Harvard Innovation Labs has selected 19 ventures from over 200 applicants to participate in Launch Lab X, its global alumni accelerator.
Launch Lab X, launched by Harvard in 2018, is an equity-free, virtual eight-month accelerator. It’s open to ventures piloted by Harvard alumni from around the globe and any industry. It provides an environment for founders to expand their perspectives while immersing themselves among entrepreneurs from various backgrounds.
The alumni accelerator offers tactical workshops, personalized coaching, pitch feedback sessions, founder talks, leadership circles, and an opportunity to compete in the Harvard President’s Innovation Challenge.
All workshops, coaching, and services are offered in online Zoom sessions for participating ventures. However, not everything is virtual for the alumni-led ventures. LLX provides a two-day orientation in early October so ventures can connect and network before participating virtually.
“From rethinking how technology can be used for election voting to exploring how AI can help improve elementary education access and quality, 2024–2025 Launch Lab X participants are working on complex and meaningful issues in their respective industries,” Thara Pillai, director of alumni programs and engagement at the Harvard Innovation Labs, said in a statement.
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Over 200 alumni-led Harvard ventures applied to participate in the accelerator. The ventures accepted to the accelerator are from six countries and represent eight Harvard schools. For the third consecutive year, a majority of the LLX ventures are women-led, with 70% of the ventures having a woman founder or co-founder.
Below is the list and a description of each venture provided by Harvard Innovation Labs.
- Adaptive Reader: Transforming literature for grades 7–12 into multiple languages and reading levels.
- Agents of Discovery Inc.: Using the latest innovations in augmented reality and interactive education to fully engage kids in real-world contextualized education.
- BallotBox: Building an e-voting platform designed to support both remote and onsite voting.
- FoodNiche-ED: Leveraging technology to empower teachers to introduce nutrition education in the classroom.
- GoAnd Slay: Combining AI-driven study plans with live online classes to empower non-native English speakers to communicate more effectively and achieve socioeconomic mobility.
- Gridbrid: Helping companies simplify the process, maximize profits, and reduce the risks of developing renewable energy power plants.
- Growbie: Creating a networking bootcamp for international students building careers in the United States.
- Halo Braid: Reducing hair braiding time from six hours to minutes, empowering hair stylists to double their business.
- Kaüna: Building the ultimate population health management platform for chronic kidney disease.
- Kura: Offering efficient, seamless, and reliable financial support for relatives and beneficiaries living abroad.
- Launch Girls: Developing entrepreneurship and economic empowerment programming for adolescent girls across Southeast Asia and Africa.
- LivXp AG: Giving sports fans a chance to create lifetime memories through access to interactive experiences from their favorite teams and idols.
- NextStep Health: Cultivating evidence-based mental health resilience through educational media and care coordination.
- PathCision Medicine: Developing cures for complex diseases that are currently incurable, including cancer.
- Saturday Art Class: Unleashing the creative potential of one of the world's largest marginalized child populations by developing social-emotional skills through visual arts education.
- Scientific Financial Systems: Developing AI-enabled tools to help investment management teams identify opportunities faster.
- Slam Out Loud: Using the visual and performing arts to enable children in India from disadvantaged backgrounds to find their voice.
- Unlock Education: Leveraging testing data to support students with personalized learning paths, enhance teachers' instructional delivery, and provide administrators with the insights required to make structural decisions.
- Vocadian: Using voice AI to predict and manage fatigue risk, empowering a safer, healthier, and more productive workforce.
