Amazon Alexa Fund

Remote learning is driving an education technology revolution.

EdTech: K-12

Previously known as Lexa Learning, Amira Learning is an artificial intelligence-based (AI-based) reading assessment tool. The intelligent reading assistant (Amira) recommends appropriately challenging stories, listens as students read aloud, assesses reading fluency, detects reading errors, responds with targeted interventions, and uses advanced analytics to provide insight to teachers. In 2021, the company’s AI-driven reading tutor was used by 375,000 students and over 1,800 schools.In September 2022, the firm <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13467">acquired Wonderscope, </a>an augmented reality (AR) reading app, to integrate its AI-based solution with Wonderscope’s AR solution to support the reading process for children and create a new area of interest in the EdTech space called “intelligent instruction.” In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30995">June 2024</a>, Amira learning merged with Istation, a company specializing in tailored learning and assessments for K-12 students, to provide more dynamic, personalized interventions to students in real-time as they learn.Key customers and partnershipsIn 2019, Amira and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt entered into a partnership to help schools achieve reading mastery within grades K-3.Funding and financialsIn April 2021, Amira Learning raised USD 11 million in funding to scale up with a new app for parents, convert those using the platform for free into paying customers, develop the product to include elementary and middle school students, and further develop its platform. Later in December, the company secured a grant of USD 3 million over three years from the US Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES). The funds were earmarked to be used for supporting its “Reading Together” project, created to develop scalable and personalized tools to combat reading difficulties in the US. Through this project, Amira will collaborate with kindergarten-aged students in New York City as well as their parents and teachers to develop reading support programs to be carried out at home and in classrooms. The project will also be supported by the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, which will serve in the role of a project advisor.

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 Founded in 2010 by Chris Thuer and Mikko Kaipainen, Yousician is the developer of the interactive music education platform of the same name as well as GuitarTuna, an app-based instrument tuner. Previously known as Ovelin, the company originally focused only on children. The Yousician platform helps students of all ages learn and play the guitar, piano, ukulele, and bass, and learn to sing. The platform seeks to differentiate itself by using a gamified approach that includes audio recognition technology that listens to a user play to provide real-time feedback. The platform offers lesson plans created by in-house music teachers and partners with well-known musicians by inviting them to demonstrate their skills. The two platforms are used by 20 million people globally each month. 
 
 
 In September 2021, Yousician partnered with heavy metal band Metallica and musician Jason Mraz to launch new courses on the platform.
 
 
 In April 2021, the company raised USD 28 million in Series B funding to develop and localize the product, increase headcount, and invest in brand marketing and artist partnerships.
 
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Novel Effect is a platform containing a library of family-friendly e-books and soundscapes. Using smart voice recognition, the app follows the readers’ voices as they read aloud and responds at just the right time with music, sounds, and character voices to bring stories to life, and promote literacy, imagination, and fun among children up to 12 years of age.Novel Effect is available in three versions: free, premium (providing unlimited access for families), and premium classroom (providing unlimited access for educators). As of May 2018, the app had been downloaded more than 50,000 times and had about 10,000 active monthly users. As of December 2020, the platform hosted a library of about 750 books.In December 2020, the company partnered with edu-tainment provider, The Jim Henson Company, to include some of Henson’s characters and books on the Novel Effect platform. Under the partnership, hundreds of titles will be added to Novel Effect’s collection, with some new books being published exclusively on the app. Besides books, the two companies are also planning to release voice-interactive television programs over streaming platforms in 2021.

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 Founded in 2012 by Felix Brandon Lloyd, Jordan Lloyd Bookey, and Tyler Ewing as a book-of-the-month type subscription company, Zoobean is an EdTech company providing personalized learning tools for readers. These include reading challenges, trackers, and literary resources through its “Beanstack” platform which is available as a web and mobile application. The company works with libraries, schools, and corporations to help motivate individuals to read and track their progress in an engaging way. Zoobean is backed by Mark Cuban who invested in the company in December 2013 after it was featured on the US venture capital TV show Shark Tank.
 
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Founded in 2018 by Ian Freed and Irina Fine, Bamboo Learning promotes voice-powered education, offering educational experiences through services such as Amazon’s Alexa. The company offers five Alexa skills: Bamboo Luminaries, Bamboo Books, Bamboo Math, Bamboo Music, and Highlights Storybooks from Bamboo, all of which can be enabled for free on Alexa-capable devices. They offer a range of challenging and engaging exercises to help customers master different levels of subjects.In May 2021, the company introduced Bamboo Learning Alexa, a set of activities for children in grades K-5 in listening and reading comprehension, language arts, and math. The program is based on the standard curriculum, aligned with the Common Core and other state standards, and is reportedly the first comprehensive children's learning program on Amazon’s Alexa. The company also launched Bamboo Learning Plus, a subscription to its complete program of beginner, grade-level, and advanced activities for USD 3.99 per month per family for up to six users. In December 2021, the company launched the Bamboo Learning App for iOS for K-5 students, which combines voice recognition and touch. The app, which focuses on reading comprehension, vocabulary-building, and foundational literacy, is offered under a freemium pricing model with a USD 3.99 monthly subscription that offers access to more content.In December 2021, Bamboo Learning raised an undisclosed amount from Day One Syndicate.

Founded in 2015 by Bryanne Leeming, Unruly Studios helps children in grades 1 - 7 learn fundamental STEM skills by integrating active, physical play with coding. The company seeks to achieve its vision of creating an electronic playground that makes learning more playful, collaborative, and inclusive through its Unruly Splats—durable, programmable floor buttons that students can stomp on and control through code. Students can customize lights and sounds, and collaborate to play games whack-a-mole, relay races, and dance routines, or create new games with their own rules using the company’s proprietary block code language. Games can be played in school, at home, or with a hybrid model using an app. A classroom kit that includes 10 floor tiles, pre-programmed activities, and a consultation with the Unruly team costs around USD 800 with extra custom options and packages are also available.The company raised USD 1 million in funding in April 2020.

A new industry proving that digital connectivity and mental health can co-exist.

Digital Wellness

Belgium-based Sunrise is a health technology company focused on sleep, which offers at-home tests to diagnose users for sleep apnea. The company’s at-home test uses a light-weight sensor paired with an app to measure a user’s sleep and then presents the results. The sensor is attached on a user’s chin and measures mandibular movement to provide a diagnosis in a few hours. After the diagnosis is presented to the user, they are able to consult virtually with sleep specialists to receive treatment.&nbsp;The company operates across Europe, Australia, and the US and has received De Novo classification from the FDA. The company operates on a B2B2C basis, where it works with healthcare providers to offer its solution and service. Patients are required to obtain a prescription before they can purchase the sensor.&nbsp;In February 2024, Sunrise acquired<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240221352206/en/Sunrise-Takes-Over-Dreem-Health-The-Future-of-Sleep-Care-is-Here"> Dreem Health</a>, expanding its capabilities in sleep diagnostics and health services. This acquisition aimed to integrate Dreem’s expertise in sleep monitoring with Sunrise's innovative diagnostic technologies, broadening its service offerings and improving patient outcomes.Key customers and partnerships<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18434">In May 2023</a>, the company partnered with UK-based Signifier Medical Technologies, a treatment provider for sleep disordered breathing and snoring, to combine Signifier’s “eXciteOSA” solution with Sunrise’s patient management portal. Through the partnership, healthcare providers were able to better diagnose patients, gather patient data, and provide patients with necessary tools for treatment. The partnership also helped Sunrise expand its geographical reach into the UK.

California-based Tripp is a meditation and mindfulness app that provides wellness solutions in the form of guided meditations and personally curated mindfulness exercises, to improve focus, concentration and enhance mental wellness.The app uses VR &amp; AR to deliver psychedelic visual and audio experiences, similar to what people experience during a psychedelic trip, without the use of psychedelic drugs. Tripp caters directly to consumers and also through employer benefit plans. It is also researching non-chemical, digital methods to tackle mental health issues including several clinical trials to understand the effectiveness of the Tripp platform as a therapeutic device to treat anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders.With the acquisition of PsyAssist, a digital startup that provides support to conduct psychedelic-assisted therapies, the company entered the psychedelic space in August 2021. It will jointly launch a new product called the “TRIPP PsyAssist” to provide step-by-step guidelines for psychotherapists and patients before, during, and after therapies.Tripp’s session only takes a few minutes to complete and has been reported by users to elevate mood by 25% on average. The company offers its app on external platforms such as Oculus and Playstation and is exploring more integrations with similar platforms to expand the user base. It also has plans to roll out Tripp in AR glasses and mobile devices soon.In June 2022, the company acquired Eden , a VR-based world-building video game created by developer BeardedEye, in order to create community-driven experiences in the mindful metaverse.In July 2024, Tripp launched Kōkua XR in beta, an AI meditation guide for personalized wellness experiences. The app was available for Quest headsets, with monthly subscriptions costing USD 9.99 and the annual subscription priced at USD 39.99 as of August 2024.Kōkua XR provides individualized meditative reflections based on real-time user feedback. Users can speak and have the app leverage a large language model (LLM) to receive meditation guidance. Other key features included mood tracking based on heart rate and breathing patterns. Key customers and partnershipsIn January 2023, the company partnered with fellow mindfulness provider, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15997">Equa Health</a>, to develop clinically validated mindfulness training modules, known as “experiences.” The extended reality training modules will cover the core areas of concentration power, equanimity (or calmness), and sensory clarity.

