103 entrepreneurs, 25 teams, 16 industries, 1 goal: Achieve “escape velocity” and turn their startup idea into reality.
On Saturday those 25 teams took the stage at MIT’s Kresge Auditorium to present their ideas, developed over the summer in MIT’s delta v accelerator.
“We’re not just going to be doing another dating app,” said Bill Aulet, managing director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship. “We’re going to be doing things like addressing inclusion in society, making a more informed citizen throughout the world, cybersecurity, mental health, urbanization, improving ed-tech, improving health care. These are significant problems that the brightest people in the world should be working on, and those people are MIT students.”
Saturday’s Demo Day in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was the culmination of delta v’s seventh cohort, the largest in the accelerator’s history. Delta v runs through the summer, and takes place at the Trust Center. This year the accelerator added a New York City cohort. The teams will also present at demonstration days in Manhattan and Silicon Valley.
The students get entrepreneurship training, coaching and mentoring, and mock board reviews, as well as funding, office space, and prototyping tools.
“The program takes great teams with an interesting idea or proof of concept and works with them to make significant progress toward identifying their beachhead markets, building the right product, and securing initial customers or partners,” according to the event’s program.
Aavia
Aavia’s smart sensor and app paring make it easier for women to manage their birth control pills.
Acciyo
Acciyo provides a way to ‘binge watch’ news articles. The browser plug-in organizes and contextualizes big news stories for readers.
AdaViv
Adaviv uses computer sensors to study plant biometrics and send that data to farmers.
AirWorks
Airworks uses its aerial mapping software to help land developers and engineers survey sites.
Akora
Akora offers virtual seminars in an online learning platform.
Atolla
Atolla creates individual skincare formulas based on a person’s unique skin data.
Buddy
Buddy is a digital personal trainer for mental wellness.
Centaur Labs
Centaur Labs uses crowdsourcing and artificial intelligence to get health care answers from medical students, residents, and professionals.
Chord
Chord helps young and first-time homebuyers purchase homes and offers a non-debt alternative to mortgages.
Context Insights
Context Insights uses mobile phones and financial incentives to gather crop forecasts from farmers to predict prices.
daytoday
daytoday uses evidence-based medical guidelines and a digital care coach to help patients prepare and recover from medical procedures.
DentistAI
DentistAI’s software helps dentists identify any diseases or other health issues that appear in dental imaging.
(DentistAI has rebranded the company as VideaHealth)
Floating Point Group
Floating Point Group uses an algorithm and aggregates liquidity across multiple exchanges to find the best prices to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
Gataca
Gataca is a global digital ID that uses a mobile identity wallet for users to store personal data securely and manage access to their digital services.
Hippo
Hippo is a text-based social assistant that helps users manage their professional and personal relationships.
Iterative Scopes
Iterative Scopes uses machine learning and real-time computer detection tools to help doctors spot signs of colon cancer.
Levio
Levio is a house-swap site aimed at opening homes and minds to LGBTQ travelers.
The Okoa Project
The Okoa Project uses an attachment that can turn any motorcycle into an ambulance, helping to close the gap in medical emergency transportation in developing countries.
Posh
Posh offers an enterprise-grade developer platform for conversational artificial intelligence.
Rune
Rune is a real-time matching service that pairs online gamers based on player preferences.
Secure AI Labs
Secure AI Labs’ platform connects artificial intelligence with health care data.
Spaceus
Spaceus turns vacant and underused buildings into community workspaces.
Swappl
Swappl’s app provides access to a community marketplace where people can swap goods and services.
TracFlo
TracFlo is a cloud-based mobile application for managing the construction change order process.
Waffle
Waffle offers insurance that covers all aspects of a person’s life — car, home, family, pets — through one policy.
