It's a big semester at the Harvard Innovation Lab. According to the accelerator’s site, there are 111 ventures out of stealth mode at the iLab this semester - almost double the size of its previous bunch and its largest cohort yet.
Typically, I debrief you guys on all of the ventures at the iLab at the start of every semester. I'm not going to do that this time. With 111 startups, it would be a torturous experience for you and me both. However, I will fill you in on 13 of the latest ventures I'm watching this semester.
It's better this way, trust me. Take a look at a selection of the coolest companies at 125 Western Ave. right now.
Aster is developing a mobile app enabling anonymous, text-based peer counseling for mental illnesses among college students.
This venture is working on an app that uses gamification and social engagement to help diabetics monitor their glucose, tap into a support network and keep in contact with their doctors.
Dasan offers monthly tea subscriptions, delivering high-quality artisanal teas to drinkers’ doors, as well as promoting similar lifestyle choices, like meditation.
Dignify is making a mobile platform through which refugees around the world can earn income by doing digital micro-work on their phones, transforming their typically idle hours spent waiting in lines into opportunity.
Fastcart wants to make shopping more efficient, allowing people to scan items with their smartphones as they shop and checkout directly through the app. No waiting in line needed.
Forget-Me-Not is a mobile app that prevents the awkwardness of forgetting people’s names at networking events, during work-related rendezvous and in the real world. It will issue alerts when you’re in close proximity with a networking contact.
Limitless is making the first laptop with hardware components - its processor, hard drive and memory - based in the cloud, making it run faster and letting people pay only for their usage.
NeighborGood plans to match volunteers with people in their area who are disabled, chronically ill or elderly, so they can help these individuals do housework and run errands.
This startup hopes to leverage low-cost medtech and underutilized members of the healthcare workforce to make urgent and chronic care available to underserved patients via phone or in the comfort of their own homes.
This startup is working to combat the world’s obsession with plastic. The team is trying to genetically engineer microbes that would break down plastic waste into valuable biomolecules.
Rooted plans to make sustainable, protein-packed snacks using algae. It hopes to help solve the global food crisis with an environmentally friendly food option.
SmartSwipe is working on a universal employee verification system using smartphone fingerprint recognition technology. Ideally, it would replace worker IDs, badges, passwords and other security methods currently employed.
This venture is developing an interactive map-based solution that would allow independent travelers and companies make informed safety decisions when they’re in unfamiliar areas.
Zorpads is bringing NASA-tested technology to consumers… to solve shoe odor issues. It’s making odor-absorbing, patent-pending shoe inserts that stick to the bottom of the insole of any kind of shoe.
Image via Shutterstock/spirit of america.