Endel, a Berlin-based digital wellness company, specializes in creating personalized sound environments designed to reduce stress, sharpen focus, and improve sleep through its online platform and mobile app. The technology is designed for quick and easy integration with a variety of devices, including in-car systems, consumer electronics, and at different locations such as health and wellness businesses, workplaces, and schools. It has established partnerships with Amazon Alexa, Apple Watch, Twitch, and All Nippon Airways. The sounds are generated in real time based on various inputs such as the user’s location, time of day, weather, and heart rate.&nbsp;The app had 1 million+ users as of September 2024, with subscriptions priced at USD 6.99 per month, USD 19.99 per quarter, USD 39.99 per year, and a lifetime membership for USD 249.99, as of August 2024.&nbsp; Key customers and partnershipsEndel’s user base primarily consists of individuals seeking to enhance productivity and manage stress, with its applications extending into corporate wellness programs and consumer electronics.The company has entered collaborations with major music and entertainment companies to create unique soundscapes. In October 2023, Endel partnered with <a href="https://www.wmg.com/news/endel-and-spinnin-records-want-edm-fans-to-chill-and-get-more-sleep-2">Spinnin' Records</a> to integrate AI-generated soundscapes with artists' music, enhancing its offerings for focus and sleep​​.&nbsp;Other notable partnerships include those with Sony to integrate Endel's science-backed soundscapes on Sony headphone devices (May 2022), Mercedes-Benz Group Research to create an AI-powered Endel Car Experience (July 2021), All Nippon Airways to provide Endel's services on-board all flights (June 2019–August 2019), and Warner Bros. Music Group to sign a distribution partnership (March 2019).

Technologies bringing about a new reality

Extended Reality

LIV is a comprehensive platform for VR and AR content creators, offering tools for VTubing, MR capture, and streaming utilities. It offers advanced avatar functionality, including full body and up to 14-point tracking, mouth and eye animation, and support for multiple avatar formats such as VRM and Ready Player Me. LIV's MR capture capabilities use machine learning for background removal, allowing creators to integrate real cameras into VR games for flexible streaming with low overhead. The platform also includes a customizable in-headset stream deck (Streamerkit) for managing stream interactions, alerts, and chat. LIV offers developers an easy-to-integrate SDK for Unity, Unreal, and custom engines, optimized for stability and performance.&nbsp;In addition, LIV Labs is exploring new experimental features, including mobile app support and innovative community experiences such as LIV Spaces, where non-VR fans can join creators as 3D avatars.Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;LIVs’ software was integrated into popular VR games such as Gorilla Tag (developed by Another Axiom) and Penguin Paradise (developed by Sava Studios), among other VR apps.As of March 2022, Liv has ~2,200 developers and ~13,000 monthly active creators on its platform, who generate over 30,000 hours of content per month.In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35516">October 2024,</a> the company partnered with Meta in a multi-year agreement to become the official capture solution for Meta Quest headsets.

Mojo Vision is the developer of AR contact lens Mojo Lens, which was developed in partnership with Japanese contact lens maker Menicon. Mojo Lens includes a built-in microLED display that allows the user to view AR-based monochrome images, symbols, and text without obstructing their view or restricting mobility. The company intends to work with fitness brands and the visually impaired initially.In January 2023, the company announced a halt in the production of their smart contact lenses and laid off 75% of its staff due to difficulties in raising funds. The company has since then pivoted its focus on the production of micro-LED’s. Milestones achieved in micro-LED development include lighting up the first 300 mm GaN-on-silicon, blue micro-LED array wafer (May 2023) and powering the world's highest-density (14K ppi) red micro-LED micro display (June 2023).Key customers and partnershipsIn <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33443">September 2024</a>, the company partnered with CY Vision to develop next-generation car heads-up displays (HUDs), incorporating AR and 3D imaging geared towards reducing road accidents. Previously, in May 2023, the company partnered with DigiLens to use its micro-LED technology for improved AR glasses. Previous partnerships include to deliver performance and real-time stats data to runners, cyclists, and golfers for performance measurements include Adidas Running (running/training), Trailforks (cycling, hiking/outdoors), Wearable X (yoga), Slopes (snow sports), and 18Birdies (golf) as of January 2022.

TRIPP offers a digital wellness platform focused on meditation. The company launched its VR meditation app in 2019, now accessible across a range of headsets (the Meta Quest, HTC Vive, Apple Vision Pro, Pico and the Sony PSVR 2). Types of meditations offered include Focus (to sharpen attention and present-moment awareness), Ascend (a psychedelic research-driven experience), Escape (immersion in natural landscapes), Calm and Sleep. Notably, immersive meditative experiences on the platform were developed by award-winning creators formerly from Amazon, Disney, EA, and Grammy-nominated music artists. Other platform features offered include AI-powered breath detection, binaural sound frequencies and gamification elements.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32054">July 2024</a> Tripp launched Kōkua XR in beta, an AI meditation guide for personalized wellness experiences. The app provides individualized meditative reflections based on real-time user feedback. Users can speak and have the app leverage a large language model (LLM) to receive meditation guidance.&nbsp;The company generates revenue using monthly subscriptions priced at USD 10 (for its VR app, and AI meditation guide individually).In February 2022, the company acquired EvolVR, claimed at the time to be the world’s largest live meditation community in VR, with over 40,000+ users.Key customers and partnershipsAs of February 2024, the company hosted over 9.7 million wellness sessions on its platform, up from 6 million in October 2022. At the time, the company stated that 43% of TRIPP’s active monthly users used TRIPP at least 2-3 times a week.In January 2023, TRIPP partnered with mindfulness training app Equa Health to develop the platform's first clinically-backed experiences for mindfulness training.Competitors: None under a similar stage.

Smart Homes: Energy & Water Solutions

Rachio is a mission-driven technology company focusing on sustainable smart yard solutions. Its core product is the Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller, a Wi-Fi enabled device that optimizes outdoor water usage by automatically adjusting watering schedules based on hyperlocal weather data, vegetation needs, and soil conditions. Rachio's proprietary Weather Intelligence technology integrates real-time weather forecasts, enabling the controller to skip unnecessary watering cycles during rainfall or freezing temperatures, thereby conserving water and promoting healthy plant growth.
Rachio's smart controllers are EPA WaterSense certified, proven to water at least 20% more efficiently than conventional sprinkler controllers. The user-friendly Rachio app allows homeowners to conveniently manage their irrigation systems remotely, share access with others, and customize settings based on specific landscape requirements. Rachio has saved homeowners billions of gallons of water since its inception in 2013.
In addition to the flagship Smart Sprinkler Controller, Rachio has expanded its product line with the Smart Hose Timer, designed for above-ground irrigation systems, and the Wireless Flow Meter, which detects leaks and automatically shuts off the water supply, protecting against landscape damage and flooding. The company has also formed partnerships with utilities and irrigation professionals, positioning its offerings as a comprehensive smart yard management platform.
Key customers and partnerships
Rachio has established collaborations with major water utilities, such as American Water, to help address peak demand issues and promote water conservation efforts. These partnerships provide Rachio access to utility customers and enable cross-promotion of its products through landscaping professionals and irrigation system installers.

Span.IO, Inc., now known as SPAN, is a leading innovator in home electrification technology. The company reinvented the traditional electrical panel to create the SPAN smart electrical panel, which enables homeowners to adopt solar energy, battery backup systems, electric vehicles, and electric home appliances. SPAN Panel provides circuit-level management, real-time monitoring, and actionable energy insights through an intuitive app interface. Designed with hardware innovation and intelligent software, the SPAN Panel and SPAN Drive electric vehicle charger offer an efficient and integrated solution for any home.
SPAN's flagship product, the SPAN Panel, celebrated wins for "Best Home Technology Product" and "Best Energy Efficient Product" at the NAHB International Builders' Show 2022. Fast Company also named SPAN one of their "World's Most Innovative Companies" in 2022. As of March 2022, the company had grown to a team of over 220 employees and had panels installed in over 36 states and Puerto Rico.
In April 2023, SPAN raised USD 96 million in a Series B2 funding round, bringing its total funding to USD 231 million. The company plans to use this capital to further its leadership in home electrification by accelerating research and development capabilities, expanding partnerships with major home appliance brands and solar providers, and building a state-of-the-art R&D facility near its San Francisco headquarters. SPAN aims to electrify 10 million US homes by 2030, aided by incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act. In 2022, the company's revenue grew nearly 600%, with nearly 80% of SPAN product owners adopting clean energy and home electrification products.

Conservation Labs is an artificial intelligence company founded in 2016 with the mission of enhancing sustainability in the built environment. Their flagship product, H2know, is a smart water monitor that utilizes machine learning to analyze the sounds of water flow through pipes. H2know consists of a sensor that attaches to water pipes and translates the acoustic signatures into actionable insights, leak alerts, and custom conservation recommendations.
Designed for residential, multi-family, and commercial buildings, H2know offers remote visibility into water usage patterns, enabling users to reduce consumption by up to 20%. The company reported seven-digit annual recurring revenue and a customer base of around 150 companies across the US.
In addition to H2know, Conservation Labs recently introduced Sustainable Machines, a suite of products that assesses machinery condition through sound analysis. By interpreting a machine's acoustic profile, Sustainable Machines delivers operational insights and predictive maintenance recommendations, reducing maintenance costs and extending equipment lifespan. Nearly 10,000 Sustainable Machines sensors have been sold across the country.
In February 2024, Conservation Labs raised USD 7.5 million in a Series A funding round led by RET Ventures' Housing Impact Fund, with participation from Sustain VC. The company plans to utilize these funds for accelerating product development, expanding sales and marketing initiatives, and growing its team from 22 to 30 employees by the end of 2024.

The toolkit to build machine learning applications at scale

Machine Learning Infrastructure

Defined.ai provides high quality and ethically sourced datasets for developing AI applications. It offers a variety of datasets including text, image, GenAI, speech, and live data, catering to customers in industries such as retail, finance, telecommunications, and insurance.The company also offers a platform called Neevo, where members contribute to the development and improvement of AI systems by performing written, tagging, collection, and classification tasks. Members are compensated for each completed task.As of January 2023, the company operated in the US, Portugal, and Japan.Key customers and partnershipsAs of January 2024, the company served customers across the insurance, banking, telecommunications, and retail industries. Notable customers include Fortune 500 companies including BMW, Mastercard, Salesforce, Samsung, and Yahoo Japan.Moreover, Defined.ai is part of Accelerat.ai, a consortium of Portuguese companies backed by the Government, which seeks to develop trustworthy AI applications. In October 2022, it unveiled a conversational AI solution for contact centers that can handle multiple languages, including Portuguese.Funding and financialsIn May 2020, the company raised USD 50.5 million in a Series B funding round. The funds were utilized to expand its existing portfolio, launch new subscription-based solutions, expand its global reach, grow its employee headcount from 100 to 500, and open additional R&amp;D labs globally.In 2019, Defined.ai’s revenue increased by 656% YoY and employee headcount increased by 176% to 250 YoY.

