Startups

A group of MIT scientists has announced a new plan, called the Future Founders Initiative, aimed at addressing gender inequities in the biotech industry, reports Anissa Gardizy for The Boston Globe. “If we can’t advance discoveries at the same rate for women and men, that means there are drugs, therapies, devices, and diagnostics that are not getting to where they can actually benefit people,” says President Emerita Susan Hockfield. “If as a region we want to continue to lead the world, the best thing to do is not squander our resources.”

Forbes contributor Jack Kelly spotlights Ginger, an MIT startup that has created “a smartphone-based technology app helps identify patterns of anxiety, stress and depression.”

Navier Yachts, a company founded by two MIT graduates, has developed “a 27-foot long, zero-emissions all-electric hydrofoil yacht capable of flying above the water’s surface at 20 knots,” writes Bill Springer for Forbes.

Fast Company reporter Nate Berg highlights Ori, an MIT startup that makes motorized furniture that can be used to transform small spaces. 

MIT startup SolidEnergy Systems has signed a deal with GM to develop next-generation electric vehicle batteries that are expected to cut the cost of the technology by 60%, reports Michael Wayland for CNBC. “The new batteries feature lithium metal instead of lithium-ion like today’s EVs use,” writes Wayland. “The switch changes the chemistry of the battery to enable higher energy density and longer range from a similar-sized battery or comparable range with a smaller battery.”

Nobull, a direct-to-consumer fitness brand co-founded by alumnus Marcus Wilson MBA ’04, is releasing a line of apparel designed by Boston teens, as part of an effort with Artists for Humanity to help connect under-resourced teens with opportunities in arts and design, reports Anissa Gardizy for The Boston Globe. 

Fast Company reporter Rachel Raczka spotlights Season Three, a startup founded by three MIT graduates aimed at designing a shoe that fits “practical parameters but performed like a stylish, everyday sneaker that you wouldn’t dread wearing.”

Financial Times reporter Michael Pooler highlights MIT startup Boston Metals, which has devised “a technology for making brand-new steel without emissions using electricity.”

Bloomberg Businessweek reporter Peter Coy spotlights how the loss of several people close to Prof. Andrew Lo inspired him to explore how the field of finance could help advance treatments for orphan diseases. “Finance plays a huge role, sometimes way too big a role, in how drugs get developed,” says Lo. Fixing the financing model, could have a “tremendous, tremendous impact on health care.”

Forbes contributor Elizabeth Brownfield spotlights Lovebox, an MIT startup, which has created an electronic love note messenger. “When the heart on the outside of the wooden box spins, it means a love note has arrived. When the lid is lifted, a message is displayed on the screen,” Brownfield explains.

Boston Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray spotlights Pison Technology, an MIT startup that has developed a new gesture control system that can be used to manipulate “digital devices by intercepting the electronic traffic between our hands and our brains, and translating them into commands the machines can understand.”

Writing for The New Yorker, Sheelah Kolhatkar spotlights Biobot Analytics, an MIT startup that is studying sewage for the purpose of tracking diseases and the spread of Covid-19. “It’s about our health and well-being in general,” says Biobot co-founder and president Newsha Ghaeli. “It’s about understanding nutrition disparities in communities, understanding stress levels, pervasive infectious diseases like influenza or Zika virus.”

New York Times reporter Steve Lohr spotlights Inrupt, an MIT startup founded by Prof. Tim Berners-Lee, which is aimed at providing people more control over their personal data. “Tim has become increasingly concerned as power in the digital world is weighted against the individual,” explains Daniel Weitzner, a principal research scientist at CSAIL. 

TechCrunch reporter Jonathan Shieber spotlights Senti Biosciences, an MIT startup, which is developing cancer therapies using a new programmable biology platform. “The company’s technology uses new computational biological techniques to manufacture cell and gene therapies that can more precisely target specific cells in the body,” Shieber explains.

Fortune reporters Jeremy Kahn and Jonathan Vanian highlight MIT startup Macro-Eyes, which is focused on using AI to improve health care in low and middle-income countries.