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MassChallenge Names Top 2018 Startups in Boston and Rhode Island

September 19, 2018, BOSTON – MassChallenge, a global network of zero-equity startup accelerators, today announced the top startups from its 2018 Boston and Rhode Island programs, which together accelerated more than 150 startups across industries (128 in Boston and 30 in Rhode Island) and from regions around the world. Selected startups will now move into the final judging round, where they’ll compete for cash prizes that will be awarded at the MassChallenge Awards on October 17, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts.

“It’s incredible to see just how much our 2018 Boston and Rhode Island cohorts have grown in such a short amount of time,” said Kiki Mills Johnston, Managing Director, MassChallenge Boston. “With support from the local innovation communities and our network of mentors, experts, and corporates, each entrepreneur has taken what they’ve learned to create real impact across industries. I’m looking forward to celebrating their achievements at the 2018 MassChallenge Awards and seeing all they achieve long after our program closes.”

Over the course of the program, the Boston and Rhode Island cohorts have leveraged expert mentorship, tailored programming, corporate engagement, and industry resources to launch and grow their companies. In addition, entrepreneurs developing physical products have also had the opportunity to bring their ideas to life at MADE@MassChallenge, the accelerator’s research and development lab located in Boston.

To select this year’s prize winners, MassChallenge will tap the expertise of industry visionaries who will evaluate each startup based on their ability to demonstrate growth and impact. During this final judging round, top startups will apply what they’ve learned to compete for shares of $1.5M in equity-free prizes in Boston and $50,000 in Rhode Island.

More than 1,600 leaders and innovation enthusiasts are expected to celebrate this year’s winners at the MassChallenge Awards, which are being held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. To register for #MCAwards18, go here.

MassChallenge Boston Top 26:

addapptation

Massachusetts | High Tech

Provides user experience-as-a-service for Salesforce.com customers.

 

BioFire

Massachusetts | High Tech

Building the future of firearms to prevent gun violence.

 

Boston Materials LLC

Massachusetts | General

Creating a revolutionary three-dimentsionally reinforced carbon fiber composite.

 

cleancult

Massachusetts | General

Makes household green cleaners that actually clean.

 

EBT Medical, Inc.

Canada | Healthcare / Life Sciences

Develops novel, discreet, non-invasive neurostimulation therapies for the enormous un/under treaded Overactive Bladder market.

 

Food for All

Massachusetts | High Tech

Connects users to surplus food from restaurants at a deep discount an hour before they close.

 

HALL+HAVEN

Texas | General

Creates right-sized rentals with the right rent, right where you want it to be.

 

Infinite Cooling

Massachusetts | Energy / Clean Tech

Disrupts the way power plants use water by capturing and recycling evaporative losses in cooling towers.

 

IQ Bar

Massachusetts | General

Makes and sells brain fuel nutrition bars packed with six functional nutrients and hit the Keto + Paleo + Vegan trifecta.

 

Kestrel Agritech

Massachusetts | General

Reduces crop loss through automated pest detection and control using real-time thermal surveillance from unmanned drones.

 

Labby

Massachusetts | High Tech

IoT analyzer that uses AI and spectroscopy for food, beverages, and agro testing.

 

Magnomer

Massachusetts | Social Impact

Creates magnetic markers for zero waste plastic packaging.

 

MicroQuin

England | Healthcare / Life Sciences

Creates targeted delivery of chemotherapy with a fast time-to-market.

 

Mobile Pixels

Massachusetts | General

Lets users pack their productivity anywhere you go – whether you’re working ina. Hotel room or in a café.

 

MTonomy

Massachusetts | General

Empowers media artists and businesses with a complete blockchain infrastructure to publish, license, and monetize their content directly. 

 

OURgrain

Rhode Island | General  

Creates sustainable consumables that have a significant impact on food waste while delivering quality and healthfulness. 

 

Oxalo Therapeutics, Inc.

Illinois | Healthcare / Life Sciences   

Biotech company developing a novel drug to prevent kidney stones using breakthroughs in microbiome research. 

 

Painting with Data 

Massachusetts | High Tech   

Web-based tool that introduces a visual programming language for the analysis and visualization of spatial data. 

 

PionEar Technologies 

Massachusetts | Healthcare / Life Sciences 

Revolutionizing treatment of ear infections with minimally invasive, antifouling, drug delivery ear tube implants. 

 

Project Alianza 

Massachusetts | Social Impact  

Fills the rural education gap in Nicaragua by building, developing, and staffing robust primary schools on privately-owned coffee farms. 

 

Pumpspotting 

Maine | Social Impact  

Social app and global community connecting breastfeeding women over milk, motherhood, and the best places to nurse and pump. 

 

SurgiBox

Massachusetts | Healthcare / Life Sciences  

Creates the Operating Room in a Backpack, protecting patients and providers any time, any place. 

 

Traive

Massachusetts | High Tech  

Provides affordable loans to financially marginalized farmers through an innovative lending platform and risk assessment system. 

 

VitaScan

New York | Healthcare / Life Sciences  

Provides fast, accurate, and mobile nutrition deficiency testing. 

 

WatchTower Robotics 

Massachusetts | High Tech  

Uses robots to help water pipe operators find leaks, save water, and protect infrastructure. 

 

Zoba

Massachusetts | High Tech 

Uses machine learning to predict human behavior in cities. 

 

MassChallenge Rhode Island Top 6: 

 

AirWorks 

Massachusetts | High Tech  

Stealth

 

CBC LLC 

Rhode Island | Energy / Clean Tech  

Cost effectively produces renewables, resilient power in built environments, including urban and coastal area. 

 

OysterTracker 

Massachusetts | General 

Makes the global aquaculture industry more profitable with a SaaS-based farm management system. 

 

TextUp

Rhode Island | Social Impact 

Creates software for social workers that creates cost savings, builds capacity, saves time, and improves professional quality of life. 

 

T-var EdTech 

Rhode Island | Social Impact 

Designs and sells devices that teach children of all abilities how to read. 

 

Zoni Foods, Inc. 

Connecticut | General 

Makes plant-based eating a part of people’s everyday lives by making plant-based foods tasty and convenient. 

 

About MassChallenge: 

MassChallenge is a global network of zero-equity startup accelerators. Headquartered in the United States with locations in Boston, Israel, Mexico, Rhode Island, Switzerland, Texas, and the UK, MassChallenge is committed to strengthening the global innovation ecosystem by supporting high-potential startups across all industries, from anywhere in the world. To date, more than 1,500 MassChallenge alumni have raised more than $3 billion in funding, generated over $2 billion in revenue, and created over 80,000 total jobs. Learn more about MassChallenge at masschallenge.org

Top MassChallenge Boston Partners:

Altria, Autodesk, Bose, BNY Mellon, The Boston Consulting Group, The Boston Foundation, CASIS, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, CVS Health, Deshpande Foundation, Draper, FM Global, GE, GlaxoSmithKline, Henkel, Honda, Jamestown, Microsoft, MITRE, PAN Communications, PepsiCo, PTC, PwC, Stanley, Black & Decker.

MassChallenge Rhode Island Partners:

Altus Dental, Amica Mutual Insurance, Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, FM Global, Rhode Island Foundation, Verizon Foundation.