Fiddler AI provides a model performance management platform that continuously monitors models with real-time alerts to track model performance, identifying data and prediction drift, data integrity issues, and changes in low-frequency predictions. Fiddler combines explainable AI principles, such as Integrated Gradients and Shapley Values, which includes its award-winning Fiddler SHAP metric, with proprietary methods to provide model explanations and ML model predictions (past, present, and future). It automates the documentation of explainable AI projects and delivers prediction explanations for model governance and model risk management.The platform provides analytics modeling through a set of dashboards, reports, and charts such as partial dependence plots (PDP). It enables users to perform what-if analyses, test new theories and data modeling concepts, and return model predictions with altered inputs. Users can conduct root-cause analysis with predictive modeling techniques to compare features within models and measure data impacts.Fiddler also provides tools, expert guidance, and support toward internal model governance processes. The company provides fairness features such as algorithmic bias detection, intersectional bias detection, model fairness, data set fairness, and fairness metrics including disparate impact, demographic parity, equal opportunity, and group benefit. The company offers its platform through a subscription model.Key customers and partnershipsAs of January 2023, the company served notable customers including Meta AI, AWS, Intel, NVIDIA, In-Q-Tel, and Conjura. Fiddler collaborated with In-Q-Tel, a non-profit strategic investor that expedites the development and deployment of cutting-edge technologies for US government agencies. Through the partnership, it aimed to deliver explainable AI and model monitoring features to enhance the capabilities of the US government agencies.Funding and financialsIn June 2021, the company raised USD 32 million in a Series B funding round led by Insight Partners. The funds were utilized to launch new solutions to mitigate issues such as bias and data drift, increase its customer base, and drive customer education in Responsible AI. In addition, the company received an undisclosed amount of venture funding from Alteryx Ventures and Japan’s Dentsu Ventures in April 2023 and July 2023, respectively.

Comet ML provides a platform to automatically track, compare, and optimize models across the complete ML lifecycle—from training runs through production. Its feature set includes: 1) a built-in dataset store to save and track datasets during training and production; 2) a model registry that automatically tracks changes throughout the model lifecycle and allows users to compare the performance of models in production; and 3) production monitoring that tracks drift, accuracy, or error metrics, and visualizes model performance at any scale, while generating alerts when an issue occurs while in production. It also provides tools to evaluate and monitor LLMs including prompts.In addition, the platform also provides automated experiment tracking, collaboration tools, and the ability to visualize performance across training runs and collaboration using more than 30 built-in visualizations and user-defined visualizations through Python visualization libraries such as Plotly and Matplotlib.Comet ML provides its platform under a SaaS subscription model for up to USD 50 per user per month and includes a free plan with limited features. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33686">September 2024</a>, the company launched Opik, an open-source platform to help developers and data scientists evaluate and monitor LLMs during both development and production stages. It enables users to track, test, and manage LLM applications effectively.The company had an employee headcount of 80 across 14 countries, as of December 2022.Key customers and partnershipsAs of December 2022, Comet served more than 150 organizations including Fortune 100 companies. Notable customers include Uber, Etsy, Shopify, Ancestry, and AssemblyAI.In June 2023, Comet partnered with Snowflake, a cloud data infrastructure provider, that enables data scientists to use the latter as their primary data source while tracking and managing their experiments using Comet.Funding and financialsIn November 2021, the company raised USD 50 million in a Series B funding round led by OpenView. The funds were utilized to expand its operations and development efforts.

Empowering Tomorrow's Innovations with Generative AI Infrastructure

Generative AI Infrastructure

Co-founded in 2023 by Ari Marcos, an ex-Google DeepMind and Meta AI employee, Bogdan Gaza, and Matthew Leavitt, Datology AI provides a data-curation-as-a-service solution that automatically optimizes every step of the data curation process, from retrieving data in blob storage to the data loader used for training code in LLMs. Datology AI's platform claims it can handle petabytes of data in various formats, including text, video, images, audio, tabular, genomic, and geospatial. It also claims that the platform can support unlabeled data and can dynamically adopt to eveery dataset. The solution can be deployed on a user’s own infrastructure, either on-premise or on virtual private networks (VPC).The solution is currently being tested with select customers. The firm had initially planned to make it generally available by late 2023. As of Augsut 2024, the solution has yet to be launched.

Fiddler AI specializes in AI observability, offering solutions that enable enterprises to build, deploy, and manage AI models responsibly.Fiddler AI’s primary offering is its Fiddler AI Observability platform which is designed to monitor AI models, detect bias, and provide actionable insights for businesses across various sectors, including government, lending, and trading.Fiddler AI Observability platform’s key capabilities include model monitoring, explainable AI, analytics, and fairness capabilities. Its model monitoring capabilities allow detection of bias, helping mitigate potential fairness risks that could tarnish a company's reputation and impact its operations. Explainable AI allows users to understand the reasoning behind their models, while the fairness capabilities help guard against bias, and analytics provide actionable insights for model development.The company's solutions cater to the needs of MLOps teams, data scientists, and DevOps engineers, providing tools to streamline the ML production process from training to deployment and continuous monitoring.What sets Fiddler apart from traditional observability solutions is its deep integration of explainable AI (XAI). Thus, Fiddler seeks to ensure that AI models are understandable and fair and facilitate the realization of responsible AI on a broader scale.The platform is offered through a SaaS subscription model, with three packages: Lite, Business, and Premium (March 2024).Key customers and partnershipsFiddler AI’s customers include American Family Insurance, In-q-tel, Conjura, how.fm, tide, and Bigabid.Notable case studies include how.fm, which reduced the time to detect model issues significantly using Fiddler AI's platform, and Conjura, which achieved a reduction in time to detect and resolve model drift.Notably, the company has formed a partnership with Amazon SageMaker to offer end-to-end model lifecycle management.Funding and financialsFiddler AI has raised USD 45.2 million over multiple funding rounds as of January 2024. In July 2023, it raised an undisclosed amount in a venture round, which included participation from Dentsu via Dentsu Ventures Fund II and Mozilla Ventures.

Comet ML provides a Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) platform designed to manage, optimize, and accelerate the entire machine-learning lifecycle. This includes everything from training models to monitoring them in production.Comet’s platform offers features for tracking experiments, managing artifacts, maintaining model registries, model production monitoring, and CometLLM visualization and management.Comet LLM provides a range of LLMOps tools allowing developers to visualize, track, manage, and review prompts in a streamlined manner.A distinctive feature is the company's use of Bayesian hyperparameter optimization to automate the typically manual and time-intensive process of tuning machine-learning models, enhancing efficiency and visibility across the organization.The company claims that clients who are presently utilizing Comet, such as Uber, Etsy, and Shopify, generally experience a 70%–80% enhancement in their machine-learning speed.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33685">September 2024</a>,Comet launched Opik, an open-source tool for LLM evaluation, prompt tracking, and pre-deployment testing. Opik assists developers and data scientists to track, test, and monitor LLM applications throughout the development and production stages.The platform is offered through a SaaS subscription model, including a free version for personal users, USD 50 per month per month for the Starter package, and custom pricing for enterprises (March 2024).Key customers and partnershipsComet's platform is used by approximately 450 enterprise and academic teams in various industries (January 2024). Notable customers include Cisco, Netflix, Uber, Shopify, Ancestry.com, Etsy, and Zappos.com. Additionally, the platform is used by academic teams to advance research in their respective fields.Comet’s integration partners for CometLLM include OpenAI, LangChain, Cohere, Hugging Face, and Meta.

New products and new technologies are bringing high-end gym workouts to the home.

Connected Fitness

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 Zwift is a startup that develops and hosts virtual cycling races and manufactures connected fitness equipment/hardware. With the Zwift virtual environment, users can ride in groups and participate in races. Users can access and take part in Zwift with a basic set of hardware as a trainer, a bike, and a computer, while for more professional cyclists, heart rate monitors, speed and cadence sensors, and power meters are recommended to enhance the experience. 
 
 
 In March 2021, Zwift announced 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/215">
 plans to launch three at-home fitness hardware models
 </a>
 produced by Chinese manufacturing partners and distributed them to customers worldwide. Later, in January 2022, 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7541">
 Zwift launched two new products,
 </a>
 Zwift Wheel (a direct-drive smart trainer) and Zwift Ride (a smart bike) entering the connected fitness product space. Zwift Wheel features virtual shifting protocols, a wireless game controller for steering, braking, and other controls, and it can also be transformed into a Zwift smart bike or users’ own bicycle by adding on the wheels. It charges USD 14.99 (CAD 18.99 / YEN 1,650 /EUR 14.99) per month for users to access workout content on its virtual platform.  
 
 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/171">
 In September 2020,
 </a>
 the startup raised USD 450 million, led by the private equity firm KKR, in a Series C funding round and was valued at more than USD 1 billion after funding. These funds would be utilized to introduce its own hardware and expand its coverage by introducing other gamified sporting activities. 
 
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 Tonal introduced a smart home exercise system, which comprises a 24-inch screen with two mechanical arms on the sides that allow users to perform weight-based strength exercises such as deadlifts, bench presses, and squats. Besides strength training, users can use Tonal to take up other classes like yoga, cardio, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), either live or on demand. The device can generate resistance equal to a weight of 200 lbs, allowing users to still train effectively without compromising on the weight. Tonal&rsquo;s AI program permits users to adjust the weight when users need assistance. The patented weight system dynamically changes resistance down to the millisecond and increases or decreases weight according to user performance. To enable these features, the system offers multiple settings, such as Smart Flex (dynamic variable resistance), Eccentric (optimizes time under tension), Chains (steadily increases weight at the top of every move), Spotter (detects fatigue and automatically reduces weight), and Burnout (decreases weight gradually with each set completed).
 
