A startup that creates a personalized matching process to connect buyers with their perfect home. An education nonprofit that works with middle schoolers worldwide to learn debate skills and meet new people. An app that detects offensive digital content and notifies users before they post or share it. These are just three of the 377 ventures taking part in Harvard Innovation Labs’ summer program.
The i-lab’s Summer Venture Program gives teams the resources to develop products, scale their ventures and collaborate with peers and mentors. Teams will have guidance from staff advisors, workshops with industry experts and social events with the broader Harvard community. They will also have access to resources for building physical and virtual products and services, including a maker space and podcast studio.
This is the first summer program that's been held in person since 2019. Similar to past years, the ventures will be divided into the following tracks: B2B/enterprise or high tech, consumer products and services, health and sciences and social impact.
“Summer is an incredibly vibrant time at the Harvard Innovation Labs, where hundreds of students dedicate their ‘breaks’ to starting and scaling ventures across industries,” said Matt Segneri, executive director of the i-lab, in a statement. “In the coming months, I look forward to seeing the ideas and innovations students develop in the months ahead, and hearing the ring of the i-lab gong when founders celebrate their progress: a new customer, employee hire, product launch, and so much more.”
To take part in this programming, ventures need to be led by students or alumni from one of Harvard’s 13 schools. The ventures in this year’s program represent dozens of industries, including life sciences, social impact, media, tech and finance.
Meet just a few of the ventures participating in this summer’s program:
- My Dental Key is an online dental education platform. It was founded by a group of Harvard School of Dental Medicine students. They want Dental Key to compliment classroom instruction with student-focused video demonstrations, illustrations, and step-by-step, best-practice instructions for basic dental procedures. The venture was a semi-finalist in the 2020 President’s Innovation Challenge.
- Limax Biosciences is developing a flexible adhesive hydrogel for advanced bleeding. The startup recently won a $75,000 prize at the 2022 Harvard President’s Innovation Challenge Awards.
- Dear Mémé provides a date-driven, semi-customized activity subscription kit service for seniors with dementia and their caregivers.
- Pathlight is building an AI-powered hiring platform to help jobseekers get tech roles and assist companies in recruiting diverse talent. Founder Lizzie Matusov recently spoke to Harvard Business School about building her company in Boston, moving back to the Bay Area and looking for design partners.
- HiHome was founded by James Parker and Tony Shu to simplify the home buying process. The startup uses homebuyers’ preferences to create personalized home recommendations and connects buyers with licensed agents.
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