Fourteen startups unveil ideas at MIT demo day

Fourteen startup teams unveiled their work Sept. 12 at the MIT Global Founders’ Skills Accelerator Demo Day. Marking the end of a summer-long program from the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, the annual event generates buzz for startups in industries ranging from fast food to farming and personal health to craft brewing.

Alumni of the accelerator program have seen multimillion funding rounds, acceptance into seed funds like Y Combinator, and acquisition by companies like Dropbox.

Each team in this year’s accelerator had the opportunity to earn up to $20,000 equity free, based on progress toward monthly milestones. Milestones were reached through focus on customers, product development, finance and management, messaging and—a new focus this year—diversity.

The 2015 MIT Global Founders’ Skills Accelerator startups are:

Canary is building a device that provides clinical-grade health diagnostics at home. The team’s first test detects fertilization, providing couples with answers in hours rather than weeks.

CurrencyDoc takes on the foreign currency exchange market with a mobile app where customers can place an order for delivery or collection of currency at competitive exchange rates.

Emma, a team from Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, is developing companionship and mobility assistance and transportation devices for the elderly in Mexico City.

EveryBiome is building a medical device, paired with an analytics platform that continuously collects personal health biometric information at home, enabling precise and preventative therapies, personalized diet recommendations, and baseline health monitoring.

Genesis DNA is creating a new platform for DNA synthesis, turning digital text into physical DNA to reduce costs and turnaround time.

Humon is creating a non-invasive, wearable lactate sensor to help athletes monitor energy-depleting lactate levels.

Intentiv’s new intuitive controller for consumer drones allows the operator to simultaneously control the drone and the video camera.

Khethworks creates solar powered irrigation systems for small-acreage farmers. The team has two pilot sites in East India.

Morphlab uses robotics to enable reconfiguration of interior spaces, increasing the efficiency, affordability, and functionality of urban studio units and microapartments.

Sandymount’s proprietary tools enable brewers to save water and reduce their shipping volumes by up to 75 percent, delivering fresh artisanal and imported beer with a smaller environmental footprint.

Spyce is developing an automated kiosk that delivers fresh, affordable meals—like stir-fry—on demand, removing the cost of space, overhead, and labor in the quick service food industry.

Tekuma connects artists with Airbnb hosts to create galleries in shared living spaces, enhancing artist exposure, host environments, and guest experiences.

VSParticle, a team from Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, specializes in nanoparticles and aims to replace complex, expensive, and inflexible lithography systems with a simple and robust electronics printer.

Woobo is building a consumer robot, mixing robotics and artificial intelligence technologies to create interactive products for children ages 3-8.