 
 Tonal is priced at USD 2,995 with on-demand and live classes available for USD 49 per month.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;
 
 
 In November 2023, Tonal 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24458">
 partnered with Best Buy
 </a>
 , a consumer electronics retail platform, to support retail distribution of Tonal&rsquo;s smart mirrors across the US. In March 2021, Tonal partnered with department store chain 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/210">
 Nordstrom
 </a>
 to enhance its physical footprint with mini outlets inside 40 Nordstrom locations across 20 states, bringing its total store count to around 55 stores&mdash;up from 15. 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 Tonal witnessed a more than 8x year-over-year (YoY) increase in sales in 2020, resulting in delivery lags of 10&ndash;12 weeks. The company is reportedly addressing the issue by ramping up production, recruiting new employees, and air-shipping the equipment.
 
 
 In September 2022, Tonal announced that it was 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12946">
 looking to raise USD 100 million
 </a>
 in funding at a post-money valuation of USD 1.9 billion, to support its business growth amid supply chain constraints. In March 2021, the company raised USD 250 million in a 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/219">
 Series E funding
 </a>
 round at a valuation of USD 1.6 billion, achieving unicorn status. The company planned to utilize the funds for marketing, to expand its fitness classes, and to scale the business further to cater to the rising demand.&nbsp;
 
 
 The company also hinted at a potential IPO, but a specific timeline and additional details were not disclosed at the time of the funding round. Tonal also has 30+ athlete investors and brand ambassadors, including 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/5978">
 LeBron James
 </a>
 , Serena Williams, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Tony Gonzalez, Drew Brees, and Maria Sharapova (as of October 2021).
 
</div>

Giving creators the power of content monetization and audience engagement.

Creator Economy

<div>
 
 Liv offers tools for creators to record and livestream themselves in XR games and applications as their real selves or using an avatar (Vtubing). Liv also provides a drag-and-drop software development kit (SDK) that supports Unreal Engine and Unity SDKs. Since 2018, Liv creators have driven over 3.5 billion views (as of March 2022) to their content using the platform. As of March 2022, Liv has ~2,200 developers and ~13,000 monthly active creators on its platform, who generate over 30,000 hours of content per month.
 
 
 In its latest funding round (
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9523">
 March 2022
 </a>
 ), Liv raised USD 8.5 million in funding led by Bitkraft Ventures. The fresh funds will be used to expand Liv’s headcount across the engineering, design, operations, marketing, and community management teams and to invest in a creator and developer fund. The company also plans to launch its proprietary software-based volumetric streaming technology and destination platform in 2022, which will enable creators to engage with fans in methods unique to spatial technology. 
 
</div>

<div>
 
 Cameo offers a platform where creators, such as influencers, celebrities, athletes, artists, and musicians, can provide personalized videos and shout-outs to fans as per their request, charging for each video from USD 5 to as high as USD 2,500. Creators who have a minimum of 20,000 Instagram followers are automatically admitted onto the platform, where they set their own price and can choose to accept a fan request or not within seven days. The creator must fulfill the request within a week, which the fan can download and share. Additionally, Cameo provides a messaging option for less expensive creator/fan interactions. Cameo takes a 25% commission on each transaction on the platform.
 
 
 As of September 2020, Cameo had more than 30,000 creators across multiple industries. Cameo reported that it generated around USD 100 million in video transactions in 2020, with more than 2 million video messages being shared on its platform since launch, of which 80% were gifts for others. Furthermore, the company reported its creators and fans are based in 138 and 178 countries, respectively, with almost 20% of Cameos being purchased from outside of the US as of March 2021. For example, Cameo entered into a commercial partnership (
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8576">
 February 2022
 </a>
 ) with Softbank, an existing investor of Cameo, to add more Japanese creators and expand its platform in Japan as a culturally fluent localized version.
 
 
 Cameo acquired marketing and merch company Represent (October 2021) whose clients include Jennifer Lopez, Ed Sheeran, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Matthew McConaughey, among others. The acquiring company will onboard the Represent team as well as Represent&rsquo;s existing client relationships. In the near term, Cameo plans to allow fans to purchase &ldquo;gift bundles&rdquo; that pair a Cameo video with related merchandise from the creator. The company hopes to introduce new forms of creator-fan engagement, establish new creator revenue opportunities, and offer non-profit organizations a new way to raise funds.
 
 
 Funding and financials 
 
 
 The company&rsquo;s most recent funding round was Series C funding worth USD 100 million in March 2021, which valued the company at over USD 1 billion, achieving unicorn status. The funds are to be utilized to enhance the Core Cameo experience and capabilities, create new creator-fan engagement products (including Fan Clubs and Cameo Calls), and develop Cameo's B2B business. The company also plans to continue its international expansion.
 
</div>

Reinventing how computers think based on biological neural networks

Neuromorphic Computing

Syntiant is a deep learning chip technology company founded in 2017 and headquartered in Irvine, California. The company specializes in developing ultra-low-power, high-performance deep neural network processors called Neural Decision Processors (NDPs) for edge AI applications. Syntiant's technology combines deep learning with semiconductor design to enable AI functionality in battery-powered devices without relying on cloud connections.
Syntiant's NDPs are designed to execute deep neural networks natively on various topologies, including Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), and fully connected networks. The company's chips typically offer 100x efficiency improvement and a 10x increase in throughput compared to traditional low-power microcontroller-based solutions. This allows for larger networks at significantly lower power consumption, extending battery life and reducing infrastructure costs.
The company's product lineup includes the NDP100, NDP101, NDP200, and NDP115 processors. The NDP200, built on the Syntiant Core 2 architecture, provides 25 times the tensor throughput of the Syntiant Core 1 found in the NDP100. The latest NDP115, introduced at CES 2023, is designed for ultra-power and size-constrained applications, capable of running speech inferences at 280 microwatts.
Syntiant has achieved significant milestones in its short history. By January 2021, the company had shipped over 10 million of its NDP100 and NDP101 processors. This number increased to more than 20 million processors shipped by March 2022. As of May 2023, Syntiant has expanded its offerings to include hardware-agnostic deep learning computer vision models that can be deployed on various platforms, including the Renesas RZ/V2L microprocessor.
Key customers and partnerships
Syntiant's technology has found applications across various industries and devices. The company's Neural Decision Processors are being used in earbuds, wearables, smartphones, smart speakers, laptops, vehicles, and other IoT consumer and industrial use cases.
Syntiant has established partnerships with several prominent companies in the tech industry. In July 2021, Syntiant announced a collaboration with Renesas Electronics Corporation for a voice-controlled multimodal solution combining Renesas' RZ/V Series MPUs and Syntiant's NDP120 Neural Decision Processor. This partnership aims to enable low-power contactless operation for image processing in vision AI-based IoT and edge systems.
The company has also worked with Infineon Technologies, signing a smart microphone reference design agreement in 2018. This collaboration aimed to complement Syntiant's NDPs with Infineon's high-performance microphone technology.

Aspinity is a semiconductor company specializing in analog machine learning (ML) technology for edge devices. The company's core product is the analogML core, a neuromorphic computing architecture designed to significantly reduce power consumption in always-on sensing applications. Aspinity's technology addresses the challenge of battery drain in voice-enabled gadgets and other smart devices that are constantly listening for wake words or specific acoustic triggers.
The analogML core uses an "analyze-first" approach, evaluating data relevance in the analog domain before digitization. This method allows the core to process raw, unstructured sensor data without relying on power-hungry digitization and digital processors. By eliminating extraneous data at the beginning of the signal chain, Aspinity claims its technology can enhance battery life by 10 times or more in applications such as voice activity detection, acoustic event detection, and vibration monitoring.
In March 2022, Aspinity introduced the AML100, which reduces always-on system power to under 100μA. The company has since announced plans to move to a 22nm process for its AML200, aiming to deliver TOPS (Trillions of Operations Per Second) level performance within a battery-operated power footprint. Aspinity has also expanded its focus to include automotive security, launching a new suite of algorithms and a dashcam evaluation kit.
Key customers and partnerships
Aspinity has formed partnerships with major players in the semiconductor industry. In December 2019, the company demonstrated an ultra-low-power analog voice wake-up system using STMicroelectronics' microcontrollers. In May 2020, Aspinity announced a collaboration with Infineon Technologies to accelerate the development of battery-operated always-on sensing products for consumer and IoT applications, utilizing Infineon's XENSIV family of sensors.

Foundation Models

<div>
 
 Imbue, formerly known as Generally Intelligent, is an AI technology specializing in the development of large foundation models. Its large language model (LLM), with over 100 billion parameters for high-level reasoning, is designed to excel in internal reasoning benchmarks and serve as the basis for AI agents that can fulfill various goals. Based on these foundational models, Imbue prototypes AI agents with an initial focus on coding tasks, capable of achieving various goals on behalf of users. These AI agents leverage the capabilities of Imbue's foundation models to perform software development tasks.
 
 
 Funding and financials&nbsp;
 
 
 In September 2023, the company raised USD 200 million in a Series B funding round led by Astera Institute, giving it a post-money valuation of more than USD 1 billion. It planned to use the funds to accelerate the development of AI systems that can reason and code.
 
 
 
</div>

Skild AI offers foundational models that can be integrated into various robots, enabling them to perform tasks such as climbing steep slopes, navigating around obstacles, and identifying and picking up objects. The models can be used for various robot scenarios and applications involving manipulation, locomotion, and navigation. The company aims to develop low-cost robots for tasks such as inspection, surveillance, and manipulation in household and industrial settings.Skild AI's model is reportedly trained on a database of text, images, and videos claimed to be 1,000 times larger than those used by competitors.Its foundational AI model serves as a shared, general-purpose brain for diverse robot embodiments across various tasks and environments.&nbsp;

The on-demand economy has finally reached white collar work.

