June 2, 2020 (Houston, Texas) – MassChallenge, a global network of zero-equity startup accelerators, today announced the 56 early-stage startups invited to join the 2020 MassChallenge Texas in Houston program. These startups have been rigorously vetted by a community of more than 500 expert judges and represent the top 11% of applications from around the world; the selected startups more than double the number of startups accepted to the program’s 2019 bootcamp.
“Today’s world is up against new challenges that require creative solutions to help us get back to speed as quickly and as efficiently as possible,” said Jon Nordby, MassChallenge Texas in Houston’s Managing Director. “The incoming cohort is uniquely positioned to make an impact because of their ability to act swiftly and adapt to new market needs. These founders will go on to create the impact and the jobs that will underpin the recovery of our economy for years to come.”
Since March, MassChallenge’s world-class network of investors, serial entrepreneurs, corporate executives, academics, and more have evaluated applications based on each startup’s ability to demonstrate high impact and high potential in their fields, including Aerospace, Cybersecurity, Gaming, Medical Devices, and more. The cohort selected for the Houston program represent:
- 12 Countries
- 13 States
- 5 Industries
- 34% of startups are healthcare and life sciences
- 34% of startups are high tech
- 18% of startups are general, retail and consumer goods
- 11% are cleantech and energy
- 3% are social impact
- 48% of startups in the cohort have a female founder
2020 Focus Areas
To accelerate innovation in emerging industries, MassChallenge Texas has introduced program tracks in SportsTech and Space Commercialization, sectors with a strong uptick in Texas-based activity. Serving as a sub-cohort within MassChallenge’s early-stage programs, these tracks will support promising startups with specialized content and connections, tailored to help them grow within these specific industries.
Sports Tech
Professional and big sports brands are continually faced with new challenges in today’s consumer-facing world. With many new technologies focused on engagement and performance, it can be hard to prioritize the innovations that are right for their business. The Sports Tech track is a pathway to identify new technologies that align brands with their customer’s future by connecting partners with the startups creating leading-edge solutions including, but not limited to, human health, performance and recovery, material science, analytics, and fan experience and engagement.
“Through our collaboration with MassChallenge, Stadia Ventures will introduce startups from the first MassChallenge Sports Tech track to our elite network of mentors and investors in hopes of accelerating the path to market,” said Bill Powell, Managing Director of Stadia Ventures. “We continuously look to support game-changing entrepreneurs and scalable technologies across the areas of human performance, esports & gaming and the fan experience of tomorrow.”
Space Commercialization
As our scientific and strategic knowledge of space rapidly evolves, leaders from the space industry must stay current on the full spectrum of trends and sectors that make up the future of space. The Space Commercialization track connects these leaders with the startups ushering in the next era of space innovation by developing technologies across human health, performance, and recovery, materials science, analytics, advanced manufacturing, robotics, and relevant technologies with an application in space.
To mitigate the public health risks presented by the novel coronavirus, MassChallenge Texas in Houston’s 2020 accelerator will begin virtually and will transition to a hybrid of digital and in-person programming when the organization can ensure the health and safety of its community. Participating startups will engage in an evidence-based curriculum designed to address key challenges across the early-stage lifecycle and will receive unrivaled access to experienced mentors, a global network of experts, top corporate partners, and more – all provided at zero cost and for zero equity.
The public will have two opportunities to connect with the cohort at the MassChallenge Virtual Startup Showcase on July 16 and 17 and the MassChallenge Texas in Houston 2020 Awards at the end of the program. More information and RSVP details will be shared on the MassChallenge website when the accelerator kicks off later this month.
2020 MassChallenge Texas in Houston Cohort
HEALTHCARE/LIFE SCIENCES
Aniluxx Biotechnology (North Carolina, USA)
Articulate Labs (Massachusetts, USA) – KneeStim helps turn everyday movement into adjunct physical therapy for individuals rehabilitating osteoarthritic knees.
Healium (Missouri, USA) – Healium is a drugless solution for the self-management of anxiety that allows the user to see their feelings.
Hera-MI (France) – Hera-MI uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve early breast cancer detection for better patient care and thus save millions of women worldwide. Hera-MI has developed Breast-SlimView, a patented clinical decision support software for 2D and 3D mammography based on AI.
