Global network for innovators begins to identify top startups and geographies of top innovators launching groundbreaking, fundable businesses and plans to share trends at October 22, 2020 streaming event.

(Boston, MA – September 29, 2020) – MassChallenge, the global network for innovators, today announced the top 20 startup finalists from its Boston-based accelerator. These startups will now participate in a final round of judging where they will compete for up to $1,000,000 in equity-free cash prizes. The prize winners will be announced on Thursday, October 22, 2020 as part of the 2020 MassChallenge Virtual U.S. Awards, which will livestream on the MassChallenge website. 

The 20 top startups finalists represent top startup trends in 2020: 

• High Tech (45%) including fintech, enterprise technology, robotics, and Internet of Things  
• Healthcare/Life Sciences (30%) including bio nanotechnology, novel medical devices and more.
• Social Impact (15%) including college affordability and access and equity and inclusion
• General (10%) including materials and advanced manufacturing

The top startup finalists’ geography reach beyond Massachusetts, 51% of the top startups are from areas outside of the traditional innovation hubs and 40% are from the greater Boston area reflecting a critical trend: a vibrant startup landscape exists outside of Silicon Valley. Additionally, 40% of the top startups have at least one female founder. 

“This year has been remarkable for our startups to say the least. Nevertheless, in the face of a pandemic and an economic crisis, our startups demonstrated the resiliency, creativity and relentless perseverance to launch their new ventures,” said Cait Brumme, Managing Director of MassChallenge Boston. “Across the board, our startups leveraged MassChallenge’s resources to hit critical milestones including securing first customers, raising funding, and growing teams. When successful, these startups will not only solve critical challenges but support job growth and recovery. We are proud that our community has come together in an unprecedented form to carry these startups forward.”

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 100-early-stage startups from around the world participated in a completely virtual 2020 MassChallenge Boston accelerator. During the four-month program, the startups leveraged expert mentorship, tailored curriculum, and the MC global network to launch and grow their companies. With more than a decade of experience, MassChallenge’s proven zero-equity model and global network works for its startups – not against them – by providing the vital resources they need to grow without taking any equity in return.
 
”One of the biggest benefits of Oracle for Startups’ collaboration with MassChallenge is the exposure to innovative ideas across all industries and areas of the world,” said Maria Forney, Global Head of Business Development, Oracle for Startups. “We work with MassChallenge to meet promising startups from within, and outside, of traditional startup hubs. When we connect with founders through the virtual experience, it’s easy to learn about their business, technology, and opportunities for growth. The virtual nature of business will open more doors for entrepreneurs by creating seamless access to talent, mentorship and other critical resources.”

2020 MassChallenge Boston Top 20 Finalist Startups

Bloomer Health Tech (Cambridge, MA): Accelerating women’s cardiovascular health by tailoring care to her unique body and lifestyle via a patented, medical-grade bra & platform.

CauseEDU (Quincy, MA): CauseEDU helps students and their families to better understand the true cost of college & develop sound strategies to pay for it.

Cogentis Therapeutics: Cogentis Therapeutics is working on a novel and potential disease-modifying peptide therapeutic for Alzheimer’s and FTD.

Fractal (Cambridge, MA): Fractal brings the power of a workstation to any Internet-connected device.

FreightFlows (Boston, MA): Predictive analytics for global trade.

Garbo (New York, NY): Garbo is a new kind of consumer background check designed for the digital age that provides transparent access to information.

IndustrialML, Inc. (Somerville, MA): Making factories smarter with machine learning, combining process monitoring and real-time analytics to keep production lines running.

Kura AR (San Francisco, CA): Making people’s lives more productive and better connected by solving the bottleneck to AR adoption with the worlds’ best AR glasses.

Loo Works (Accra, Ghana): Loo Works manufactures sustainable components from solid waste materials to create container-based toilet solutions in Ghana.

Mi Terro (City of Industry, CA): A ground-breaking biotechnology company that rescues food waste and re-engineers it into sustainable fibers and biopolymers to replace plastic.

myBiometry (Boston, MA): Platform that monitors/manages patients with chronic disease using biomarker data and ML to identify patients at risk of treatment failure.