Online Freelancing Platforms

UK-based Twine offers a network of vetted freelancers specialized in creative, development, and marketing roles. Specific roles include video and animation, graphic design, app and web development interfaces, audio development, and digital marketing services.Additionally, Twine differentiates itself from competitors in the space via its offering of specialized audio and video datasets for machine learning and AI research projects.&nbsp;Companies can post their projects for free on the platform and freelancers subsequently pitch themselves for the projects. The company can then shortlist suitable candidates for the project. As of October 2024, the company had over 500,000 freelancers established on its platform globally.The company generates revenue via monthly subscriptions, which include those paid by clients (USD 139 per project) and those charged to freelancers (USD 14).Enterprises not on the company’s subscription plans are charged a sliding service fee based on lifetime payments to freelancers on a project.Key customers and partnershipsAs of October 2024, the company had over 35,000 enterprises using its platform. Notable enterprises include Netflix, Amazon, and Avast, among others.In May 2021, Twine partnered with insurance agency Simply Business to provide freelancers on its platform with access to their services.

Pet ownership is at an all time high in the United States and the pet care economy is booming.

Pet Care Tech

<div>
 
 Invoxia, a French tracking device developer, specializes in consumer and professional trackers for monitoring cars, people, pets, and valuables. Invoxia focuses on the development of innovative pet health monitoring solutions such as the Invoxia Smart Dog Collar and the Minitailz Smart Pet Tracker. The Smart Dog Collar, launched in Q1 2023, offers proprietary technology, combining state-of-the-art hardware, sensor fusion, and AI algorithms to detect vital signs even through dense fur. The collar includes smart GPS tracking and health monitoring (including heart rate, respiration rate, and activity/sleep tracking) and claims to offer record-breaking battery life that lasts several weeks between charges. The collar operates independently using LTE-M network connectivity, eliminating the need for proximity to iPhones for tracking. Launched at CES 2024, the 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25298">
 Minitailz Smart Pet Tracker
 </a>
 is an all-in-one wellness and location solution for pets, featuring biometric heart health monitoring and AI technology. These products are differentiated by their non-invasive, continuous monitoring of pet vitals using advanced sensors and AI algorithms.
 
 
 Funding and financials&nbsp;
 
 
 In November 2012, the company raised EUR 1.5 million from Newfund for further platform development.&nbsp; 
 
</div>

Bringing fresh produce closer to consumers with efficient, advanced technology.

Vertical Farming

Rise Gardens produces a hydroponic vertical gardening system that grows fresh produce indoors. The company’s IoT-connected gardening system targets individuals, families, and schools looking to grow vegetables, herbs, and microgreens. The system does most of the growing activities (computing pH levels and nutrients, determining watering frequency, etc.) and can be conveniently controlled via a smartphone. Customers can add more gardening systems as per needed as it is modular. The gardening system is offered via a set of bundles. A family bundle of 12 pod trays costs USD 549, while a personal garden bundle costs USD 279. Customers can also subscribe to receive regular deliveries of seed pods at prices that start at USD 29.49 for a pod of three boxes. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15497">January 2023 </a>, the company announced the launch of a modular garden that allows up to 108 different plants to be grown in any system at once. The new Rise Garden includes accessories, such as trellises and plant stands, and allows produce from rooted vegetables, beans, and peas, to large flowering plants, microgreens, and leafy greens and herbs.In February 2021, the company launched its Amazon Alexa integration to make the gardening experience much easier for customers. Although the details about technology integration are still unclear at the moment, the company envisions customers being able to consult Alexa regarding pH levels or adjustments to grow lights. Moreover, Rise Gardens could also inform clients to water their plants via Alexa.Funding and financialsIn <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/982">July 2021</a>, raised an undisclosed amount from the Amazon Alexa Fund. The new round of funding is an extension to the seed funding it raised earlier in 2021. The funding round includes a collaboration deal with Amazon Alexa to develop new products and conduct further R&amp;D. Furthermore In July 2021, the company raised USD 9 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round for market expansion and product development.&nbsp;

Generating, collecting, and analyzing enterprise data will never be the same.

Edge Computing

Syntiant offers edge-focused deep learning solutions via a combination of specialized processor architecture, an edge-optimized data platform, and a training pipeline for always-on edge AI applications. Syntiant’s “Neural Decision” neural network processors (NDPs) combine low power with high performance to support edge AI applications across a wide range of consumer and industrial use cases, such as earbuds, wearables, smartphones, smart speakers, laptops, automobiles, and internet-of-things (IoT).The company claims that its NDPs typically offer more than 100x efficiency improvement while providing a greater than 10x increase in throughput compared to other low-power MCU-based solutions. As of March 2022, the company reported that it had over 50 customer engagements.Key customers and partnershipsAs of March 2022, the company reported that it had over 50 customer engagements in smart electronic devices, automobiles, and IoT.Syntiant has partnered with several companies to launch industry-focused solutions. It partnered with Renesas Electronics to develop a voice-controlled multimodal solution for image processing in vision AI-based IoT and edge systems (July 2021), with CeramicSpeed to develop low-power autonomous sensors for Industrial IoT applications (January 2022) and with Eatron Technologies to deliver an AI-Ready battery management system (November 2022). Syntiant has also partnered with Tekro to grow its sales in South Korea (August 2021) .Funding and financialsIn March 2022, Syntiant <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9397">raised USD 55 million in new funding </a>to invest in enhancing software capabilities and accelerating deployment of the company’s third-generation Syntiant Core 3 architecture (which was expected to launch in 2023).

New data privacy regulations have opened up space for a new wave of compliance-focused startups.

Digital Privacy Tools

Inpher, Inc. is a New York-based company specializing in privacy-enhanced computation. The company's flagship product, the XOR Privacy-Preserving Machine Learning Platform, enables data scientists to build machine learning and artificial intelligence models by analyzing distributed data sources with cryptographic security guarantees. Inpher's technology allows organizations to extract value from sensitive data across teams, organizations, and geographies without moving the data itself. The XOR Platform employs privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) such as secure Multiparty Computation (MPC), Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE), and Federated Learning (FL) to ensure data privacy and security during analysis.
In September 2023, Inpher made its XOR Platform available on the Oracle Cloud Marketplace, integrating with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). This integration allows enterprise customers to quickly provision, deploy, and initiate data collaboration and AI projects using the XOR Platform. The technology is designed to address the challenges of privacy and data sovereignty initiatives, particularly in scenarios where data sets are distributed across borders, organizations, and various governance and policy mandates. Inpher's solution is particularly relevant in the context of increasing regulatory requirements for sustainability reporting, offering organizations a way to provide transparency to stakeholders and regulators while protecting sensitive data.
Key customers and partnerships
In September 2023, Inpher announced a partnership with Oracle, making its XOR Platform available on the Oracle Cloud Marketplace. This collaboration allows Oracle Cloud Infrastructure users to access Inpher's privacy-preserving computation capabilities, facilitating secure data collaboration and AI initiatives. The partnership also extends to Oracle Cloud Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), where Inpher's XOR Platform complements Oracle's ESG reporting solutions by providing cryptographic security for federated analysis of sensitive data.

The intersection of beauty and technology to deliver hyper-personalized products.

Beauty Tech

Preemadonna is the developer of “Nailbot”, a do-it-yourself (DIY) device that prints personalized nail art in as little as five seconds. The device, launched in 2015, is connected to the Nailbot mobile app through which the customer can select customized nail prints, including photos, pictures designed in the app, or pictures exported from other design programs. The prints will last for three-five days if sealed with a top coat of nail polish. The Nailbot starter kit, available for USD 299.99 (January 2024), includes the printer, nail care consumables, and the Nailbot mobile app. The starter cartridge could last for around 2,000-2,500 nail prints. The number of prints can be tracked from the Nailbot app print counter. The company sells in pre-ordered batches and was reported to have been sold out at the initial sale. Funding and financialsIn January 2021, the company raised USD 5.6 million in Seed funding bringing the company’s total funding to USD 9.2 million. The round was led by Halogen Ventures with participation from Version One Ventures, Amazon Alexa Fund, Shrug Capital, Cleo Capital, and several other institutional and individual investors.Key Competitors : None comparable (Preemadonna is the only company in the hub that develops personalized nail art devices.)

Promising research and receding stigma are giving investors cannabis-boom flashbacks.

Psychedelic Medicine

<div>
 
 California-based Tripp is a digital psychedelic startup that provides wellness solutions in the form of guided meditations and personally curated mindfulness exercises, to improve focus, concentration and enhance mental wellness.&nbsp;
 
 
 The company offers a meditation and mindfulness app that uses VR &amp; AR to deliver psychedelic visual and audio experiences, similar to what people experience during a psychedelic trip, without the use of psychedelic drugs. In August 2021, the company entered the psychedelic clinics business through the acquisition of PsyAssist, a digital startup that provides support for at-home prescribed psychedelic-assisted therapies, to launch a new product called the &ldquo;TRIPP PsyAssist&rdquo; which will provide step-by-step guidelines to psychotherapists and patients for before, during, and after psychedelic-assisted therapies. The company&rsquo;s focus is on ketamine-based therapies, however, it plans to support psilocybin and 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) clinical trials in future.&nbsp;
 
 
 Tripp caters directly to consumers and also through employer benefit plans. It is also researching other non-chemical, digital methods to tackle mental health issues and is participating in several clinical trials to understand the effectiveness of the Tripp platform as a therapeutic device to treat anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key Customers and Partnerships
 
 
 In January 2023, the company partnered with fellow mindfulness provider, 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15998">
 Equa Health
 </a>
 , to develop clinically validated mindfulness training modules covering concentration power, equanimity (or calmness), and sensory clarity, known as &ldquo;experiences.&rdquo; The companies plan to offer introductory series on TRIPP&rsquo;s platform, from which feedback will be gathered to expand the series further.&nbsp;
 
 
 Funding and Financials
 
 
 Founded in 2017, Tripp has delivered more than 2 million TRIPP sessions to date. In June 2021, the company raised USD 11 million in a Series A funding round and intends to use the proceeds for upscaling business operations via advancing research and development (R&amp;D), growing the team, and expanding its user base. The last funding round brings the company&rsquo;s total funds raised up to USD 15 million.
 
