Crowd-sourced crime maps, continental health care network chosen for Techstars Impact

Air pollution converted into ink, property management software designed for simplifying affordable housing applications, financing for childcare.

The inaugural Techstars Impact Accelerator program boasts a range of ideas from startups around the world.

Zoe Schlag, managing director of the accelerator, said in a blog post that Techstars set out to find 10 teams that share a similar belief that “our deepest problem sets represent our biggest opportunities, and that entrepreneurs should sit at the center of our strategy to build a better future.”

Among the 10-member cohort are Base Operations and MDaaS Global, both with ties to the MIT Legatum Center.

The Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT provides educational and financial resources for students looking to be “entrepreneurial change agents.” The Center’s capstone fellowship program is comprised of about two dozen students looking to build businesses in developing areas of the world.

Base Operations, founded by Cory Siskind, MBA ’18, pulls crime statistics from four sources to create real-time crime maps for users “to safely navigate their city,” the company website states. Siskind is a two-time Legatum fellow (2016-17 and 2017-18).

According to the Base website, the crime information comes from crowdsourced reports, social media, government data, and data from Base’s partners.

MDaaS Global’s co-founders Oluwasoga Oni, MS ’16, and Genevieve Barnard Oni, MBA ’19, are aiming to build “Africa's largest network of diagnostic and primary care facilities.”

With help from partners, the startup builds and operates diagnostic centers, and also provides medical equipment to hospitals. Oluwasoga Oni is a 2015-16 Legatum fellow, while Genevieve Barnard Oni is a 2017-18, and 2018-19 fellow. Learn more about MDaaS.

The teams are set to spend the next two months in Austin, and present their work during an August Demo Day.