Meet the companies working out of AlphaLab Gear!
Earlier this summer, we welcomed a new group of companies to work out of AlphaLab Gear. Some of these companies are a part of our pilot program, some are receiving grants, and some are taking on our traditional investment. Over the last several months, we’ve been working closely with these founders on refining their products, optimizing their sales and marketing strategies, and introducing them to our networks of alumni, mentors, and partners.
These 9 companies are exceptional in their drive and dedication, but also in their desire to address real-world problems with tangible devices and hardware solutions. From wearable technology that motivates social connection to edible dissolvable packaging, these companies are leading the way in designing impactful physical products.
Cassian Solutions, Inc.
Website: cassiansolutions.com
Founder(s): Collin Wolf, Chris Corsi, Edwin Mellett, Joe Corsi
Description: Cassian Solutions is solving the problem of medication adherence and data collection for specialty pharmacies. We have built a phone case that stores and dispenses medications, so patients always have their medication on them.
Cassian Solutions is a connected care company that puts patients in charge of their medication regimens. We accomplish this by providing a novel phone case that houses and dispenses medications so medications are always with the patient, and the care team can receive actionable insights to inform patient care.
How we started: Our Co-founder, Collin Wolf realized the challenges of data collection in specialty care during a job he held at a specialty pharmacy. With this problem, we developed our product, MediTrak, during a pharmacy hackathon at the University of Pittsburgh. In developing a focused solution addressing the challenges in specialty care, we also addressed one of the largest issues in healthcare, medication adherence. Our journey in creating an adherence application and phone case that stores and dispenses medications started by taping a few Pez dispensers to the back of a phone. We’ve come up with a bit more of an innovative solution since, albeit less colorful.
The problem: Specialty pharmacies help patients taking expensive and complicated medications for diseases such as HIV, Hep-C, and cancer. The problem is patients aren’t taking their medication and the pharmacies have to call each patient to collect the medication adherence information they need.
The solution: We built a phone case that stores and dispenses medications. Patients always have their phone on them, so now they’ll always have their medication on them. We have a software platform including a mobile app that pairs through Bluetooth with our phone case. This allows us to seamlessly collect the data specialty pharmacies need, while simultaneously dispensing the patient’s life-saving medications.
Connect Wolf, Inc
Website: www.connectwolf.com
Founder(s): Jennifer Sydeski Hurd, Adam Eccles, Daniel Poland, Michael Schwerin, Jonisha Pollard, and Ben Rodack.
Description: Moms need to check on their babies, so Connect Wolf is creating a virtual version of peeking into the nursery. A wearable band for baby reads where they are and if they are okay, and an app for mom lets her check-in at any time from anywhere.
How we started: The day my son was disconnected from all his monitors, and the NICU nurse handed him to me to take home, I decided I was absolutely not going to be the mom who freaks out that her, once medically fragile, baby has no machines ready to throw alarms when a problem hits. Nope, I was chill and free-range and this tiny creature would be fine. And he is. But then I met other moms and quickly found that even mothers of full-term always-healthy babies were actually *that mom*, I started to rethink how harshly I was judging my instincts.
The reason I kept feeling driven to check on my son wasn’t because of our medical adventure. It was because ancient moms who didn’t check on their baby lost their baby and it was because I had grown to expect constant connection since I could see how many steps my partner across the country had taken today through our fitness app and what my college roommate had eaten for lunch through Instagram. When away from my baby — the one human who I was supposed to have the strongest connection with in the world, he was the only one I had total radio silence with.
I had a background in bioengineering/biotech and had worked at start-ups before, so I found a few folks with complementary skills who were interested in solving this problem and we got to work.
The problem: Moms have the evolutionarily driven need to check on their babies and the modern expectation of connection from a world where we can see how many steps our partner has taken today and what our college roommate had for lunch. That ancient need and modern expectation clash against the realities of separation for new moms. Some are overwhelmed by worry and others are pained by disconnection, but all share the same problem: moms need to check on their babies and they need to be about to do it from anywhere at any time.
The solution: Precious Connect is a band for your baby’s ankle or wrist that detects where they are and if they’re okay. Like a virtual peek into the nursery, mom’s app delivers that information whenever she wants to check-in at any time and from anywhere.
DisSolves, Inc.
Website: www.dissolves.net
Founder(s): Jared Raszewski
Description: DisSolves makes edible, dissolvable packaging from natural, vegan ingredients that we use to package individual servings of powdered, food products in easy-to-use pods. By using our packaging, we can help food and beverage brands make their powdered products more convenient and sustainable than ever before.