</div>

Revolutionizing construction with sustainable practices to build faster

Prefab Tech

<div>
 
 Plant Prefab offers fully customized single-family and multifamily prefab homes that are constructed sustainably. The company headquarters is in Rialto, California, which includes a factory, with a second one opened in Ontario, California in July 2021. The company ships throughout the US. Unlike most other companies, Plant does not have pre-designed layouts; instead, they develop houses designed by outside architects, using their patented &ldquo;Plant Building System&rdquo; (PBS). This system uses specialized materials and modules in different possible combinations to ensure sustainability. This flexibility helps develop efficient and durable buildings with optimized thermal performance while using fewer labor hours and less material waste compared to stick-built homes. More than 90% of a Plant Prefab house is completed at the factory, minimizing on-site work. The company had completed 100 buildings by August 2021.
 
 
 The company has two partnerships: 1) with UK-based prefab manufacturer Koto (entered in April 2020) to create net-zero energy houses, inclusive of efficient heating and cooling systems, energy monitoring, energy-efficient lighting, etc. and 2) with architecture firm Richard Pedranti Architect (RPA) (entered in January 2021) to introduce houses that comply with standards set out by Passive House International and the Passive House Institute US that focus on sustainability and occupier health. These houses are also built to generate net-zero energy as well as include smart home technology and energy monitoring systems.
 
 
 The company raised USD 30 million in Series B funding in August 2021 led by Asahi Kasei Corporation (which owns one of Japan&rsquo;s largest homebuilders), Paris Ventures, and Amazon Alexa Fund. The funds were to be used to build a third factory, which was expected to be fully automated to serve as a central production hub through the western US. The 270,000 square feet (sq ft) facility which began construction in December 2021 is scheduled to be opened in January 2023.
 
</div>

Information to create a more efficient, cleaner and safer way to travel in the city of the future

Smart Mobility Information

<div>
 
 Arrive (formerly known as ParkWiz) is an enterprise-level parking app providing integrated solutions for both users and operators in the parking market. On the user&rsquo;s side, Arrive offers two brands of parking apps (ParkWiz and Best Parking) for commuters, fleet, and mobility companies, to discover, book, and prepay for parking space. In March 2020, the firm acquired sPARK, a parking discovery platform, to extend the capabilities of its app to include an AI-powered smart parking recommendation engine. 
 
 
 In May 2018, subsequent to its acquisition of parking management startup CodiPark, the firm shifted its focus toward providing an enterprise-level parking management solution. Arrive provides a number of white-label or co-branded solutions for city municipalities and parking operators to 1) manage parking inventory via technologies such as Bluetooth sensors and beacons, 2) analytical tools for dynamic pricing, and 3) touchless payments. In January 2021, Arrive merged with Flash Parking, a B2B parking management platform, creating what the firm claims to be the first smart parking app providing end-to-end parking solutions for both users and parking providers.
 
 
 Arrive&rsquo;s parking app stands out from other parking app providers by claiming to be the only firm to integrate with a variety of data sources such as navigation devices, traffic, weather, on-street and off-street parking pricing, and availability, through a single app interface. 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 As of January 2019, the firm claims that over 40 million commuters have used its ParkWiz app which is availble in ~230 cities across the US and Canada
 
 
 The firm also has parking management solutions for event organizers in partnership with firms such as Ticketmaster, Waze, and LiveNation, which it claims would result in a ~35% increase in event spend due to improving customer experience. The firm also partnered with airlines and travel companies like Lufthansa and Spirit to help travelers better manage travel costs. 
 
</div>

Unlocking the potential of olfaction through technology

Smell Tech

Osmo is a pioneering startup in the field of AI and scent, aiming to digitize smell through innovative approaches. The company has developed a groundbreaking AI system that can rapidly discover novel fragrance ingredients and create scents praised by industry experts. Osmo's technology accelerates the search for ingredients that meet higher safety, sustainability, and environmental standards, bringing more focus and consistency to fragrance development.
At the core of Osmo's capabilities is the Principal Odor Map (POM), the world's first generalized odor map. Developed using graph neural networks trained on a dataset of 5,000 molecules, the POM can predict the scent of molecules based solely on their molecular structure. It outperforms human scent prediction in 53% of cases and has characterized the olfactory properties of half a million potential scent molecules.
Osmo's technology complements the expertise of the fragrance industry by augmenting the skills of master perfumers. The company has created scents with notes that were previously untapped, offering new possibilities for the fragrance industry. In addition to fragrance development, Osmo aims to digitize smell to capture, transmit, and remember scents, unlocking new forms of artistic expression and enabling better health monitoring and disease detection.
Key customers and partnerships
In August 2023, Osmo announced the hiring of renowned Master Perfumer Christophe Laudamiel, who has 25 years of experience creating acclaimed scents for brands like Abercrombie & Fitch, Beyoncé, Estée Lauder, Thierry Mugler, and Tom Ford. Laudamiel will guide Osmo in bridging traditional fragrance expertise with innovative approaches, shaping novel perfume styles using ingredients with new smells and artistic effects.

Autonomous and connected technologies shaping the future of the auto industry

Auto Tech

<div>
 
 Mojio is a Canadian company providing cloud-based hardware and software solutions on a software-as-a-Service (SaaS) basis to scale connected mobility services. Its connected car platform includes &ldquo;Telematics Engine,&rdquo; which powers connected vehicle services; &ldquo;Mobility Studio,&rdquo; which facilitates the integration of automotive data into mobile apps and connected services; &ldquo;Services Ecosystem,&rdquo; a network of third-party suppliers including Amazon Alexa, Allstate, Arrive, Bosch, Google Maps, and IFTTT to provide an enhanced user experience such as roadside assistance, vehicle maintenance, and parking reservations; and &ldquo;Intelligent Toolkit,&rdquo; a set of tools, framework, products, and services needed to understand, analyze, and monetize connected mobility data.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Its mobile applications&ndash;Motion and Force&ndash;help manage the car ownership experience for consumer vehicle users and fleet management, respectively. In particular, Motion offers predictive vehicle maintenance alerts, fuel level, and nearby station information, live vehicle tracking, emergency response systems, roadside assistance, etc. As of 2019, its services were available for a monthly SaaS fee of around USD 10.
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In December 2021, Mojio partnered with 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/117689">
 Audi
 </a>
 to design and develop Motion for Audi connect. As of March 2021, it had more than 1.2 million vehicles on its platform.
 
 
 
 
 The company also has partnerships with telecom companies such as Telus Corp., Deutsche Telekom, and its US subsidiary T-Mobile for the mobile network, and with other third parties such as ZTE to make the hardware. It also has partnerships with Bosch, to launch an IoT emergency response solution; RapidSOS, to enable real-time delivery of telematics data and insights to 911 in the event of a vehicle crash (May 2022); and Housecall Pro, to launch an integrated fleet management solution for home service businesses (March 2022). In September 2023, Mojio partnered with SkyBell, a provider of smart video doorbell technology, to jointly develop a new integrated video telematics solution.
 
 
 
</div>

Technologies that automate and optimize building operations using data-driven insights.

Smart Building Technology

Roby is a software company that provides solutions to enhance building automation and energy efficiency. Its flagship product is a software that interfaces with building management systems (BMS) and room calendars to automatically adjust heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) settings based on occupancy. This smart scheduling technology optimizes energy usage by putting rooms into an unoccupied mode when they are not in use, leading to proven energy savings without requiring additional effort from stakeholders. Roby's solution extends the lifespan of HVAC equipment by reducing unnecessary runtime.
Roby also offers a helpdesk solution designed for internal support teams. This product allows companies to streamline IT issues, HR queries, and other internal requests by leveraging existing communication platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams. Employees can submit, resolve, and automate support tickets without leaving their preferred collaboration tool.

Data Infrastructure & Analytics

DatologyAI is a startup that provides automated data curation tools to streamline the process of training large AI models like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. The company's platform identifies the most relevant data within a dataset based on the model's intended application, suggests ways to augment the dataset, and optimizes batch processing during training. DatologyAI's technology can handle petabytes of data in various formats, including text, images, video, audio, tabular, genomic, and geospatial data. The company aims to improve the efficiency, performance, and domain knowledge of AI models while reducing computational costs and model sizes.

From counting steps to saving lives and beyond

Wearable Tech

Owlet Baby Care was a company that offered a wearable smart sock product designed to monitor an infant's vital signs, including heart rate and oxygen levels, while sleeping. The Owlet Smart Sock utilized pulse oximetry technology and a heart rate sensor to track the baby's breathing patterns and identify any potential interruptions or irregularities. Data collected by the sock was wirelessly transmitted via Bluetooth to a mobile app on the parents' smartphones, alerting them to any concerning readings.
Owlet invested significant resources in product safety testing, such as biocompatibility studies, FCC testing, and third-party accuracy studies submitted to the FDA as part of their 510(k) application for a medical version of the product. The company claimed that the Owlet Smart Sock used similar technology and provided comparable information to wearable devices like Apple Watch and Fitbit.
In November 2021, the FDA issued a directive requiring Owlet to remove its baby monitoring products from the market in the US due to safety concerns. Prior to this, Owlet had offered a Connected Care service, which provided historical data, sleep trends, and the ability to share information instantly with healthcare providers. The company had plans to release a new sleeping product.

Sports Tech

Zwift is a global online fitness platform for cyclists that blends video gaming with indoor cycling training. Launched in 2014, the company utilizes massively multiplayer online gaming technology to create rich, immersive 3D virtual worlds like Watopia, London, New York, and Paris. Zwift's app wirelessly connects to exercise equipment such as smart trainers and bikes, allowing the user's real-world effort to power their avatar in the game environment.
The platform offers structured training programs, friendly races, social group rides, and various workout modes across different routes and terrain. Zwift's gamified experience includes features like customizable avatars, earning experience points, and unlocking rewards as users progress through levels. The company's offerings cater to a diverse cycling community, enabling riders to train, compete, and interact with each other virtually.
In September 2022, Zwift disrupted the smart trainer market by launching the Zwift Hub, a direct-drive smart trainer priced at USD 499. Designed to elevate the core Zwift experience, the Hub seamlessly integrates with the platform, simulating virtual terrain with resistance changes and providing a smooth, realistic indoor ride. It ships with a pre-installed cassette, allowing users to set up quickly and access Zwift's virtual worlds.
In November 2023, Zwift introduced annual membership options, making it more affordable for users to access the platform throughout the year.

