From childcare to urban planning, these startups take AI to new areas

Artificial intelligence is finding its way in all kinds of areas. A Cambridge-based AI-focused venture studio has a summer cohort of startups taking AI even further.

For the second year running, venture studio C10 is welcoming a group of startups focused on new ways to use AI. 

C10 accepted 17 startups from over 180 applications this year. The final list of 17 was selected for their outstanding innovation and impact at the intersection of AI and climatetech, healthcare, life sciences, fintech, and more, C10 said.

“At C10 we think that enduring value is created at the intersection of multiple disciplines,” said CEO and founder Shahid Azim. 

Over the next 10 weeks, the startups will collaborate with C10 labs staff, mentors, and venture architects to refine their ideas, culminating in a showcase later in September. 

C10’s cohort is not only diverse in scope but also in makeup. The current cohort is made of startups from around the world, boasting ventures from as far as Puerto Rico and Pakistan. Additionally, 35% of the ventures in the cohort have female CEOs, and 76% of them have CEOs who represent a minority.

AI has found its way into so many everyday conveniences, from search engine enhancers to chatbot producers. Yet, all uses of AI feel vaguely similar. The summer cohort at C10 brings the potential of AI into new areas, one in which it is used as a public service and enhances industries like privacy, policy and ocean conservation.

“The real interesting thing that is emerging is that as these teams build systems and tools that are deeply integrated and AI-first, there are fundamentally new insights from a user experience, as well as ways to capture value in these verticals that are inherently unique to these startups,” said Azim 

Below are some of the ways that the C10 summer cohort is leveraging AI. 

AI in Urban Planning:

Artifex AI uses AI to process information and geospatial analytics to “transform complex municipal data into actionable insights.” Artifex AI is designed to minimize risk for urban developers and provides them with insights into property trends, zoning histories, and infrastructure developments  

AI in Child Development:

AI Wover uses AI to “redefine” baby monitoring by scanning a baby's poses and movements to provide more insight into the child's motor function. The app monitors when the baby is asleep, awake, crying, and out of view of the camera. The app gives weekly insights into the baby’s sleeping patterns and posture activity, as well as insights into the baby’s milestones. 

AI in Privacy and Reputation Management:

VerdaAI helps to “protect reputations” by preventing people from using unauthorized deepfakes by creating invisible watermarks for online property. 

AI in Public Policy:

PolicyMind aims to help policymakers craft more effective and informed policies by using AI to identify problems, comb through past policies, draft new ones, summarize new insights, and help measure progress and support. 

AI in Genomics:

Nurture Genomics helps parents and physicians uncover hidden genomic risks for newborns and small children for over 400 actionable, childhood-onset, genetic conditions. 

AI in Climatech:

SeaDeep is using advanced AI to gain more insight into underwater data to help with mapping monitoring, and maintaining ocean and subsea infrastructure.

Here is a list of all 17 startups in C10’s summer cohort: