Like Boston’s other accelerators, Smarter in the City seeks to offer startups the resources they need to flourish. But what sets this program, which just welcomed its first cohort last April, apart is that it hand selects budding tech businesses from Boston’s underserved and often overlooked neighborhoods.
The majority of the startups chosen started in Dorchester, Mattapan or Roxbury, and many were founded by minority or female entrepreneurs. Smarter in the City offers every startup in its class access to workspace, a strong network of high tech and business mentors and the chance to showcase their innovations to investors and other companies.
Seven startups were accepted to the spring 2015 cohort. Here’s a look at the companies that will be working out of the Dudley Square-based accelerator starting in February, with details courtesy of Smarter in the City:
This startup seeks to unify underrepresented groups in the technology industry. They connect minority tech talent to workforce opportunities to both accelerate careers and support the high demand for employees in this sector. Specifically, they work with early career software engineering and IT professionals from underrepresented backgrounds and connect them to startup companies. CEO and founder Melissa James previously worked in talent acquisition at Sample6 Technologies, a biotech startup founded by MIT and Boston University graduates. James joined the company as they were in deep need for talent. She later worked as a technical recruiter on Google’s Tech Student Engagement team.
Dreamers
Dreamers, which was founded by four Boston College students, aims to provides our strong immigrant population with tools for better pathways to wider workforce opportunities. Through the use of data analytics and community outreach, and with the backing of academic research, they will help communities better understand their education and health disparities. With Web-based machine-learning algorithms, Dreamers will enhance and develop educational tools and skills needed to qualify for job training, advanced education, and improved health.
The health education company decodes mobile health (mHealth) and wearable technology through a combination of individual health consulting, technology research and health/nutrition education. They pride themselves on serving clients that would not traditionally have an interest in mobile health or wearable technology. Brandon Ransom, the co-founder and CEO, holds a masters in nutrition with a concentration in entrepreneurship and management from Tufts University.
This mobile app helps gym members find workout partners based on their activity preference and schedule. Personal trainers and gym owners can also use Fittus to create and manage relationships with their existing members. Joel Edwards, founder and CEO, was born and raised in Dorchester, and is now a Roxbury resident. He attended Boston Latin, and graduated from Suffolk University in 2014 with a major in entrepreneurship and a minor in advertising.
Door to the Outdoors
This organization inspires people of color to develop an adventurous and environmentally conscious connection with nature through adventure travel and inclusive online content that caters to communities who are underrepresented in the great outdoors. Founder Stanley O. King II was responsible for developing commercial strategies for life science research innovations developed at the University of Virginia, MIT and Harvard.
This startup is developing a web-based dispatch management system and dashboard that allows trucking companies to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their operations. Co-founder Rashad Sanders participated in the Startup Institute, where he was a part of the technical marketing track. He has held various sales and marketing roles with Boston-area startups, and holds an Inbound Marketing Certification from HubSpot.
This financial wellness firm is aimed at serving leading businesses, public sector organizations and nonprofits. Backed by 15 years of industry research, they are producing a platform to increase the financial literacy of employees. Previously, co-founder Jamila Smith was the employment manager for Goodwill Industries in Massachusetts.
Aerial view of Roxbury via Shutterstock
