Prof. Michael Cusumano speaks with Associated Press reporters Matt O’Brien and Sarah Parvini about a new approach to AI acquisitions and the impact on smaller AI startups. “To acquire only some employees or the majority, but not all, license technology, leave the company functioning but not really competing, that’s a new twist,” says Cusumano.
Under the direction of CEO Noubar Afeyan PhD '87, a member of the MIT Corporation, Flagship Pioneering is using its resources to back life sciences companies, seeking to vertically integrate the processes of scientific discovery, reports Scott Kirsner for The Boston Globe. “Afeyan’s latest vision involves artificial intelligence and how it will change the way science and drug development are done,” he writes. “Afeyan says that AI could eventually become a tool that does much of the work of scientific discovery.”
MIT spinout, Cogito, uses “advanced voice analytics to scrutinize voice tons and speech patterns, not just during customer interactions but also within internal team communications,” reports Andre Shojaie for Forbes. “By providing real-time feedback to representatives, Cogito helps them adjust their emotional tone and empathy levels accordingly,” explains Shojaie. “This application significantly reduces stress and cultivates a supportive work environment by enhancing interpersonal interactions among team members.”
Ivan Casadevantre MS '15 and Hasier Larrea MS '15 co-founded ORI Living – a furniture company that uses electromechanics to develop furniture systems designed for space efficiency. “You have to make those small spaces feel and act as if they were much larger,” says Larrea. “And that’s when we started thinking about robotics, thinking about engineering, and how we bring all those technologies to make it possible to live large in a smaller footprint.”
Prakash Govindan PhD '12 and Anurag Bajpayee SM '08 PhD '12 co-founded AlkaLi, a startup working to extract lithium from brine and process it for use in batteries, reports Amy Feldman for Forbes. AlkaLi uses resins and membranes to more easily extract the lithium from brine, then relies on its own technology to concentrate the mineral, which ultimately is precipitated into a solid for use in batteries,” writes Feldman.
The Engine Ventures' CEO and Managing partner Katie Rae talks to Forbes’ Alex Knapp about its recent round of fundraising for investments in startups focused on sustainability, health and infrastructure. Rae also sees opportunities in quantum computing and other new hardware, saying “power and climate and compute all go together.”
Katie Rae, CEO and managing partner of the Engine Ventures, speaks with Boston Globe reporter Aaron Pressman about The Engine Ventures’ third investment fund, which remains focused on “helping early-stage startups develop and commercialize ‘tough tech,’ which can include anything from fusion power generators to cement made without fossil fuels.” Rae notes: “You see this dynamism not just for climate, but for all things manufacturing, whether it’s biotech, whether it’s AI chips, it is about as an exciting moment as you could get for what we do.”
Mario Ho '17, cofounded NIP Group, "an esports organization with a team of 125 pro gamers from China, Europe and Brazil," reports Zinnia Lee for Forbes. “NIP Group said it plans to expand into new markets such as Southeast Asia, North America, the Middle East, Japan and Korea,” explains Lee. “The company added that it would further expand its businesses in areas including esports education, digital collectibles and licensing of intellectual properties.”
Cofounded by postdoctoral associate Wen Shuhao and postdoctoral fellows Ma Jian and Lai Lipeng, biotech startup Xtalpi "combines AI, quantum physics, cloud computing and robotic automation to find novel molecules that could be developed into new medicines,” reports Zinnia Lee for Forbes. “Xtalpi has also recently expanded into discovering new chemical compounds for applications such as agriculture, cosmetics, healthcare, as well as petrochemicals and new materials for electric vehicle batteries,” writes Lee.
Prof. Bob Langer and Prof. Giovanni Traverso have co-founded Syntis Bio, a biotech company that will use technology to “coat the stomach and potentially other organ surfaces, [change] the way that drugs are absorbed or, in the case of obesity, which hormones are triggered,” reports Allison DeAngelis for STAT.
MIT startup, 24M, has designed an EV battery with a range of 1,000 miles on a single charge, reports Adele Peters for Fast Company. “The extra-long range also can help the car’s battery last much longer,” explains Peters. “If you use a rapid charger to fully charge a battery, it can damage the battery, meaning it won’t last as long. Because it has such a long range, the new battery should rarely need a full rapid charge.”
Tomás Vega SM '19 is CEO and co-founder of Augmental, a startup helping people with movement impairments interact with their computer devices, reports Popular Science’s Andrew Paul. Seeking to overcome the limitations of most brain-computer interfaces, the company’s first product is the MouthPad, leveraging the tongue muscles.“Our hope is to create an interface that is multimodal, so you can choose what works for you,” said Vega. “We want to be accommodating to every condition.”
Boston Globe reporter Janelle Nanos visits The Engine Accelerator to learn more about their focus on providing tough tech startups with lab spaces and equipment. “We created this sort of ecosystem with support resources,” says Knight of the inspiration for the Engine Accelerator. “Where we are today was born out of those early needs, interviewing all these scientists and technologists, that were willing to work in a shared faculty but had different needs than existed.”
TechCrunch’s Tim De Chant has a look at MIT spinoff SiTration, which has developed a new process to reat mining wastewater and filter our critical minerals using silicon. “SiTration’s filters are built on the same style of wafers that are used to make computer chips and solar panels, though using a cheaper grade of silicon,” De Chant explains.
Forbes reporter Michael Bernick spotlights Ultranauts, founded by Rajesh Anandan ’95 SM ‘96 and Art Shectman ‘95, which provides software testing services, quality engineering and test automation, data governance, and a recently launched suite of AI products to improve employee performance. The company employees people in 30 states, “75% of whom are neurodivergent.”