MIT Startups Take Top Honors at MassChallenge Awards
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The world’s largest startup competition, the MassChallenge Accelerator is open to any startup from any location or industry. In May 2012, more than 300 judges narrowed a pool of 1,237 applications to 125, who took part in a four-month program that included funding, office space, and training. That group was narrowed to 26, who delivered final presentations at the Oct. 23 awards ceremony.
The MIT alumni below are culled from the MassChallenge and startup websites. Did we miss anyone? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, and we’ll add those names in our post.
$100K Diamond Winners
Global Research Innovation & Technology (GRIT) developed the Leveraged Freedom Chair (LFC), a wheelchair that functions over rough terrain. Designed specifically for developing countries, LFC uses a lever drivetrain made from bike parts and functions on tarmac and off-road.
Alums include executive director Tish Scolnik '10; director of engineering Mario Bollini '09, MS '12; product development engineer Ben Judge '11; and chief scientific advisor and Associate Professor Amos Winter SM '05, PhD '11.
LiquiGlide allows cosmetic products, thick sauces, and condiments to slide easily out of their bottles. [Check out a previous Slice post on LiquiGlide.]
Developed in the Varanasi Research Group, LiquiGlide includes Christopher Love '09; Adam Paxson '09; Associate Professor Kripa Varanasi SM '02, PhD '04; postdoctoral associate Rajeev Dhiman; and graduate students Brian Solomon and Dave Smith.
$50K Gold Winners
Bounce Imaging’s low-cost imaging device enables first responders to assess dangerous situations, such as collapsed buildings and war zones, before entering the area. Bounce is co-founded by Francisco Aguilar MBA '12 and second-year MBA student David Young.
Coachup connects youth athletes with private coaches, and assists coaches with marketing, scheduling, and billing logistics. Gabe Durazo '07, SM '08 is Coachup’s lead engineer.
BuysideFX uses smart automation to deal with foreign exchange and helps reduce operational and market risk in auto-trading and algorithmic trading. Shereen Shermak MBA '97 is co-founder and vice president.
IntegralReach, led by CEO John Hoctor '96, SM '98, uses data and algorithm analysis to help organizations promote content and place advertisements across video platforms.
Ministry of Supply created a dress shirt which utilizes NASA-grade technology that adjusts to your body temperature, decreasing sweat and odor in the process. [Check out a previous Slice post on Ministry of Supply.] Ministry’s team includes Kevin Rustagi '11, Gihan Amarasiriwardena '11, and MBA candidates Kit Hickey and Aman Advani.
Recovers.org provides communities seeking disaster relief with the resources to solicit donations, organize volunteers, and create a custom website with searchable databases, social media aggregation, and mobile apps. Alvin Liang '05, '08 and doctoral student Morgan O'Neill co-founded Recovers.org, which also includes graduate student Chris Kuryak.
Silver Winners
Cellanyx Diagonstics uses technology to improve the prostatectomy diagnostic process, and includes CEO Ashok Chander '00 and Chairman Amar Kendale '00, SM '02.
HelmetHub is a vending system that allows bike-sharing users to easily access helmets, and was founded by Chris Mills '12, Arni Lehto '12, and Breanna Berry '12.
iAgree, a dispute-resolution system that helps parties share information and identify qualified mediators and arbitrators, includes Himal Karmacharya '00, MNG '01.
Neumitra helps users monitor and manage acute and chronic stress with wearable, mobile technologies. The Neumitra squad includes William Near '10, MNG '12, Sivakami Sambasivam '11, and Anand Yadav '10.
