Techstars Kansas City hosted its Demo Day Thursday, highlighting a variety of innovations, from an algae-based air purifier to software that can predict diseases in animals.
The three-month accelerator mentored 10 startups, including five from the Kansas City metro. Here are the pitch highlights:
Afloat, Kansas City
Nutshell: Afloat is mobile gifting platform that helps consumers find meaningful, curated gifts and support local brands. It also offers same-day or next-day delivery to the intended recipient.
Highlight: During an eight-week period and zero marketing spend, Afloat’s field ambassadors signed up more than 2,000 users and 20 Kansas City-area stores for the mobile app. Sixty percent of the shoppers made repeat purchases. Afloat now is targeting five new markets: Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Charleston and Nashville.
AlgenAir, Baltimore, Maryland
Nutshell: Indoor air can be 100-times more polluted than the air outside, and people typically spend 90% of their day indoors. AlgenAir developed a natural air purifier that uses algae to create oxygen and remove carbon dioxide, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds.
Highlight: AlgenAir’s system is more efficient than having 25 house plants to produce oxygen.
Rate Pro, formerly PMI Rate Pro, Overland Park
Nutshell: Rate Pro saves homebuyers money and makes mortgage lenders’ jobs easier. It can be time consuming to compare quotes from private mortgage insurance providers, so lenders typically just get one quote. That leads to homeowners overpaying by $5,000 on average over the life of their loan. Rate Pro developed a proprietary quoting tool that allows lenders to easily compare all six national private mortgage insurance providers in about six seconds.
Highlight: Rate Pro’s technology has processed more than 1 million quotes, and it now has more than 400 paying users.
PlaBook, Kansas City
Nutshell: PlaBook developed innovative technology that uses artificial intelligence, natural language processing and speech recognition to teach children how to read. The technology can analyze a child’s progress, recommend books and interventions, and includes a parent and teacher dashboard.
Highlight: By fourth grade, three out of four students in the U.S. read below grade level, which leads to a high drop-out rate. PlaBook’s founder Philip Hickman struggled to read in third grade until his grandmother helped him. Her gift changed the course of his life, he said, and led to him earning five graduate degrees, a doctorate and pursuing a 20-year career in education.
GoodRoads, Charlotte, North Carolina
Nutshell: The U.S. spends billions of dollars annually repairing roads, but they still have a D rating from the American Society of Civil Engineers. If cities and states focused on preventative maintenance, however, it would save money and lead to better roads. GoodRoads’ developed data collection devices and software that can deliver road assessments for cities. The devices use artificial intelligence and are placed in vehicles to record photos and ride quality data.
Highlight: GoodRoads can deliver road assessments in days, not years, which can help cities build an effective preventative maintenance plan. Some of its customers include Philadelphia; Mount Airy, North Carolina; and Abertis, a toll road operator.
MyAnIML, Overland Park
Nutshell: MyAnIML’s patent-pending technology is focused on predicting diseases in animals, such as cattle. It uses computer vision, artificial intelligence and strategically placed cameras to monitor individual animals and can send alerts to farmers if it identities an animal that’s getting sick. With pinkeye, for example, MyAnIML can detect changes in the muzzle three to four days before the infection affects the rest of the body.
Highlight: The average profit margin for dairy and beef farmers is tight – about $100 to $150 per animal. When the animals catch diseases, profits can quickly wither. Early detection allows farmers to start treatment sooner and isolate animals to prevent the spread of infection to the rest of the herd.
Telememory, Kansas City, Kansas
Nutshell: Telememory developed a digital companion called MoodSpark, which combines a smart display with a digital assistant. MoodSpark is geared toward seniors and can detect patterns of stress and sadness. It can respond to one’s mood and improve it by using personalized conversational queues, video visits from family and friends and content suggestions designed to spark emotional memory recall.
Highlight: Millions of Americans suffer from both chronic loneliness and dementia, which can be lethal. Current digital assistants are difficult to personalize and aren’t designed to support companionship.
BuckUp, Baltimore, Maryland
Nutshell: Every U.S. family trashes 400 iPhones-worth of electronic waste, but a majority of electronic devices can be reused or recycled. BuckUp created a fair and easy way to sell used electronic devices. Sellers use the BuckUp app to describe the condition and other details about their device to get a trade-in estimate and the address to the nearest locker. Once they drop off the device at the locker, a technician runs diagnostics and a history check and wipes the data. The customer is paid within minutes via CashApp, Venmo, Zelle or Paypal. BuckUp also uses data analytics to track market price fluctuation in real time.
Highlight: A goal is to give people quick access to cash so they don’t have to rely on predatory payday loans.
NeuroGeneces, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Nutshell: NeuroGeneces developed a sleep headband and app that safely enhances a person’s memory retention by syncing audio stimulation with brain waves during the ultra sleep stage, which is when memory consolidation occurs. Its proprietary algorithms can detect when a user enters the ultra sleep stage. Early clinical trial results found a 22% average improvement in overnight memory retention.
Highlight: NueroGeneces’ technology could be used to enhance memory retention when taking tests, such as the bar exam. The company has received interest from major test providers in becoming sales distribution partners.
Gradient Health, Durham, North Carolina
Nutshell: Gradient Health developed a web browser-based 3D medical image labeling tool and has partnered with more 1,000 hospitals to create a catalogue of 300 million radiology cases. Gradient Health’s software uses machine learning to help radiologists with their workflow and can help trim their labeling time in half.
Highlight: Gradient Health’s offering can help research and development teams gain access to valuable data for their projects. Medical data traditionally is difficult to access, which can delay research projects by 8 months to a year.