How we started: DisSolves started in a product design class at the University of Pittsburgh, and I liked the idea so much that I never stopped. I started out making sample films out of orange Jello-O in my college apartment. Since then, I have gone through about 1000 formulations, but most of my research is still done in the kitchen. Throughout the development process, I have remained committed to the idea, “if you are going to be feeding it to people then you should be able to make it in the kitchen.”
The problem: There are roughly 15 billion servings of drink mixes (protein powder, instant coffee, hot chocolate mix) consumed every year in the United States; they are popular products, but they have terrible packaging. They come in bulky tubs where the consumer has to waste time measuring their servings or in hard-to-open, plastic pouches that leave behind piles of sticky trash. Right now, people have to settle; they are forced to choose between convenience and sustainability. DisSolves is challenging the perception that sustainability has to be hard, and that convenience is inherently wasteful.
The solution: DisSolves makes edible, dissolvable packaging aimed at making powdered food products easier to use and more sustainable. We work with food and beverage companies, and we package individual servings of their powdered products in dissolvable pods. In our pods, the end-consumer simply drops the whole pod in water and mixes; there is no measuring, no mess, no opening packets, no trash.
EKTO VR
Website: ektovr.com
Founder(s): Brad Factor
Description: EKTO VR is developing a mobility solution that virtually transforms 10 by 10-foot spaces into limitless worlds for the over 10 million users in the $3B Virtual Reality market. Our motorized wearables gently oppose your motion like an invisible treadmill, empowering you to walk naturally through virtual environments, while keeping you safe and motion sickness free.
How we started: What do Disneyland, Universal Studios, and SeaWorld have in common? Motion simulator rides! As I child, I was fascinated by flying through space with R2D2 on Star Tours, joining Doc Brown on a Back to the Future adventure, and exploring the depths of the Bermuda Triangle in a submarine — I literally felt like I was really there, actually part of the story. Years later with the rebirth of Virtual Reality, I saw the potential for the same immersive storytelling that I loved, now on an individual level. While before you were mostly along for the ride, VR lets you actively participate in the narrative. But something was missing — the ability to move through these virtual worlds as we do in the real world. The available solutions fell short; they didn’t feel natural, protect you from walls, or prevent motion sickness. But I had an idea on how to achieve all three. So, while attending a robotics graduate program at Carnegie Mellon University, I laid the groundwork for our technical capabilities and performed customer discovery through the NSF I-Corps site program. When I graduated in December of 2017, we had a technically feasible solution with an identified market opportunity, and so EKTO VR was born.
The problem: Imagine being trapped in a 10 by 10-foot room with no way out. Sounds like a nightmare? It’s reality for Virtual Reality users. Despite the limitless nature of virtual environments, we’re limited by our available physical space, and bumping into walls serves as a stark reminder. The current solutions are difficult to learn, feel unnatural, and cause motion sickness.
The solution: EKTO VR is developing a wearable mobility solution that empowers you to move freely and naturally through virtual environments. Our wearables look like motorized roller skates, but they act like an invisible treadmill that gently draws you to the center of your 10 by 10-foot space, keeping you safely away from the walls. And because you’re actually moving around, we make sure that your eyes and inner ears agree, keeping you motion sickness free.
ESTAT Actuation
Website: www.estatactuation.com
Founder(s): Stuart Diller, Carmel Majidi, Randy Eager
Description: ESTAT Actuation is using new electroadhesive clutch technology developed at Carnegie Mellon University to dramatically reduce the weight, size, and cost of actuators. Our goal is to provide engineers with powerful actuation hardware that makes their robot or machine more dynamic, capable, and affordable.
How we started: Building wearable robots is hard work… Or is it? During his Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon, Stuart found that he could create robotic components using flexible and stretchy materials that save substantial weight, energy, and cost over conventional robot designs.
The problem: Almost every machine has actuators, which are the physical components responsible for movement and performing tasks. For many engineers, conventional actuators are painfully heavy, slow, and expensive. This greatly limits the effectiveness of many devices across the robotics, transportation, and manufacturing industries.
The solution: We developed an electroadhesive clutch that is 10x lighter and 1000x less power than conventional clutches, and is made with inexpensive materials and processes. Our goal is to use the clutches to create actuators that cost 2x less and improve the speed and power of movement by 2x.
