Startups

MIT startup Optimus Ride is launching a self-driving shuttle service at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, reports Andrew J. Hawkins for The Verge.

Forbes reporter Amy Feldman spotlights MIT startup Ginkgo Bioworks, which aims to “design, modify and manufacture organisms to make existing industrial processes cheaper and entirely new processes possible.” Feldman notes that the promise of synthetic biology is “not just a proliferation of new products, but also a reduction of the environmental harm that comes from our heavy reliance on petrochemicals.”

MIT Solve has launched an innovation fund aimed at attracting funding for social-impact ventures tackling global issues such as access to clean water, reports Eillie Anzilotti for Fast Company. “There’s an increase in focus on these issues in the U.S. and across the world, and there’s definitely increased movement on the political and investment spectrums,” explains Alex Amouyel, executive director of Solve.

The Economist highlights how MIT startup Indigo is developing an engine system that could be incorporated within an electric vehicle’s wheels. The Economist notes that Indigo believes their system, “a module that incorporates brakes, steering and an active suspension, as well as a motor, overcomes both the electrical problem and the unsprung-weight problem, thus paving the way for in-wheel drives to become mainstream.”

WCVB-TV’s Chronicle highlights MIT startup Lunar Station, which is developing navigational services for companies and organizations looking to travel to the moon. Chronicle explains that the Lunar Station team “maps the lunar surface to ensure safe and profitable missions.”

TechCrunch reporter Jonathan Shieber writes about the women’s rental clothing service Armoire, an MIT spinoff. Shieber explains that Armoire aims to “provide a daily wardrobe for professional women at a price point that could be attractive enough to switch from an ownership to a rental model for fashion.”

Boston Magazine reporter Asia Bradlee spotlights Maelove, a beauty company founded by two MIT graduates that is aimed at providing luxury skincare products at affordable prices. Bradlee writes that the Maelove team “used clinical research, collaborated with dermatologists and medical researchers, and analyzed over three million product reviews to get a better idea of what ingredients made consumers the happiest.”

Motherboard reporter Rob Dozier writes about Glitch, an MIT startup that uses machine learning to design clothing. “These tools are meant to empower human designers,” explains graduate student Emily Salvador. “What I think is really cool about these creative-focused AI tools is that there’s still this really compelling need for a human to intervene with the algorithm.”

Telegraph reporter David Millward explores how MIT researchers are helping make the Greater Boston area a hub for robotics research. “MIT has been really focused on how to accelerate innovation at the university and facilitate its transition outside the university into viable businesses,” explains Elisabeth Reynolds, executive director of the Work of the Future project.

Smithsonian reporter Rachael Lallensack spotlights how MIT alumnus Anirudh Sharma developed a commercial ink from air pollution. Sharma explains that he hopes the ink, which is now on display at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, inspires others “to start looking at new forms of waste that are lying outside, unutilized.”

May Mobility, a company founded by MIT alumnus Edwin Olson, will begin offering a free shuttle service on autonomous electric minibuses in Rhode Island, reports Hiawatha Bray for The Boston Globe. Bray explains that the company “mapped the shuttle route with lasers, which are extremely accurate, and uses an onboard laser-based guidance system that constantly confirms the bus is on track.”

Boston Globe reporter Ann Trieger Kurland spotlights how MIT alumnus David Dussault has invented a device that can create an iced coffee in a minute or less. The quick process brightens and captures “the aromatics, nuances, and flavors of coffee at its peak; that is, when it’s just been brewed,” Trieger Kurland explains.

Fast Company reporter Jared Lindzon spotlights how Ultra Testing, a company founded by two MIT graduates that employs over 60 workers remotely across 20 states, 75% of whom are on the autism spectrum. “Not only was the company open to hiring neurodiverse employees, but it actively sought them out,” notes Lindzon.

In an article for Fast Company, Mark Wilson highlights Modulate, an MIT startup that has developed technology that allows users to transform their voices into someone else’s. MIT alumnus and Modulate co-founder Mike Pappas explains that the technology could allow video game players to change their online personas and “give them the freedom to step inside their character entirely.”

Forbes contributor Daniel D’Ambrosio writes about how MIT alumnus Renaldo Webb has founded a company called Pet Plate, which provides fresh meals for dogs. D’Ambrosio explains that, “Webb realized that pet owners wanted a fresh option. He could launch a business that would ‘make a meaningful difference in the lives of pets across the country.’”