After an intense week of pitching and partying in D.C., eight of the best tech startups in the world, narrowed down from 64 will come together on Saturday for the finals of the Challenge Cup Festival, hosted by local tech incubator 1776. The four education and energy finalists were chosen earlier this week, and now their counterparts in the fields of healthcare and smart cities have been chosen as well. All eight companies have won a $50,000 prize just for making to the finals, with $150,000 on the line tomorrow. Check out a bit about the four healthcare and smart city startups completing the bracket for Saturday.
Healthcare
Cancer IQ, a Chicago-based startup won the domestic healthcare spot, impressive especially since it was only the runner up at the Chicago regional competition. Cancer IQ offers a web service to personalize cancer care using data to help match patients based on similarity of cases. It then uses proprietary algorithms to to help doctors identify possible treatments and even help detect those at high risk beforehand. It could let smaller or rural hospitals reproduce genetic data diagnostics done in the best hospitals in the world at a fraction of the cost and time.
MediSafe Project was born in Tel Aviv with the simple purpose of helping people remember when and how to take medication. Billed as a "medication management platform," it basically sends personalized reminders to a patient about when to take medication, with options for notification for family members if the user forgets. It also offers communication with doctors and tools to help reinforce taking medication properly. It's already being used in the U.S. and has been translated in 13 languages.
Smart Cities
Handup was first set up in San Francisco, as a platform to donate directly to a neighborhood's homeless or other needy people. It also allows donations to individuals in need using the Internet or even by text. Online profiles tell the stories of those who are getting helped and even share updates on their lives. With all of the funds going directly to providing food, medicine and housing, HandUp relies on users also donating to support the company as well as corporate sponsors and nonprofits.
Mellowcab is a South African startup that makes and operates electric mini-cabs. The company wants to make its cabs a cheaper option for transportation, getting revenue from selling advertising space on the vehicle rather than higher rates for passengers. The cabs have been certified to operate internationally and currently it operates in cooperation with three South African cities and has signed a deal with Uber.
The final winner will be decided by the judges Saturday evening with another winner being chosen by audience votes.
