Mass Challenge Texas Selects 84 Startups for its First Program

Mass Challenge Texas has selected 84 startups to join its first accelerator program.

The accelerator received 520 applications, with a little more than half of those going to the second round where 120 judges selected the winners, said Mike Millard, managing director of Mass Challenge Texas.

The finalists are the “highest impact and highest potential startups,” Millard said. They come from a wide range of industries and hail from 12 states, 11 countries and five of the major Texas cities including Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas/Fort Worth and El Paso.

And 32 percent of the companies are led by women, that compares to 48 percent women-led startups participating in the Boston Mass Challenge cohort.

Most of the startups, 33 or nearly 40 percent, are classified as high tech. The second major category is healthcare and life sciences with 24 startups and nearly 29 percent, followed by general consumer at 12 startups and 14 percent and social impact with 9 startups and nearly 11 percent and clean teach with six startups and 7 percent.

“The startups can learn from one another even though they are different industries,” Millard said.

Mass Challenge officially announced the program in October of 2017 at a big event at the Bullock Texas State History Museum. Following that event, Millard and the Mass Challenge staff visited with startups at 37 events throughout Texas.

“It was just such a privilege to go around the state and listen to these people talk about how they are going to change the world,” Millard said. “I found great startups everywhere. It was sort of humbling. There are talented people all over this great state.”

The program kicks off in April at WeWork in Austin and runs for 16 weeks. The startups are provided with mentoring, specialized programming, coworking space at WeWork locations in Austin, WeWork memberships, and other services. In August, they will compete in a pitch day competition for $500,000 cash prizes. Mass Challenge is a nonprofit organization and doesn’t take an equity stake in the companies.

Some of the startups on the Mass Challenge list are familiar names in the Austin startup community. Re:3D just won $1 million in the WeWork Creator Awards in New York last year and GrubTubs won $360,000 in a regional WeWork Creator Awards competition.

The startups had to have raised less than $500,000 at the time of application, Millard said. It’s not uncommon for the startups in the Mass Challenge cohorts to have participated in other programs, he said.

Mass Challenge Finalists GrubTubs, AquaSprouts and Shower Stream also just completed the Tarmac TX accelerator held at Galvanize.

The following is a complete list of the chosen companies with descriptions supplied by Mass Challenge:

4.0 GPA LLC (Texas, USA): Our app and program help students/schools/parents better understand the advantages of furthering their education and win scholarships.

Abraxas Technology (Texas): Abraxas Technology is bringing out-of-home advertisement into the digital age by allowing advertisers to calculate their ROI in real-time.

Advanced Scanners, Inc. (Texas): A 3D Optical Vision System for Brain Surgeons to track and correct brain shift.

Aggressively Organic (Indiana): We offer a simple hydroponic system for plant-to-plate food production that anyone can afford and use regardless of experience and space.

Agile Agriculture Technologies (Greece): We are taking the guesswork out of fertilization and pesticide spraying in real time, with a machine vision/learning plug and play device.

AquaSprouts (Texas): AquaSprouts allows anyone to easily bring an aquaponic or hydroponic garden into their home, office or classroom, right out of the box.

Atlas Regeneration Technologies (Texas): Atlas was formed in El Paso, Texas, and is developing a hardness sensor that can improve the efficiency and performance of water softeners.

BabyNoggin (California): BabyNoggin identifies the 1/4 of American kids who are at risk of developmental delays to their doctors and local resources.

Backspace

Bezoar Laboratories

Big Wheelbarrow (Texas, USA): Big Wheelbarrow helps food wholesalers easily find & purchase from small local farms by using AI to aggregate, automate, and manage orders.

Black Business University (Texas): Black Business University is an online course marketplace that provides affordable biz education, mentoring, and support to black entrepreneurs.

Black Fret (Texas): Black Fret is an innovative evolution of the symphony patronage model that supports local music via a national network of local incubators.

BlockMedx (Kentucky): Blockchain e-prescribing to combat the opioid crisis, improve health outcomes, and save lives.

