Startups

“Today’s African Repats,” held on Feb. 4, 2016, was part of the Starr Forum series of events on global matters hosted by MIT’s Center for International Studies.

Into Africa

Entrepreneurs returning home to Africa find great promise, and many challenges.

February 5, 2016

On Mapdwell’s satellite-map website, people can click on an individual roof to receive information about installation price, energy and financial savings, and environmental impact.

Realizing your true (solar) potential

Mapping website tells building owners if going solar is worth the cost of installation.

February 5, 2016

“Suppose you want to promote entrepreneurship in a given area,” MIT’s Xavier Giroud says. “One policy could be to promote the availability of [more] direct flights between the area and VC hubs.”

Do venture capitalists matter?

Yes, finds a study — especially when direct flights help them visit their investments more often.

February 4, 2016

A panel of MIT alumni who shared their experiences with starting and working at young companies included Alice Brooks (speaking), co-founder of Roominate. Other speakers were (from left to right): moderator Arun Saigal, co-founder and CEO of Rappidly; Wei Li, a principal engineer at Eta Devices; Amrita Saigal, co-founder of Saathi; and Theodora Koullias, founder and CEO of Jon Lou.

A jumpstart for entrepreneurs

Intensive course helps students navigate early challenges in starting a company.

January 29, 2016

CEO Justin Lamb says Genometry aims to help pharmaceutical firms use gene-expression data (represented here as a heat map of gene expression values) to effectively digitize their compound collections.

Faster drug discovery?

Startup develops more cost-effective test for assessing how cells respond to chemicals.

January 28, 2016

MIT Sandbox invites 11,000 students to innovate

Offering funding up to $25,000, mentoring, and tailored educational experiences, the program will open up new pathways for student entrepreneurs and innovators.

January 25, 2016

Left to right: Susan Hockfield, Payal Kadakia, Dina Katabi, Helen Greiner, Jesse Draper, Anantha Chandrakasan

Empowering innovation

Panel highlighting female innovators from a range of fields aims to encourage student entrepreneurs.

January 22, 2016

MIT spinout Cogito developed voice-analytics software for call centers that tracks and analyzes voice patterns of customers and agents — such as interruptions and rapid speech — and offers real-time feedback to make the conversations more productive.

Watch your tone

Voice-analytics software helps customer-service reps build better rapport with customers.

January 20, 2016

Left to right: Forrest Meyen SM ’13, Michael Klinker, Nikhil Vadhavkar, and Edward Obropta ’13, SM ’15.

Space: The here-and-now frontier

MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics launches a new generation of innovators.

January 19, 2016

Donald Sadoway (right) of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, David Bradwell MEng ’06, PhD ’11, and their collaborators have developed a novel molten-metal battery that is low-cost, high-capacity, efficient, long-lasting, and easy to manufacture — characteristics that make it ideal for storing electricity on power grids today and in the future.

A battery made of molten metals

New battery may offer low-cost, long-lasting storage for the grid.

January 12, 2016

The DriveWell app runs in the background of a smartphone, collecting data on driving behavior. Drivers receive a score on a scale from 1 to 100, a route map, and tips for improvement. Scores can also be used for insurance discounts, or to compete with friends and other drivers worldwide.

Smarter driving, using your phone

App that rates drivers’ behavior yields promising safety results on the road.

January 5, 2016

“In health care, there’s this gigantic world of unstructured data that needs to be translated into useable information,” says Paul Nemirovsky, who co-founded dMetrics with Ariadna Quattoni.

Detecting consumer decisions within messy data

Software analyzes online chatter to predict health care consumers’ behavior.

December 21, 2015

In a two-year study with New York City garbage trucks, the startup’s sensors cut the frequency and duration of filter regeneration in half, which produced a 1 to 2 percent fuel savings. This can be significant for fleets of trucks, such as those in the study, which use roughly 5,000 to 8,000 gallons of diesel fuel annually.

Wireless sensors could make diesel engines greener

Startup’s sensors measure soot and ash buildup in filters to help engines burn more efficiently.

December 15, 2015

Gen9's BioFab process, now being used by dozens of researchers and companies, cuts costs and accelerates the creation and testing of genes.

Scaling up synthetic-biology innovation

MIT professor’s startup makes synthesizing genes many times more cost effective.

December 10, 2015

Associate Provost Richard Lester, founder and faculty director of the Industrial Performance Center, listens to discussion and report analysis of "Growing Innovative Companies to Scale: How Does Massachusetts Measure Up?" held at MIT on Thursday, Dec. 10.

Growing innovative firms to scale

MIT study analyzes Massachusetts performance in growing tech-based companies to scale.