NeuroRescue Inc. (Louisiana, USA) – A cooling collar with patented technology that provides therapeutic comfort on the sidelines and improves athletic performance.
Noleus Technologies, Inc (Texas, USA) – Noleus reduces postop ileus by treating the intestinal swelling that causes post-operative bowel dysfunction.
O2 RegenTech (Ohio, USA) – Cost-effective, easy-to-use wound care solutions based on novel oxygenating biopolymer technology.
OrganoTherapeutics (Luxembourg) – OrganoTherapeutics makes use proprietary human-specific 3D modeling of mini-brains or brain organoids, for the discovery and development of effective drug candidates, which can target different PD-patient subgroups.
PATH EX, Inc (Texas, USA) – PATH EX has developed a proprietary technology to selectively separate and capture bacteria and endotoxin from human blood, for the diagnosis and treatment of sepsis and bacteremia.
Pegwin – Patient Safety Innovation (Texas, USA) – Pegwin Insights focuses on the Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) against which hospitals are being measured, paid or penalized for meeting or not meeting quality and patient safety outcome goals.
PREEMIEr Diagnostics (Michigan, USA) – PREEMIEr Diagnostics is creating the first preemie A1C test to diagnose diabetes in premature infants.
ReCellTis Wound Cream (Texas, USA) – ReCellTis is the first product to kill infections, reduce pain and scarring, and heal scrapes and wounds 4x faster the other options on the market.
RedOak Instruments, LLC (Texas, USA) – RedOak Instruments (ROI) is a sports/medical technology company using biomechanical measurements to detect fine motor degradation which can be used to screen for mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI/Concussion).
Steradian Technologies (Texas, USA)
Solenic Medical, Inc. (Texas, USA) – Solenic Medical Inc. is a medical device company developing an innovative non-invasive way to treat infections on metallic implants in the body.
Starling Medical (Texas, USA) – Starling Medical is developing a tech-enabled urinary catheter for patients with neurogenic bladder dysfunction.
TomoWave Laboratories, Inc. (Texas, USA) – TomoWave Laboratories is developing proprietary medical imaging devices based on biomedical optoacoustics and laser ultrasound.
Tremedics Medical Devices (Texas, USA) – Tremedics fabricates degradable technology that is used to save lives of children and adults with heart disease.
UniExo (Ukraine) – UniExo exoskeleton device reduces recovery period caused by injuries by assisting patients outside healthcare facilities as home-care device
HIGH TECH
Asystom (France) – Asystom offer an universal smart monitoring for predictive maintenance to avoid downtime.
B2B Pay (Finland) – B2BPay is creating the first multi-bank solution with fully flexible banking infrastructure: we do not build, we integrate customers from 200+ countries across all risk types from e-commerce to crypto exchanges.
BoxMagic (Chile) – BoxMagic is a customizable, scalable gym management solution all fitness activities from small bootcamps to yoga, and crossfit to big box gym chains.
ByLingual (Texas,USA) – ByLingual is a research-based digital tool that can quickly improve reading comprehension skills among Spanish speaking students by working directly with schools and school districts.
CityGuyd (Florida, USA) – CityGuyd brings exciting new advancements in Augmented Reality directly to travelers in a manner that’s convenient/engaging by augmenting real life tour guides into holograms at specific GPS coordinates correlating with tourist attractions around the world.
HVACIntel (Texas, USA) – HVACIntel’s patent pending hardware and method monitors equipment and proactively alerts contractors and homeowners so they can take steps to diagnose the problem before it an major inconvenience or costly issue with the home.
Keto A.I (Texas, USA) – Keto A.I is creating a new pool service industry by providing new hardware, software, and 24×7 monitoring business models to fundamentally change operating costs, business growth, and purchasing power in the industry.
M1neral (Texas, USA) – M1neral is building the next evolution of mineral acquisition by providing actionable intelligence and a modern transaction marketplace.
Navigation Research Company (Texas, USA) – Navigation Research is a B2B service company. Introducing TruScore Certified Pre-Owned, a better idea online marketing plan for car dealers.