Blue Zero Homes

Brain Stem AI

Brands Of (Puerto Rico): Help local brands and businesses better understand the market of their diaspora and export their products worldwide.

Carrot Pants Studios (Texas): We tell stories that bring the world of electronics to life for kids and families.

Cloud 9

Cloud Dentistry (Texas, USA): Uber meets LinkedIn for dental professionals. We provide on-demand medical personnel through an interactive online platform.

Complai DBA Shep (Texas, USA): Shep is a plug-n-play Chrome extension that shows employees what to book on most travel sites, tracks expenses & rewards savings.

DermaDiagnostics

Diffregen, Inc (Texas, USA): Diffregen is attacking Leukemia at its core with new therapeutics that stop progression and activate the healthy immune system.

Dynofit, Inc. (Texas, USA): Flexdot is a cell phone based wearable sensor for physical rehab that reads the muscle action of any muscle and pairs with apps and games.

Educational Documentary Services Trust (Zimbabwe): EduDoc produces and distributes curriculum-based multimedia educational resources, serving students in off-grid, offline communities.

EllieGrid (Texas, USA): The smart pill box with brains and beauty.

EQO (Texas, USA): EQO brings uses molecular solutions for environmental problems. We treat aquatic invasive species like cancer.

FADE (Texas, USA): FADE is the world’s first men’s lifestyle app.

FastVisa (Texas, USA): FastVisa is a process automation company for immigration workflow. We’re reinventing the current immigration process as an automated process.

FunnelAI (Texas, USA): Connecting businesses with their prospective customers in real-time by leveraging AI.

Future Sight AR (Texas, USA): The future doesn’t arrive – it’s built. We provide augmented reality work instructions to field engineers & construction workers in OG&C.

GRASSLAND CAMEROON, LTD

GrubTubs (Texas, USA): GrubTubs collects leftover food from restaurants to create animal feed – saving local farmers thousands per month on feed costs.

GuestBox (Florida, USA): GuestBox is a subscription box service for Airbnb and vacation rental hosts to welcome and delight their guests.

Halo Life Science (Texas, USA): Halo’s functional nutrient Naturalin, added to foods makes them better for you, more nutritious, and will significantly impact world health.

Indulge.Yo.Self. (New Jersey, USA): We boost conversions and improve e-commerce engagement with virtual dressing room with seamless integration with Shopify, Magento etc.

Innovein (California, USA): Innovein is advancing vein care with a first-of-its-kind replacement valve for veins.

Instapath Inc. (Louisiana, USA): We developed a revolutionary microscopy system for real time pathology review, so patients can get an early and accurate diagnosis.

Justspot.me (Texas, USA): We connect people to their loved ones and their loved things with a simple and charge free smart location device.

Komeeda

Specifi-Kali, LLC., Laelaps (Texas, USA): Laelaps is a groundbreaking GPS-based system that brings reliability to tracking and asset monitoring devices in the outdoors.

Living a Book (Mexico): Living a Book gives you a unique and immersive reading experience, Books, audiobooks and VR-360 stories with multiple endings.

Loanables (Texas, USA): We are reducing over-consumption by making it as easy to rent and share as it is to buy.

Multisensor Diagnostics, LLC.

NEMOCARE WELLNESS PRIVATE LIMITED

Newormics, LLC. (Texas, USA): Newormics provides optical and micro-technologies to advance early stage drug discovery with cost effective solutions using humanized models.

Next Play, Inc. (California, USA): Enterprise AI software for inclusive mentoring.

NovoThelium (Texas, USA): We provide a tissue engineered matrix for nipple areolar regeneration after mastectomy.

Open.Media (Colorado, USA): We enhance democracy through live streaming and archiving legislative sessions, offering innovative search, share, and notification features.

Partboyz Auto Parts (Nigeria): Partboyz Auto Parts mission is to bring the car parts business in Africa into the 21st century.

Penguino Travel (Texas, USA): Penguino Travel is a peer-to-peer platform empowering families go on life-changing adventures.

Popspots (Texas, USA): We’re building AdMob for the physical world. Our initial network is in grocery, the highest traffic space in retail.

