Startups Win Big at the 2015 MassChallenge Boston Awards Ceremony
On October 28th, the full power of the Boston Innovation community was in high-gear for the 2015 MassChallenge Boston Awards Ceremony. Over 1,500 entrepreneurs, philanthropists, corporate executives, and more gathered at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center to experience a a showcase of the 128 MassChallenge Boston startups, pitches from the top 26, and speeches from DraftKings CEO and Co-Founder Jason Robins, Governor Charlie Baker and Mayor Marty Walsh.
During the 2015 accelerator, entrepreneurs did everything to take their venture to the next level. From attending pitch workshops to meeting with over 700 mentors to boost all aspects of their business (while drinking 4,334 gallons of coffee!) — these startups were primed to make a huge impact at #MCAwards15.
Kicked off by an astonishing performance by Lady Gaga’s main piano player, Brockett Parsons, who used a keyboard assembled by MC Finalist PianoArc, and an upbeat dance performance by dance troupe Phunk Phenomenon, #MCAwards15 was the grand finale of four-months of hard-work, hustle, and drive from 128 of the world’s most promising startups.
The event began with a brief overview MassChallenge’s truly active 2015 year. Over 2,250 startups applied to join MassChallenge accelerators in Boston and London. Of the 128 selected in Boston, a record 44% had at least one female founder. MADE@ MassChallenge opened its doors to hardware entrepreneurs in March, providing manufacturing expertise, rapid prototyping equipment and design space in Boston.
Furthermore, our CEO, John Harthorne took the stage to introduce a message from Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, which announced an expansion of the MC global accelerator network.
Harthorne and Barkat detailed plans to launch a MassChallenge accelerator in Jerusalem in 2016. John Harthorne also announced that MC has advanced to the next step toward launching a program in Mexico.
“There’s no reason Boston shouldn’t be a tech hub,”
Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts then took the stage to inject a dose of inspiration into the crowd. Baker described MassChallenge as an indicator of what makes Massachusetts so special, “wicked smart people who want to make huge change.” He then described how MA entrepreneurs create a “bigger, better, and different way of thinking about what is possible.”
Following up Governor Baker’s keynote was Mayor Marty Walsh. Mayor Walsh discussed how each MC startup has a piece of Boston in their soul — every startup is in some way, an ambassador for the entrepreneurial spirit that Boston possesses.
Our headline keynote of the night was Jason Robins, CEO & Founder of daily fantasy startup DraftKings. Robins took the opportunity to discuss his Boston startup story and of how the unique access and support that the innovation community in Boston provides helps early-stage companies thrive. “There’s no reason Boston shouldn’t be a tech hub,” said Robins as he firmly comitted his stance on helping to create a flourishing consumer tech space in the city.
The Awards Ceremony capped off a truly active year for MassChallenge. Over 2,250 startups applied to join MassChallenge accelerators in Boston and London. Of the 128 selected in Boston, a record 44% had at least one female founder. MADE@ MassChallenge opened its doors to hardware entrepreneurs in March, providing manufacturing expertise, rapid prototyping equipment and design space in Boston.
The 128 startups from MassChallenge Boston now join an esteemed group of alumni, which includes 835 companies from around the world. Since 2010, startups accelerated by MassChallenge have raised $1.1 billion in funding, generated $520 million in revenue and created 6,500 jobs.
Here is the full list of winners — congratulations to all!
$100K Diamond Winners
USA: CT | Healthcare / Life Sciences
Biorasis is developing a biosensor that will vastly improve the quality of life of diabetics and restore their active lifestyle.
Estrenon (@estrenon)
Mexico | Social Impact
Estrenon pioneers the “reuse clothing movement” in Latin America through dignifying stores that empower the people to improve their lives.
Hyliion (@hyliion)
USA: MA | Energy / Clean Tech
Hyliion is creating an add-on hybrid module for tractor trailers that will reduce fuel consumption by 30% with a payback of under a year.
Sanitation and Health Rights in India (SHRI) (@Sanrights)
USA: MA | Social Impact
SHRI fights alongside communities to end outdoor defecation in an ongoing struggle for health equity and social and economic justice.
$50K Gold Winners
AquaFresco (@AquaFrescoLab)
USA: MA | Energy / Clean Tech
AquaFresco is developing the next generation close-loop laundry technology that regenerates 95% of wastewater.
Hydroswarm (@hydroswarm)
USA: MA | High Tech
Teams of small, autonomous, underwater robots + cheap sensors + modern mesh networks = a revolution in maritime commerce and security.