Impact Proteomics, LLC
Website: www.impactproteomics.com
Founder(s): Dr. Amber Lucas, Dr. Jonathan Minden
Description: At Impact Proteomics, we make protein sample preparations tools that enable the discovery of new drugs, biomarkers, diagnostics, and therapeutics by giving researchers the ability to harness the power of proteins and bring lifesaving solutions to the people who need them most — faster than ever before.
How we started: Cofounder Jonathan Minden has been working with proteins for over 25 years and has always been passionate about enabling researchers to use proteins to uncover important biological information. His previous invention, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, was incredibly powerful for finding protein changes that held important information about the biology of disease, however, it was limited in the types of analysis it could do because there wasn’t an efficient way to extract proteins from samples to analyze them. He quickly realized this wasn’t just a problem for him and his research group, but a problem that all researchers in biomarker and drug discovery face and a big reason that these impactful projects fail more often than they succeed. He became passionate about improving the way we prepare protein samples to improve the odds of researchers finding the next life-saving therapy or diagnostic.
The problem: Whether it’s life-saving chemotherapy or aspirin for a headache, over 90% of drugs target proteins, the molecular work horses of the cell that keep us alive. When researchers look for new drug targets or biomarkers, they are almost always working with proteins. However, drug discovery projects can take anywhere from 2–10 years, 4–30 million dollars, and there is less than a 0.1% chance of actually finding that lifesaving drug, resulting in an incredible waste of time and money. This problem is rooted in the fact that there is currently no standardized, highly efficient way to take proteins out of biological samples and prepare them for analysis. This leads to samples that are contaminated and difficult to analyze, resulting in high failure rates and poor data collection.
The solution: At Impact Proteomics, we make protein sample preparations tools that enable the discovery of new drugs, biomarkers, diagnostics, and therapeutics by giving researchers the ability to harness the power of proteins and bring lifesaving solutions to the people who need them most — faster than ever before. Our sample preparation kits take prep times from days to hours and the resulting samples contain more high-quality information with no contamination. This leads to faster collection of data that is easier to interpret, improving the odds of finding the next lifesaving drug target or biomarker.
Sparkwear
Website: theauraspark.com
Founder(s): John Michael Rattray
Description: Aura Sparks are Bluetooth equipped light-emitting bracelets that help event attendees break the ice in a way that feels fun and not forced. These bracelets change color in sync with the bracelets of other attendees in close proximity to reflect similarities between them.
How we started: Using technology to facilitate connectivity has become a ubiquitous part of everyday life but I only ever saw popular social technologies helping people connect with others through text, photos, video or audio who weren’t nearby. I loved technology and designing technology and it led me to start designing a way to utilize modern technologies to add value to connecting with others in person. In doing so I wanted to help balance the usage of technology and fight the stigma of technology minimizing in-person social interaction by helping create a new perspective on how technology can maximize the ease and joy of connecting with others nearby.
The problem: Connections with others can often go undiscovered at events for multiple reasons ranging from not feeling a sense of belonging to cell phones acting as a barrier to conversation which can result in event dissatisfaction and underutilization of time. These negative effects have consequences for both event attendees and event organizers that range from loss of opportunity to loss of money.
The solution: Aura Sparks ease the difficulty of connecting in person by illuminating the many connections that people share with one another that would otherwise be invisible. Using its wearer’s responses to a shortlist of event-wide ice breaker questions, Aura Sparks change color in sync with the Aura Sparks of other attendees in close proximity who have responded similarly. This visual cue helps break down the barriers to sparking conversation and interpersonal discovery while providing an experience that’s dynamic and fun.
SwifTAG Systems
Website: www.swiftagsystems.com
Founder(s): Zachary Wright, MD/PhD, Daryl Reynolds, PhD, Brandon Lucke-Wold, MD/PhD, Nachiket Pendse, PhD
Description: SwifTAG Systems concepts and products were conceived by active researchers in the medical field who recognized the dramatic inefficiencies of existing small animal management systems and processes. Our mission is to bring high technology and medical research together to drive down costs, optimize laboratory animal use, and accelerate medical science.
How we started: During my years of experience with medical research, I found that I was spending large amounts of time doing tedious work that was necessary, but not directly related to my research. This meant spending hours on weekends checking on research animals or documenting experimental data on a notepad only to document multiple times more electronically. Unfortunately, manual methods break down at scale and I found myself repeating the same experiments and not trusting data simply because there could have been errors earlier in the process. I needed to spend more time directly on scientific inquiry, but I was bogged down by menial tasks that support research. This led my cofounders and I to develop solutions that automate or facilitate ancillary research tasks while providing higher quality data from our experiments.