Presso (Atlanta, GA): Presso is a robot that can clean, disinfect, and press clothes in under 5 minutes.

ReelData Inc. (Nova Scotia, Canada): Artificial intelligence and computer vision technology for the Aquaculture industry, to help feed billions sustainably.

Relavo (Baltimore, MD): Relavo is a medical device venture that is minimizing the risk of infection in home-based treatments, such as peritoneal dialysis.

RLP (Massachusetts): Large scale 3D printing with super soft, non-toxic elastomers.

Spatio Metrics (Cambridge, MA): We’re creating a future in which every building makes us healthier.

TANG app (Cambridge, MA): The TANG app allows Filipinos abroad to send airtime and money home and the receiver in the Philippines to pay bills and p2p with TANG.

Teratonix (Pittsburgh, PA): Providing highest efficiency RF harvesting solution to generate electricity from cellular/Wi-Fi for batteryfree IoT/Wearables/Medical devices.

TireTutor, Inc. (Brookeline, MA): The first marketplace site for tires, TireTutor connects consumers with the best deals on tires from local tire dealers.

VERI Nano Inc. (Boston, MA): Veri Nano is an innovative bionanotechnology company with novel encapsulation and antimicrobial nanotechnologies for human and animal health

ABOUT THE MASSCHALLENGE VIRTUAL U.S. AWARDS CEREMONY 

MassChallenge is hosting its first-ever irtual celebration of innovation and creativity featuring 200+ startups from the 2020 accelerator programs in Austin, Boston, Houston, and Rhode Island.  The event will showcase the progress the startups have made during their program, feature industry-leading speakers Arianna Huffington (Thrive Global), Linda Pizzuti Henry (Boston Globe Media Partners), and Chris Denson (Innovation Crush) to speak on the transformative power of startups, and award up to $2M in equity-free cash prizes to the top startups from the programs. RSVP Here.

ABOUT THE 2020 MASSCHALLENGE PROGRAMS

This year, the U.S. programs in Austin, Boston, Houston, and Rhode Island welcomed a total of 244 early-stage startups from more than 30 countries. Selected from thousands of applicants, the 2020 cohorts represent the best and brightest ideas that tackle some of the world’s most massive challenges. Collectively the startups engaged in over 1,000 office hours and mentor engagements, 200+ classes, and 7 cross program seminar sessions hosted by speakers like Niraj Shah (CEO, Wayfair), Brian Halligan (CEO, Hubspot), Kirk Arnold (EiR, General Catalyst), Deb Benton (Willow Growth Partners), and more.

MASSCHALLENGE  PARTNERS

Agrosuper, Altus Dental, Amica Insurance, Analog Devices, Austin Technology Incubator, Autodesk, Babson College, BAE Systems, Boston University, Brandeis University, Brex, Carta, Central Houston, City of Houston, Cydan Development, Defense Innovation Unit, Dell for Entrepreneurs, Delta Dental, Department of Defense, Downtown Redevelopment Authority, Duane Morris LLP, First Republic Bank, FM Global, Foley Hoag LLP, Hasbro, Henkel, IOwnIt, ISS National Laboratory, J.P. Morgan, Juice Consulting, KPMG LLP, MassCEC, McKinsey & Company, MITRE, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsui & Co., Office of Economic Adjustment/DIA, Oracle for Startups, PwC, Raytheon, Reliant, an NRG Company, Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, Sanofi, SOMPO, Stadia Ventures, Texas Foundation for Innovative Communities, The Boston Foundation, TMAC, University of Texas at Austin, UPS, Upstream, US Air Force, WeWork, Winstead 

ABOUT MASSCHALLENGE

MassChallenge is the global network for innovators. Headquartered in the United States with seven locations worldwide, MassChallenge equips bold entrepreneurs to disrupt the status quo and to create meaningful change. Since launching in 2009, more than 2,400 MassChallenge alumni have raised more than $6.2B in funding, generated more than $3B in revenue, and created more than 157,000 total jobs. Learn more about MassChallenge at masschallenge.org.