VecTech

Vectech is a Baltimore, Maryland-based public benefit corporation founded in 2019 that develops AI-powered vector identification and surveillance technology. Its platform applies optics, imaging hardware and computer vision to identify insect specimens, covering more than 70 mosquito species and more than 30 tick species. The company positions species-level identification as a prerequisite for early threat detection and for tailoring mosquito-control interventions and community response.

The company was founded out of Johns Hopkins University, originating from a USAID Grand Challenge grant aimed at the Zika epidemic. Its interdisciplinary staff includes engineers, computer scientists, public-health specialists and entomologists, with in-house software, computer vision, optics and entomology functions. Leadership includes co-founder and CEO Tristan Ford, co-founder and CTO Autumn Goodwin, and co-founder and advisor Meg Glancey; other roles span technical product management, software engineering, mechanical engineering, full-stack development, computer vision engineering and entomology. Products include IDX, a vector identification tool, alongside Internet-of-Things data acquisition devices and low-cost imaging systems for remote mosquito surveillance.

Vectech also maintains an active research program, collaborating with mosquito control districts, NGOs and research institutions, and publishing on computer vision, data cleaning methods and mosquito and tick identification in journals including Scientific Reports, Biomedical Optics Express, Acta Tropica, Frontiers in Tropical Diseases and the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association.

Founding story

Vectech was founded in 2019 out of Johns Hopkins University, originating from a USAID Grand Challenge grant awarded to combat the Zika epidemic. The initial response to that outbreak developed into a broader effort to enable fast, accurate insect species identification supporting targeted mosquito control during disease outbreaks. Co-founders include Tristan Ford (CEO), a biomedical engineer and Gates Millennium Scholar and David L. Boren fellow with degrees from the University of Rochester and Johns Hopkins; Autumn Goodwin (CTO), an engineer specializing in applied optics and computer vision who is lead inventor and principal investigator on several core technologies; and Meg Glancey, an epidemiologist who previously managed over $1.5M in global innovation research funding at Johns Hopkins University and now advises the company.

Business model

Vectech sells AI-based insect identification and surveillance technology to organizations that conduct vector surveillance, combining imaging hardware, Internet-of-Things data acquisition devices and computer vision models deployed to customers. It also pursues collaborative research with mosquito control districts, NGOs and research institutions, and has been supported by grant funding, including its founding USAID Grand Challenge grant.

Public materials reference first sales and partnerships around the launch of the company's first product, alongside grant-supported research and development.

Traction

Vectech states its product is used worldwide by mosquito control districts, public-health organizations and research institutions. It reported first sales and partnerships ahead of its first product launch in early 2023, has published peer-reviewed research from 2020 through 2025, and reports over 95% model accuracy across 70+ mosquito and 30+ tick species.

Latest developments

In 2025 Vectech-affiliated researchers published TaxoAttention, a taxonomy- and attention-based approach to mosquito identification (TechRxiv, October 2025), and work on West Nile virus surveillance in Maryland integrating smart vector identification with environmental and epidemiological data in the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association (December 2025). The company's site advertises identification coverage of 70+ mosquito species and 30+ tick species, with ongoing development of tick detection and identification.