A little over a month after inducting 176 startups to its fall venture incubation program, Harvard Innovation Labs is opening doors to a new cohort—the second annual Launch Lab X program.
Unlike the venture incubation program that runs 12 weeks, Launch Lab X is a nine-month program. Selected startups participate in three 90-day sprints ending with a pitch and a 360-degree feedback session with investors, prospective customers and industry leaders.
But Launch Lab X and Harvard i-lab share one critical feature: They are both equity-free programs.
“When designing the Launch Lab X program, we had many conversations with Harvard alumni who were founding companies about the need for a startup accelerator that offered a longer-term, more tailored approach to helping them grow viable businesses,” Jodi Goldstein, executive director of Harvard Innovation Labs, said in a statement. “Seeing what the first Launch Lab X cohort accomplished in the last year validated our hypothesis that ventures could make significant progress in an accelerator that didn’t just last longer than a typical program, but also placed more of an emphasis on developing the leaders of the ventures.”
Along with office space and an opportunity to earn $100,000 in non-dilutive funding, participating ventures receive mentoring and a tailor-made roadmap designed to suit the specific needs of the business.
Here's a snapshot of this year's selection process: Launch Lab X's team received more than 150 applications representing nine Harvard schools. The applying startups were building a range of products and services, from an augmented reality system for assisting surgeons to an application that helps businesses in West Africa grow. Only 12 ultimately made the cut.
Take a look at the full cohort below:
ArbiLex: This startup brings predictive analytics and AI to International Arbitration to enhance decision-making by law firms and litigation funds.
Bensen AI: Bensen AI takes orders for restaurants on the phone, on voice assistants like Alexa, by text, and more—improving allocation of labor and recovering sales from missed calls.
Epigene Labs: This company is developing a technology platform for the aggregation and analysis of genomic data for drug discovery, with the ultimate objective of transforming biopharma into a truly data-driven industry for the benefit of cancer patients.
OZÉ: The company aggregates that data to provide context-specific recommendations. As entrepreneurs use OZÉ to learn about their business, OZÉ learns about them and uses this data to predict their credit risk and connect them to capital.
Proton.ai Proton.ai delivers Amazon-quality AI to B2B distributors that predicts what customers will buy, improving sales efficiency and driving revenue growth both online and with sales representatives.
Rise: the Membership: Rise supports the development of high-potential female leaders in their early career. Through community building, mentorship and targeted trainings, Rise combats isolation, anxiety and imposter syndrome — the most common barriers to women entering male-dominated fields and organizations.
Settlyt: Settlyt is an iOS app that helps friends make, track, and resolve everyday competition. Settlyt energizes friendships by making competition real and creating a home for competitive banter.
Smoodi: Smoodi makes people happier and healthier with on-demand, fresh and customized smoothies through its proprietary self-cleaning blending unit.
Surround Insurance: This startup believes that technology and design can help the insurance industry deliver more customer-centric products. The company’s first product will be a subscription starter pack of insurance for people living in cities who rent an apartment, rent or borrow cars or bikes and freelance.
UrSure: UrSure makes diagnostic tests that measure and improve adherence to HIV medications. The company has commercialized a lab-based test and completed development of a point of care version of their tests. UrSure's tests have been associated with a 75 percent improvement in adherence at the clinics using them nationwide.
Vincere Health: Vincere uses real-time incentives and behavioral nudges to motivate people to live healthier lives. The company encourages its users to make healthier decisions, saving them money and reducing their employer's health costs.
Z Imaging: Z Imaging has built an AR system that provides surgeons with intuitive, step-by-step guidance during surgeries, helping them operate more easily, accurately and safely.