Node App (Canada) – Node is a marketplace that lets businesses trade products for content and posts from influencers.
Ozark Integrated Circuits, Inc. (Arkansas, USA) – Ozark IC’s hardware, software and services bring the internet of things to the harshest environments – from jet engines to earth orbit.
Noala (Ukraine) – Noala facilitates peer-to-peer enterprise knowledge sharing. Easily request, share and implement tacit knowledge within your enterprise.https://www.noala.app/
Securelyshare (Virginia, USA) – SecurelyShare has built a patented consent driven platform that addresses key elements of data security, data privacy and data analytics.
SenSwim (Israel) – SenSwim is the only company in the world that analyzes the performance of swimmers in real-time, using nothing but off the shelf cameras and no wearable sensors directly on the swimmer’s body.
Sizzle (California, USA)
Snaptivity (United Kingdom)
SpenDebt (Texas, USA) – SpenDebt is a financial technology company providing a micro-payment debt solution to help consumers reduce their debt as they spend.
Tradeblock (Texas, USA) – Tradeblock is a sneaker trading service: you tell us what shoes you have and what shoes you’re looking for, and we use our shared database to connect you with other collectors who have what you want and want what you have.
V2verify (Nebraska, USA) – V2verify offers a solution to eliminate usernames and passwords with a voice biometric that needs just 2-seconds of speech.
GENERAL, RETAIL & CONSUMER
AbegYa (Cameroon)
Dunyha (Texas, USA) – Dunyha is a tech-driven real estate developer serving the next generation of homeowners and travelers.
FieldTrend (California, USA) – FieldTrend is a hands-free cost allocation software system for field services management.
FloodFrame (Texas, USA) – FloodFrame is an innovative flood protection system to save your home or business from the devastation of a flood.
Integricote (Texas, USA) – Integricote’s inter-locking chemistry permanently bonds to any porous base material, creating a 3D molecular matrix that merges with the substrate.
Sensegrass (India) – We making a smart farming solution for fertilizer management and detect crop diseases to increase crop yield with smart NPK Soil Sensors.
Scout, Inc (Virginia, USA) – Extending satellite lifetimes, preventing orbital debris, and keeping space secure through data gathered from inspections in space.
SurfEllent (Texas, USA) – SurfEllent develops advanced coatings that prevent the buildup of ice and scale on a variety of surfaces.
Tellinga (Texas, USA) – Tellinga in reimaging the traditional greeting card by developing a platform to create epistolary greeting cards that tell your story through snail mail.
Walter’s Cube (New York, USA)
ENERGY/CLEANTECH
Direct Kinetic Solutions (Texas, USA) – Direct Kinetic Solutions’ beta isotopic power sources enable safe, long lasting, reliable, and compact power solutions for the most extreme situations. maintenance.
PolarPanel (Texas, USA) – PolarPanel retrofits existing refrigerated transportation units (TRUs) with NASA-developed solar refrigeration to reduce diesel emissions.
QUEMPIN SpA (Chile) – QUEMPIN breaks down barriers faced when changing from polluting fuel sources to cleaner alternatives by providing innovative combustion technology in ovens.
TexPower (Texas, USA)
ThermoAI (New York, USA) – ThermoAI uses patent pending proprietary machine learning algorithms to optimize the total processes of industrial combustion levels to keep a close to perfect combustion. Reducing emissions and saving fuel.
WeavAIr (Canada)
SOCIAL IMPACT
Kietoparao (Spain) – Kietoparao designs, builds and sells STEAM educational kits to play everywhere and beat screens (20 games in 7ounces).
Teaching Artists International (Massachusetts, USA) – Teaching Artists International creates global citizen musicians through artistic exchanges that empower youth and support music education around the world.
MassChallenge Texas Founding, Corporate, and Civic Partners
Central Houston, City of Houston, Downtown Redevelopment Authority, Defense Innovation Unit, Department of Defense, Upstream, WeWork, Austin Technology Incubator, BAE Systems, DELL, Reliant an NRG company, Juice Consulting, Stadia Ventures, Texas Foundation for Innovative communities, TMAC, UPS, Winstead, IOwnIt.
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, and Texas, 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 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.