The problem: It can take up to $2.5 billion dollars and 10 years to bring a pharmaceutical medication to the people who need it. Preclinical research constitutes a huge portion of these costs, yet it relies heavily on error-prone and time-consuming processes for experimental documentation and tracking. This adds noise and cost to the scientific process and contributes to the poor success rates of drugs that transition to the clinical research phase.
The solution: SwifTAG Systems is automating and simplifying preclinical research through a suite of hardware and software products that save time and improve data quality. We currently utilize off the shelf and custom sensors to track laboratory animals through the research process to reduce costs, refine laboratory animal use, and improve experimental outcomes.
Virginia Dere, LLC
Website: www.virginiadere.com, www.kneekini.com
Founder(s): Gabrielle Haywood
Description: Virginia Dere, LLC specializes in “fashion statement” modest apparel. Starting with our flagship product, the KneeKini, which is a capri-length modest swimsuit with bold bright color patterns, structured to slenderize for the discerning fashion-conscious woman that does not want to forfeit style.
How we started: Growing up, my brothers and I were always involved in some type of aquatic activity; whether swimming at the local park, swimming at school or summer vacations. My mother took us to the beach often and we were allowed to swim all day. Later in life, I didn’t swim as much, just occasionally and not enough for the need to go swimsuit shopping much. A few years ago that change when I became very ill and suffered severe muscle pain. Aqua Therapy was often suggested as a great remedy for excruciating pain. I began Physical and Aqua Therapy and it was at that very moment, I realized I had not purchased a swimsuit in ages and didn’t have a swimsuit that I liked. When attending the Aquatic therapy class, I made do with leggings, a bathing suit over the leggings and a t-shirt on top. I already didn’t feel well, but not looking well didn’t work for me. I began looking for a swimsuit with bright pretty colors, that are known for uplifting your spirit, but could not find one that was pretty, yet had more coverage in the thigh area. During that time, I discovered, not only could I not find a fashionable swimsuit with more coverage, but neither could many other women. I discovered a vast array of potential customers who had various reasons that they desired the more modest coverage in their swimwear choices. Upon researching, I found that there were many other women like me. Women who wanted to feel confident and fashionable in their swim attire. Out of my need for a swimsuit that had the coverage and the bright color patterns, the “Knee-Kini” was born. The company is named in honor of my mother. As a child, the only thing I knew was that my mom made sure we had loads of fun whether at the beach, vacationing or the neighborhood pool; we grew up swimming. What surprised me about my mom, that I didn’t find out until I was an adult, is that my mom never knew how to swim… And for her sacrifice of many days and nights going without sleep, knowing she had to be at work at 11 pm to 7 am and still allowed us to stay all day swimming, I honor her by naming my company, “Virginia Dere, LLC”.
The problem: Oftentimes, swimsuit shopping already causes such anxiety for women, that they don’t want to participate in or attend aquatic events. The problem with body image and self-esteem issues, creating a lack of body confidence, has been an issue for many women for a very long time, according to an article in “The Blade” titled, “Many Women think they won’t measure up when it’s time to buy new swimwear”. Also, according to a poll in Pittsburgh’s Post Gazette, one thousand women were asked; “What are your problem spots when searching for a new swimsuit”: The answer for 552 of those women, 55%, stated their thighs being their problem spots when searching for a new swimsuit. With those stats in mind and her own personal dilemma, Gabrielle noticed the choices for coverage in the thigh and lower leg area was very slim as well. With more and more women adopting healthier lifestyles; swimming is a major part of that equation; it has resulted in a demand for more nontraditional, multifunctional swimwear that doubles as activewear. The lack of modest coverage swimwear is a major problem for a growing and fruitful market.
The solution: To solve the need for more modest coverage in the area of the thigh and knee, without forfeiting style and fashion, Virginia Dere, LLC created their flagship product, the “KneeKini”. We plan to be a part of the solution for the lack of options with the KneeKini, designed with bright bold color patterns, a comfortable slenderizing fit providing the modest coverage to the knee. A proprietary fabric structure will not only provide the coverage but the comfortable fit along with an extremely important factor of UPF50+ sun protection.
Check out more at www.alphalabgear.org
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