineer, Marmen explained that it takes about 8-12 hours to make just one collar so the additional funding will help with manufacturing.

“We want to significantly improve the quality of life for pet owners and their pets,” Marmen said. “This whole experience has been unbelievable.”