Using AI to mimic and understand human language

Natural Language Processing Tools

Voiceflow is a conversational AI platform that enables teams to collaboratively design, prototype, and build AI agents for various use cases. Founded in 2019, the company provides a visual, no-code environment for creating conversational experiences across multiple channels including voice assistants, websites, and messaging apps. Voiceflow's platform integrates with popular natural language understanding technologies and large language models, allowing users to leverage AI capabilities without being locked into a single vendor.The platform features a drag-and-drop interface where users can create conversation flows using different blocks and logic to handle user interactions. It supports advanced capabilities like contextual dialog management, entity recognition, and multi-turn conversations. As of August 2023, Voiceflow reported having approximately 130,000 users from 450 enterprise customers, including major companies like Amazon, JP Morgan, and The Home Depot. The company claims its platform enables teams to build AI agents twice as fast as traditional methods.Voiceflow offers analytics tools to track chatbot performance and supports integrations with third-party services. The platform can be used to create chatbots for customer support automation, in-app assistants, and other conversational AI applications. In 2023, Voiceflow introduced new AI-powered features including an LLM-based builder for creating customer support agents.Key customers and partnershipsVoiceflow's customer base spans various industries and includes major enterprises like Amazon, JP Morgan, The Home Depot, State Farm, Vodafone, and BMW. The company has also worked with a government agency.

Using real-time data to create dynamic virtual representations of the real world

Digital Twin

Geopipe is developing a digital twin platform to map the entire Earth. Its AI technology uses data such as photos and laser scans, which is processed through its semantic engine to create multiple levels of data in the digital twin. In December 2021, the company claims it built New York City in Minecraft within a day.&nbsp;As of July 2023, Geopipe had released digital twins of New York City, Boston, San Francisco, and a few other cities. It aims at providing services to companies in the gaming, simulation and architecture, and engineering and construction sectors. The company plans to offer its platform at USD 100 per month.&nbsp;Funding and financialsThe company raised USD 2.4 million in a seed funding round in September 2021 led by Village global. The funds were allocated toward advancing its platform and expanding its coverage.

A new generation of building blocks for emerging tech

Next-gen Semiconductors

Syntiant Corp., founded in 2017 and headquartered in Irvine, California, is a leader in delivering end-to-end deep learning solutions for edge AI applications. The company specializes in developing ultra-low-power, high-performance neural decision processors that enable always-on voice, audio, sensor, and vision applications across various consumer and industrial use cases. Syntiant's technology combines deep learning with semiconductor design to produce Neural Decision Processors (NDPs) that can run multiple neural networks concurrently at extremely low power levels.
The company's flagship products include the NDP series, such as the NDP200, which is designed for always-on edge AI vision applications and can run multiple independent networks concurrently at powers less than 2mW. Syntiant's processors are capable of executing deep neural networks natively on various architectures, including Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), and fully connected networks. The company's solutions typically offer more than 100x efficiency improvement and a 10x increase in throughput compared to current low-power MCU-based alternatives.
Syntiant's technology is applicable to a wide range of devices, including earbuds, wearables, smartphones, smart speakers, laptops, automobiles, and other IoT consumer and industrial applications. The company's processors enable edge devices to hear, speak, see, and feel, bringing cloud-free advanced machine learning solutions to the edge of the network. This allows for mission-critical and time-sensitive decisions to be made faster, more reliably, and with greater security.
As of March 2022, Syntiant had shipped over 20 million of its Neural Decision Processors. The company continues to innovate, with plans to introduce its third-generation Syntiant Core 3 architecture in the future.
Key customers and partnerships
Syntiant has established partnerships with several prominent companies in the technology industry. In July 2021, Syntiant announced a collaboration with Renesas Electronics Corporation for a voice-controlled multimodal solution combining Renesas' RZ/V Series MPUs and Syntiant's NDP120 Neural Decision Processor. This partnership aims to enable low-power contactless operation for image processing in vision AI-based IoT and edge systems.

Transforming neurological care with innovation

Neurostimulation Tech

Cognixion is a company pioneering noninvasive brain-computer interface (BCI) and augmented reality (AR) technology to assist individuals with severe motor impairments. Its flagship product, Cognixion ONE Axon, utilizes electroencephalogram (EEG) technology to provide a noninvasive BCI enabling users to communicate their responses through thoughts and mental attention via a wearable AR headset. Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) like GPT language models, the device rapidly interprets the user's communication intentions, providing audible and visual suggestions on the visor as a communication aid.
Designed for individuals with conditions like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), motor neuron disease, traumatic injuries, and cerebral palsy resulting in severe motor impairments, Cognixion ONE Axon aims to become the first FDA-cleared device allowing fully paralyzed or locked-in patients to communicate without eye-tracking once ocular motor decline sets in. In May 2023, it received FDA Breakthrough Device designation, expediting its regulatory review process. Unlike invasive BCI technologies, Cognixion's device does not require surgical procedures or extensive training, offering a new level of independence and autonomy.

Bridging the gap between the human brain and computer

Brain-computer Interfaces

Cognixion is a leading developer of non-invasive Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) and Augmented Reality (AR) technology. Their flagship product, the Cognixion ONE Axon, utilizes electroencephalogram (EEG) technology to provide a non-invasive brain-computer interface. It enables patients with advanced disease progression, such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Motor Neuron Disease (MND), traumatic injuries, and cerebral palsy, to communicate their responses with their thoughts and mental attention in a wearable, augmented reality headset.
The Cognixion ONE Axon integrates Artificial Intelligence (AI), including GPT large language models, to rapidly support the user's communication intentions and desired outcomes. It provides contextual predictions and suggestions that can be quickly selected and communicated audibly and visually on the front visor as a communication aid. The device aims to become the first FDA-cleared device allowing fully paralyzed or locked-in patients to communicate via a non-invasive brain-computer interface once eye-tracking is no longer usable due to ocular motor decline.
Cognixion's technology combines AI, Augmented Reality, and Assistive Technology, designed to help people with severe motor impairments communicate and interact more effectively and independently with the world around them. Unlike invasive BCI technologies, Cognixion's device can be prescribed and utilized without surgical procedures or significant training, providing a new level of independence and autonomy.
Key customers and partnerships
In May 2023, the Cognixion ONE Axon received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Breakthrough Device designation, which will streamline its development and validation process with prioritized feedback from FDA review staff. This designation is awarded to devices that demonstrate the potential to provide more effective treatment for life-threatening or debilitating conditions where no clear alternatives exist.

Revolutionizing efficiency by redefining human interactions

Humanoid Robots

Skild AI is developing a scalable artificial intelligence foundation model for robotics. The company's goal is to create a shared, general-purpose AI "brain" that can be applied to various types of robots, enabling them to perform diverse tasks such as manipulation, locomotion, and navigation across different environments. Skild AI's model is trained on significantly more data points than competing models, allowing for greater generalization and emergent capabilities. The company aims to make robots more agile, dexterous, and safe for human interaction, potentially expanding their use in industries facing labor shortages such as healthcare, construction, warehousing, and manufacturing.

Heeyo is an AI technology company that focuses on delivering advanced artificial intelligence solutions. They offer tools and services designed to leverage AI for various applications, such as machine learning, natural language processing, and data analytics. Their solutions are aimed at enhancing business operations and decision-making processes.

Volley is the leading creator of AI-powered games for smart TVs and Amazon Alexa devices. Popular Volley games include Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, 20 Questions, and Question of the Day.

Skild AI is a startup that develops software to power various robots including ones with two or four legs.

DatologyAI is an AI-data curation startup that develops deep learning tools for automatic selection in data training. The company provides tools that help automate much of the creation of datasets. It identifies which information within a dataset is the most appropriate, based on what the AI model is designed to do. In addition, its tools can suggest ways to augment existing datasets with additional information, work out the best way to batch that information, or split it into more manageable chunks to streamline the model training process.

BP-FLAC is an AI and a vast computing pool, provides limitless expansion possibilities for web3.

Imbue is an independent research lab that trains foundational models to develop AI agents that can code. The company's AI models are optimized to perform well on its internal benchmarks for reasoning.

Scriptic is an entertainment agency known for providing entertainment services for mobile devices.

Hyper is an avatar-based social network. We're building the metaverse.

Sunrise aims to bring simple answers to millions of people suffering from sleep disorders. We have developed a 3-gram sensor to diagnose sleep with gold standard quality. The technology offers a revolutionary new way to measure brain commands at night, with published clinical results never seen before. Studies demonstrate Sunrise is as accurate as in-lab sleep studies, at a fraction of the cost. Affecting one in three people, sleep disorders are extremely common. Sleep apnea is the most prevalent disease with almost 1 billion persons concerned. This condition leads to great body damage over time and yet remains undiagnosed in 80% of the cases. Patients, caregiver and insurers stand to benefit greatly from a solution to current highly cumbersome, expensive and time-consuming diagnostics systems.

Span.IO develops products to enable the rapid adoption of renewable energy and deliver an intuitive interface for the home. They are a group of engineers with a passion for building products that can deliver a positive impact on the environment while enhancing the consumer experience. They believe that developing intelligent hardware and software that provides visibility and control at the edge-of-grid will be transformational to the energy sector. The company is backed by domain experts in energy, software, hardware, and consumer finance. They leverage their teams' collective experience in power generation, energy conversion, controls, and system integration to develop core products focused on enabling the rapid adoption of renewable energy. SpanIO is based in San Francisco in 2018.

Superplastic is a character-based product and entertainment company. It creates limited edition art toys, apparel, games, and animation based on characters created in collaboration with some of the greatest artists in the world.  Superplastic is founded on the principle that effort and scarcity are intrinsic components of value. The company appropriates the tools of mass media and mass production to create limited edition works of art for a limited audience. It was established in 2017 and is based in Burlington, Vermont.

