Young adults are growing up in an increasingly complex world, but they are proving resourceful with the solutions they’re dreaming up. From using AI and machine learning to solve technical issues within medical billing or starting a burgeoning media empire, this year’s group of Rhode Island-based entrepreneurs are finding new ways to innovate within their industries.
Here are the 2022 Rhode Island Inno Under 25.
David Chu, 21; Jialiang Zhou, 21; co-founders of Sift
Dreamt up at a Brown University hackathon and then pursued by students Jialiang Zhou and David Chu, Sift is a browser extension that automatically generates secondhand alternatives to clothes that shoppers are interested in online. The technology scans the images and keywords during an online search and finds secondhand alternatives that look similar.
Chu said the concept was able to win the Best Overall Hack at that contest but the idea picked up steam during Brown's entrepreneurial class ENGN 1010 with Danny Warshay and later the university’s summer incubator (B-Lab). Chu said their team is currently putting together the finishing touches for a closed beta sometime in December.
In October, the Sift founders were able to pitch at the Lively Pitch Night during RI Startup Week, which Zhou said provided their team with incredible early-stage mentorship.
Will Tondo, 25, co-founder of House Enterprises
Will Tondo has always loved creating, whether it be through writing or photography. But when the pandemic hit in 2020, he was furloughed and eventually laid off from his product job. Instead of searching for a new position, Tondo created his own by tapping into his passions. Alongside his college friend, Jake Zimmer, they created a podcast called “Beers, Business, and Balls” where they talked about craft beer, business news, and sports entertainment. Over the last two years, that one show has spawned House Enterprises, which includes more than 40 creators who produce a dozen shows on their network. Tondo said the House Enterprises homepage generates 50k unique visitors monthly and the company even teamed up with a creator at Barstool Sports to develop a beer recipe.
Tondo said he's hoping to expand the network in the coming year, and said the company recently acquired two college basketball websites to create a premier destination for hoops fans. Tondo said House Enterprises is also expanding with its platform, House Athletes, which aims to create an opportunity for local athletes to brand themselves, connect with their communities, and share their stories outside of their sport.
Sophia Ghauri, 21; Hailey Chen, 21; Cindy Zheng, 20; co-founders of Codified Health
Sophia Ghauri started working on Codified Health in 2021 after seeing the inefficiencies that plagued the medical billing system first hand. Connecting with Codified Health CFO Hailey Chen via Brown University’s startup accelerator and fellow student Cindy Chen, the trio are using AI to streamline the billing process.
Ghauri said their team has begun the development of their software and are working with multiple private practices to carry out an alpha test early next year. She said they hope to roll out the software on the market in the spring of 2023. According to Chen, Codified Health has a strong development team with significant experience developing machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms as well as clinical informatics.
Zheng said the company is currently looking to partner with private practices to both aggregate data for software testing and act as its first testing locations. She added that a core tenet of Codified Health’s work is the interoperability of its software between electronic health records and it should integrate seamlessly into private practices’ workflows.
“We want our product to provide real results for doctors and their private practices,” she said.
Robbie Felton, 23, CEO and co-founder of Intus Care
It’s been a huge year for Intus Care and its CEO and co-founder, Robbie Felton. The company's platform is designed for Programs for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) and Medicare-Medicaid integrated program quality management, and recently closed on a $14 million seed round.
As an undergrad at Brown University, Felton met his fellow Intus Care co-founders, Evan Jackson and Alex Rothberg, and started the company in 2019. As CEO, Felton is responsible for driving Intus Care’s strategy to provide data-driven interventions for elderly and disabled patients within long-term care.
Felton said the recent seed round closure will allow the company to “maximize greater technological opportunities through data, honing product strategy that will support a major scale-up of our current service offerings.” The company is also very focused on attracting, hiring, and retaining strong talent committed to its mission, he said.
Andrew Bikash, 23; Ben Grossman, 23; co-founders of Kanu
Kanu co-founders Ben Grossman and Andrew Bikash launched their app while they were students at URI and now the school is just one of 130 campuses nationwide that use the marketplace. Kanu, which allows students to create and scale their own small business, was started in 2019 and now hosts more than 1,000 students offering a product or service business. According to Bikash, the founding team finished their first year as full-time employees, and the results have exceeded expectations.
This year, in partnership with the Rhode Island Innovation Hub and RI Startup Week 2022, Kanu launched the first annual Rhode Island Collegiate Startup Competition. The event drew more than 40 participants with first place going to another URI-born business, Gansett Craft Chocolate.