PrimeVOX Communications (Texas, USA): We are a modern telecommunications service provider revolutionizing telecom with game-changing infrastructure and software.

PYT Funds Inc, Pay Your Tuition (Washington, D.C., USA): PYT, Pay Your Tuition is changing the way families finance and pay for higher education using technology to create the best private loan.

re:3D, Inc (Texas, USA): At re:3D we’re working to modify Gigabot – the world’s largest, affordable, industrial 3D printer- to 3D print from reclaimed plastic trash.

ReillyWorks (California, USA): ReillyWorks “Phygital” Kit with unlimited Game Packs combine Augmented Reality + Smart Objects into immersive storytelling and family fun!

Resthetics (Texas, USA): Resthetics converts waste anesthesia into a safe, renewable resource.

Revolution Computing, Inc. (Texas, USA): Revolution Computing is developing a revolutionary new processor architecture to accelerate emerging graph and machine learning applications.

Savant (Illinois, USA): Savant is an “enterprise” solution for the sharing economy – we transform scrappy freelancers into sharing experts.

ScalaMed

Sempulse (Texas, USA): Applies in seconds to the ear & wirelessly monitors 100+ vitals non-invasively in non-sterile conditions supporting triage & telemedicine.

SenceTech (Texas, USA): Bridging the gap between consumers & healthcare providers by providing consumers insights with deeper medical analysis for Dr.s.

Shower Stream (Texas, USA): The problem of Shower Warm-up Waste, which costs $50B in water and energy in the U.S. annually, can be solved by installing Shower Stream.

SkillsEngine (Texas, USA): SkillsEngine connects educators and employers using artificial intelligence to validate skill requirements so students are more employable.

Smallhold

SMARTSHUNT TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (Texas, USA): SmartShunt cerebrospinal fluid flow detection is a compelling and disruptive solution to a common problem in the hydrocephalus patients.

Smokeless

Steadiwear Inc. (Canada): We developed the Steadiglove – a lightweight & battery-free glove that stabilizes the wrist in Essential Tremor & Parkinson’s disease.

SurgePower Materials (Texas, USA): A green company that produces high quality graphene, a key nanomaterial that improves performance of batteries, from a renewable resource.

TeacherTalent

The Mentor Method (Virginia, USA): The Mentor Method creates inclusive workplace cultures through mentoring diverse talent.

The Tiny Heights (Texas, USA): The Tiny Heights is a tiny house community development consisting of homes under 1,000 sqft. that can be paid off in 12 years or less.

Tiny House Coffee Roasters (Texas, USA): The tiny house movement taught us to dream big by thinking small. We collaborate with small-scale producers to bring the world great coffee.

Toggle Health (Kentucky, USA): Toggle Health connects surgeon to their digital case data in the sterile field of the operating room using a sterile wireless controller.

Ungrocery (Texas, USA): A food system built for people not shelves.

Vena Medical (Canada): Vena Medical makes a fiber optic imaging catheter that allows physicians to see inside arteries and veins during complex procedures.

Vigilant Waste Technologies, Inc. (Texas, USA): Prevent opioid diversion in the hospital and reduce the compliance burden by automating drug analysis and verification at the point of care.

Vinder, Inc. (Washington, USA): Vinder is a peer-to-peer marketplace for homegrown produce. Buy/sell/trade with your community. Localizing the global food system.

Volt480

Web2ship Services Sdn Bhd (Malaysia): Web2ship.com is an elogistics gateway that connects all the courier services and online merchant with single API and low shipping rate

Whimmly (California, USA): Whimmly delivers virtual personal shoppers for eCommerce stores, using deep learning and natural language generation.

Yotta Solar Inc. (Texas, USA):
Energy storage coupled with solar panel installations through patent-pending thermal regulated high life battery.

YOUR6, Inc. (Texas, USA): YOUR6’s goal is to revolutionize hiring by measuring performance and potential of job candidates, and providing business a verified ranking.

ZPEG (Texas, USA): What if you could reduce your video delivery costs without sacrificing quality or changing infrastructure? That’s the ZPEG advantage.