LaunchPad Medical (@launchpadmed)
USA: MA | Healthcare / Life Sciences
LaunchPad Medical brings to you Tetranite, the world’s first synthetic bone adhesive to stabilize metal hardware and repair fractured bone.
Lumii (@LumiiDisplay)
USA: MA | High Tech
Glasses-free 3D that works. Lumii light field displays: intuitive depth in the native format of your brain.
USA: MA | High Tech
Restaurants and Suppliers rely on fax-phones-email to manage 1B orders a year; Nix86’s B2B cloud solution modernizes it all with ease.
Obz Design (@obz_design)
USA: MA | Social Impact
Obz Design is changing global healthcare: better anemia diagnostics today, 600 million healthier children tomorrow!
Recon Therapeutics (@recontherapy)
USA: MA | Healthcare / Life Sciences
Recon Therapeutics has developed a new drug delivery technology that simplifies reconstitution of a lyophilized drug with solvent at the POC.
Six Foods (@SixFoods)
USA: MA | General
Six Foods is normalizing insects as a sustainable food. Try Chirps, a cricket chip that has more protein per serving than an egg.
Spoiler Alert (@MySpoilerAlert)
USA: MA | Social Impact
Spoiler Alert is a B2B marketplace and reporting tool to help businesses manage wasted food, improve margins, and fight food insecurity.
TVision Insights (@TVisionInsights)
USA: MA | General
At TVision Insights, we leverage state of art computer vision technology to redefine TV rating for new generation TV
Virtudent (@Virtudent)
USA: MA | Healthcare / Life Sciences
Virtudent — bringing high quality dental care right to your office.
XactSense (@XactSense)
USA: RI | Social Impact
XactSense builds LIDAR scanning UAVs for the $270B geospatial industry our scanning robots make the next generation of 3D maps in minutes.
In-Kind Silver Winners
Ajiri Tea (@AjiriTea)
USA: PA | General
Ajiri aims to create a sustainable cycle of employment and education. And, of course, a delicious cup of Kenyan Coffee and Tea!
BovControl (@BovControl)
Brazil | High Tech
Empowering livestock ranchers with reliable herd information that improves efficiency and boost profitability.
Cogentis Therapeutics (@cogentistx)
USA: MD | Healthcare / Life Sciences
Cogentis Therapeutics is working on a novel and potential disease-modifying peptide therapeutic for Alzheimer’s, FTD, and Parkinson’s.
danger!awesome (@dangerawesome)
USA: MA | General
Design and fabrication makerspace producing short-run manufacturing, customization, prototyping, collateral, and event swag for B2B and B2C.
USA: NH | General
Orange Photonics LightLab: affordable, fast marijuana potency analyzer. An essential tool for the $10 billion legal marijuana industry.
Pavlok (@pavlok)
USA: MA | High Tech
Current fitness bands track the steps you take — -but they don’t change your behavior. Pavlok CHANGES behavior-and measurably forms habits.
RubyRide (@RideRuby)
USA: AZ | General
End to end healthcare transportation that combines amazing service, trustworthy reliability, and complete accountability.
SidelineSwap (@SidelineSwap)
USA: NY | High Tech
SidelineSwap is a marketplace where people connect to buy, sell, and trade sporting goods.
Unshrinkit (@Unshrinkit)
USA: MA | General
Finally, the emergency sweater saver is here. Unshrinkit helps unshrink wool clothing that accidentally shrunk in the washer or dryer.
World Tech Makers (@worldtechmaker)
Colombia | Social Impact
World Tech Makers is the first on-site and immersive coding bootcamp in Latin America. We teach anyone how to code from scratch in 12 weeks.
CASIS-Boeing Prize for Technology in Space
($500,000 total — allocation to be based on project proposals):
USA: CT | Healthcare / Life Sciences
Biorasis is developing a biosensor that will vastly improve the quality of life of diabetics and restore their active lifestyle.
LaunchPad Medical (@launchpadmed)
USA: MA | Healthcare / Life Sciences
LaunchPad Medical brings to you Tetranite, the world’s first synthetic bone adhesive to stabilize metal hardware and repair fractured bone.
(Click to see the full list of 128 MassChallenge Boston Finalists)
(click to see list of 2015 MassChallenge UK Winners)
Applications for MassChallenge Boston, MassChallenge Israel and MassChallenge UK open in February 2016. Entrepreneurs can pre-register for 2016 programs and register for updates at masschallenge.org.
- Jibran Malek — MassChallenge Marketing Manager
Originally published at masschallenge.org.
