Nineteen of Boston’s most promising early-stage MassChallenge startups won $1.65 million at Wednesday night’s MassChallenge awards ceremony. The startup accelerator’s top four winners — EBT Medical, Infinite Cooling, Mobile Pixels, and WatchTower Robotics — each won $100,000, while two more startups received $75,000 each, and nine other companies brought home $50,000 each.
Also, an additional $500,000 was awarded to two startups in partnership with CASIS & Boeing to fund research projects on the International Space Station. Firstly, PepsiCo awarded $150,000 to two startups developing innovative solutions in the business services and food and beverage spaces.
The nineteen startups were chosen from MassChallenge’s 26 finalists, which came from a pool of 128 startups that MassChallenge admitted to its Boston acceleration program in May.
“Everyone dreams of changing the world, but very few people set out to do it,” Kiki Mills Johnston, managing director of MassChallenge Boston, in a statement. “It’s been incredible to engage with top entrepreneurs as they develop solutions to dramatically improve our society – from the way we live to the way we work.”
Here are this year’s Boston winners (with descriptions provided by MassChallenge):
$100K Diamond Winners
EBT Medical — Canada | Healthcare / Life Sciences — Develops novel, discreet, non-invasive neurostimulation therapies for the enormous under-treated overactive bladder market.
Infinite Cooling — Massachusetts | Clean Tech — Disrupts how power plans use water by capturing and recycling evaporative losses in cooling towers.
Mobile Pixels — Massachusetts | General — Lets users pack their productivity anywhere they go—whether you’re working in a hotel room or a café.
WatchTower Robotics — Massachusetts | High Tech — Uses robots to help water pipe operators find leaks, save water, and protect infrastructure.
$75K Platinum Winners
Oxalo Therapeutics — Illinois | Healthcare / Life Sciences — Biotech company developing a novel drug to prevent kidney stones using breakthroughs in microbiome research.
SurgiBox — Massachusetts | Healthcare / Life Sciences — Creates the Operating Room in a Backpack, protecting patients and providers anytime and anywhere.
$50K Gold Winners
entrepreneurs
adaptation — Massachusetts | High Tech — Provides user experience-as-a-service for Salesforce.com customers.
Boston Materials LLC — Massachusetts | General — Creating a revolutionary three-dimensionally reinforced carbon fibre composite.
cleancult — Massachusetts | General — Makes household green cleaners that clean.
IQ Bar — Massachusetts | General — Makes and sells brain fuel nutrition bars packed with six functional nutrients and hits the Keto + Paleo + Vegan trifecta.
Magnomer — Massachusetts | Social Impact — Creates magnetic markers for zero-waste plastic packaging.
MTonomy — Massachusetts | General — Empowers media artists and businesses with a complete blockchain infrastructure to publish, license, and monetize their content directly.
PionEar — Massachusetts | Healthcare / Life Sciences — Revolutionizing treatment of ear infections with minimally invasive, antifouling, drug delivery ear tube implants.
Project Alianza — Massachusetts | Social Impact — Fills the rural education gap in Nicaragua by building, developing, and staffing robust primary schools on privately owned coffee farms.
VitaScan — Massachusetts | Social Impact — Provides fast, accurate, and mobile nutrition deficiency testing.
CASIS and Boeing Prize
Kernal Biologics — Massachusetts | Healthcare / Life Sciences — Developing onco-selective mRNA therapeutics for cancer.
MicroQuin — England | Healthcare / Life Sciences — Creates targeted delivery of chemotherapy with a fast time-to-market.
PepsiCo Prize
Makomas — Massachusetts | General — Excites palates with authentic, delicious, and nutrient-rich hibiscus, moringa, and baobab beverages.
Pumpspotting — Maine | Social Impact — Social app and global community connecting breastfeeding women over milk, motherhood, and the best places to nurse and pump.
Entrepreneurial Journey
The road to success is never easy, and for these 19 startups, it was paved with countless challenges and setbacks. Yet, they refused to be deterred, embracing each obstacle as an opportunity for growth and innovation.
Their journey exemplifies the essence of entrepreneurship – resilience, adaptability, and unwavering belief in one’s ideas. As aspiring entrepreneurs, their triumphs remind us never to shy away from pursuing our dreams, no matter how daunting the journey may seem. For in the pursuit of our passions lies the potential to create meaningful change, leaving an indelible mark on the world.
Wrap Up
In conclusion, the Boston Startups MassChallenge’s journey is a testament to the relentless spirit of entrepreneurship and the transformative power of perseverance.
The competition was fierce, with 128 startups vying for recognition and only 19 making it to the finals. Yet, amidst the stiff competition and daunting odds, these entrepreneurs stood resilient, fueled by their unwavering belief in their ideas and the unwavering support of their teams.
The fact that only a fraction of the participating startups made it to the finals underscores the harsh reality of the entrepreneurial landscape. It’s a world where success is earned through hard work, resilience, and the ability to navigate through challenges with grace and determination.
However, it’s also a world full of boundless opportunities and the potential to turn dreams into reality. As we reflect on the journey of these 19 finalists, let us be inspired by their courage, tenacity, and unwavering commitment to their vision. And let us remember that in the face of stiff competition, our resilience and belief in ourselves ultimately propels us towards success.