This year's Techstars Boston class was just announced, and one of the program's new startups has an idea that has me intrigued and perhaps a bit skeptical: love advice powered by machine learning.
Evolve, which aims to learn your dating patterns to help you make smarter decisions, is one of the 13 startups that will go through Techstars Boston's three-month program this year, culminating with a Demo Day presentation on May 3. A majority of this year's companies are from Boston, with the remaining three coming from Italy, Canada and New York City.
The Techstars program can be a shot in the arm for early-stage startups because of the funding, office space and, most of all, access to mentors — as well as potential investors and advisers — it provides. Notable Techstars Boston alumni include Localytics, PillPack and Ovia Health, which have raised a combined total of more than $150 million from investors.
Semyon Dukach, managing director of Techstars Boston, announced the 2017 cohort in a blog post on Monday and revealed that he will be stepping down after this class finishes. This confirms part of a rumor we reported on in the BostInno Beat last year that Dukach was planning to leave Techstars Boston.
"This is our eleventh program in Boston, and also my fourth and final one as Managing Director," he wrote. "I'm thrilled with the continuing growth and impact of our alumni companies, humbled by our supportive and growing mentor community, extremely excited about the new class, and especially proud of the fact that our continued efforts to increase diversity across the Techstars network are beginning to bear fruit, with six of these 13 companies being led by female CEOs."
Dukach did not immediately respond to a request on what his next plans are.
Here are this year's companies, with descriptions provided by Dukach:
- Alice’s Table: Alice’s Table provides women a scalable platform to build flexible businesses through flower arranging events.
- BrainSpec: BrainSpec is a health-tech company that enables the accurate, efficient and non-invasive diagnosis of brain disorders.
- Brizi: Remote-control augmented reality camera systems. Brizi helps to automate and monetize fan content in sports stadiums.
- CareAcademy: CareAcademy educates professional caregivers online to provide excellent care.
- Evolve: Advice in love, powered by machine learning. Evolve helps you learn from your dating habits so you can make smarter decisions.
- Lorem: Your personal web developer, ready on-demand in WordPress and Squarespace.
- Nix: Nix is developing a single-use hydration sensor that informs athletes’ hydration strategy: when to drink, what to drink, and how much to drink.
- OffGridBox: OffGridBox is an innovative, all-in-one, renewable energy and clean water system that enables independent living in any environment.
- RateGravity: RateGravity is redefining how consumers finance their home with technology that eliminates the need for the mortgage sales person and pairs consumers with the optimal local lender.
- SeaMachines: Autonomous self-driving technology for commercial & recreational boats.
- Solstice: Solstice radically expands access to clean energy by providing community-shared solar power to the 80 percent of Americans that cannot install a system on their rooftop.
- Tive: Tive provides companies with enhanced supply chain visibility and analysis of in-transit goods, powered by wireless sensors and cloud software.
- Voatz: Voatz is a mobile election voting platform, secured via smart biometrics, real-time ID verification and the blockchain for irrefutability.