Scythe Robotics is a robotics company that develops autonomous machines to tackle challenges in unstructured outdoor environments. Scythe aims to provide advanced and sustainable autonomous technology for maintaining off-road environments safely, effectively, and responsibly. Founded in 2018, Scythe is headquartered in Longmont, Colorado.

Osmo gives computers a sense of smell that improves the health and well-being of human life. Osmo brings together frontier AI and olfactory science to tackle a historic challenge. While they are initially focused on the intricate world of fragrance, their ultimate objective is to enhance the health and well-being of human life through the sense of smell.

YOURIKA combines years of AI research from the University of Waterloo (Top 5 in AI) with our proprietary technology and domain expertise to make smarter and more connected learning products.    This includes our own platform, ORBITS, that liberates teenage students to work smarter when learning remotely.

Ask DOSS is a digital real estate marketplace that improves the way people list and search for homes. They give people the tools they need to search for buy and sell real estate. They provide transactions for buyers and sellers, and they serve people.

Our suite of solutions includes co:census, an Enterprise SaaS solution that transforms feedback to insights for researchers + designers, and co:lab, digital learning workshops for civic leaders.

TRIPP is a digital psychedelic wellness platform that uses the power of virtual and augmented reality. TRIPP creates advanced digital products that are based on scientific research and delivered through virtual reality, augmented reality, and mobile devices. TRIPP's platform is currently delivering wellness solutions to consumer households. It was founded in 2017 and headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

LIV creates technology to share Virtual Reality experiences. It's on a mission to empower VR to live streamers to grow and play with their audiences in real-time, turning passive spectators into active participants. They're redefining what live-streamed gaming content looks and feels like, and that's why their creators have driven over 1.5 billion views since launching in 2018.

Syntiant is moving artificial intelligence and machine learning from the cloud to edge devices. Syntiant’s advanced chip solutions merge deep learning with semiconductor design to produce ultra-low-power, high performance, deep neural network processors for always-on applications in battery-powered devices, such as smartphones, smart speakers, earbuds, hearing aids, and laptops.

Logically combines artificial intelligence with expert analysts  to reduce the individual, institutional, and societal damage caused by misleading and deceptive online discourse. Working with governments and organisations around the world, Logically's unique combination of artificial and expert intelligence means we can apply scale and nuance to the problems of mis- and disinformation, detecting, triaging, and responding to issues, as well as predicting and preventing emerging threats.

Aglet is a digital platform that connects sneakerheads, creators, and brands through virtual sneakers. Aglet is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

Labrador Systems is a robotics company building a new generation of personal robots to improve the quality of life for millions of people. They are taking the latest tech from those fields to create pragmatic but meaningful applications to support people in everyday life. The company driving the design and implementation of advanced robotics hardware and software systems. Labrador Systems is based in Oak Park, California, USA.

Mojo Vision is focused on developing and commercializing high-performance micro-LED display technology for consumer, enterprise, and government applications. The company combines breakthrough technology, leading display and semiconductor expertise, and an advanced 300mm manufacturing process to deliver on the promise of micro-LED displays. Mojo’s proprietary quantum-dot technology brings full-color capability to its display platform and meets the superior performance demands for all form factors. Mojo Vision developed the world’s smallest, densest dynamic display for the first AR smart contact lens and is now applying this innovation and expertise to lead the disruption of the $160 billion display industry. Mojo Vision was founded in 2015 and headquartered in Saratoga, California.

Cognixion is a computer software company that specializes in the fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and biotechnology. It features a sensory communication system that enables people to communicate using a brain-computer interface that translates brainwaves directly into communication. The company was founded in 2014 and headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.

Splash develops AI-powered video games that lets anyone create and perform music to live audiences inside virtual venues.

At WattBuy, we’re focused on an ambitious vision: making cleaner, more affordable electricity accessible to every household. We’re looking to bring on team members to help us reach that goal. Based in NYC, DC, and Seattle, WattBuy is a team of product leaders and engineers from Google and Amazon who share a love of using technology to tackle inequality and positively impact the climate.

Vesper is an electrical and electronic manufacturing company that specializes in microphones, piezoelectric, and audio. The company is driven by a mission is to deliver voice-powered products to every market, around the world. Vesper was founded in 2009 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Geopipe uses machine learning to build immersive digital twins of the real world for gaming, simulation, architecture, and beyond. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in New York.

Inpher.io  is a secret computing technology for privacy-preserving machine learning and AI. Inpher is a veteran team of entrepreneurs, cryptographers, and computer scientists who believe that privacy and security are foundational to the future of computing.  It has developed transformational Secret Computing™ technology to run analytics and machine learning algorithms on private data sources with zero-knowledge.  This provides a secure path to cloud services and the monetization of analysis and insight without revealing sensitive data.

Plant Prefab is a provider of custom single and multi-family home construction services. The company’s patented Plant Building System utilizes advanced digital modeling and fully customizable Plant Panels and Plant Modules to help contractors and developers build housing 20 to 50 percent faster than site-based methods. The system provides better quality control, design flexibility, and time, cost, and material efficiency than traditional on-site construction.  With a mission to build a better world by design, Plant Prefab is the first housing prefabricator to announce a net zero goal and has achieved carbon-neutral operations since 2020.

Trusted by 200,000 users, Voiceflow helps businesses automate customer support and more through an easy to use, powerful, collaborative platform to build AI powered automations. It's time to expect more from your chatbot.

Rise Gardens is a smart indoor hydroponic gardening system, complete with everything consumers need to grow their own food at home, anytime of the year. Their system is modular, allowing for different amounts of production. It also allows consumers to grow a wide variety of vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Their motivation lies in facilitating a stronger connection between people and the food they consume, achieved by enhancing the ease and pleasure of growing their own food.

Fiddler is a pioneer in enterprise Model Performance Management. Data Science, MLOps, and LOB teams use Fiddler to monitor, explain, analyze, and improve their models and build trust into AI.  The unified environment provides a common language, centralized controls, and actionable insights to operationalize ML/AI with trust. It addresses the unique challenges of building in-house stable and secure MLOps systems at scale.  Unlike observability solutions, Fiddler seamlessly integrates deep XAI and analytics to help you grow into advanced capabilities over time and build a framework for responsible AI practices. F500 organizations use Fiddler across training and production models to accelerate AI time-to-value and scale and increase revenue by connecting predictions to business context (or providing visibility into model performance and behavior).

Internet of things meets coffee marketplace. Spinn makes connected coffee machines that makes coffee using patented centrifugal technology. The taste of the coffee is consistently described by coffee professionals as smooth, creamy and velvety. The machine auto-replenishes using a 'beanlist' users compile from a marketplace for local coffee roasters. A better version of coffee.

Pixieray modernizes traditional eyeglass optics by introducing a pioneering adaptive solution giving anyone perfect vision.

One Stop Wellness is the on-demand health literacy platform that incentivizes employees to adopt healthy habits. We help companies improve population health risks and reduce health care costs through our comprehensive workplace wellness app that helps employees track their chronic risk factors and get personalized guidance to improve their overall wellbeing.

Yousician is the largest music educator in the world, and with over 25 million users. It develops high-tech musical instrument learning software that gives users real-time feedback on how they play. Currently Yousician is available for Guitar and Piano. Yousician’s cutting edge audio technology can listen to any real acoustic or electric guitar without the use of additional equipment. The service combines the addictive features of computer games with guitar exercises to make the learning process easy, fun and motivating.  Yousician also develops the guitar tuner app Guitar Tuna and has won numerous international business awards including WIRED’s hottest Finnish start-up, SXSW, Midem, Launch.edu, and educational awards such as Sunday Times Worlds best apps or Best European Learning Game. Yousician believes that musicality can and should be as commonplace as literacy today, and it is the company’s declared mission to achieve this.

Cameo is a marketplace where fans can book personalized video shoutouts from their favourite people. Cameo's mission is to create personalized and authentic fan experiences. The company currently partner with thousands of talent across all verticals.

Weel Autonomy manufactures autonomous and self-driving electric bicycles. The company was founded in 2018 by Justin Corbett and David Hansen.

Preemadonna builds AI powered nail and body art experiences. Our flagship AI product, the Nailbot, prints art and photos on nails in five seconds. Along with the hardware comes an art platform and a community of creators - particularly Gen Z & Gen A young women. Future products make nail polish and print body art & makeup. Our interconnected machines and platforms leverage cutting-edge technologies, including computer vision, machine learning, augmented reality, proprietary formulations & sustainable consumables.

Symbl.ai is an early-stage, venture-backed startup that is democratizing access to conversational intelligence for developers. They have developed the only platform that uses machine learning to analyze conversations in real-time proactively. The company aims to eliminate the complexity of building and maintaining conversational understanding systems so that developers can focus on building delightful and productive experiences, using Rammer’s underlying technology. It was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Betty Labs is a developer of a sports trivia application designed to provide life experiences. Their first product, Sideline, is a live mobile game that lets viewers win money while watching sports by predicting what will happen next. By delivering questions generated in real-time and inspired by the progress of the game on TV, they turn otherwise boring or low-stakes moments into exciting chances to climb the leaderboard, compete with friends, and get paid.

Endel is a cross-platform audio ecosystem. It creates personalized, sound-based, adaptive environments that help people focus and relax. They’re a small team of artists, developers, and scientists who have worked together on lots of digital projects, including the award-winning kids’ app series, BUBL. Endel is a 2018 Techstars Music Accelerator company.

Tonal is a smart home gym that uses artificial intelligence and expert-led coaching to provide strength training. It manufactures and provides Tonal, fitness training equipment. The equipment is installed on walls and offers personalized workouts through it. It also provides workout plans, such as building muscles, balancing strength, and athletic performance based on individual requirements. It also offers live-recorded classes by coaches.  Aly Orady founded Tonal in 2015 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Zwift is a provider of an interactive fitness platform used to transform monotonous solo indoor cycling and running workouts into dynamic and social adventures. Its platform connects users to physical indoor trainers so that cyclists can pedal inside while immersed in any number of virtual landscapes on a screen in front of them that enable users to join in rides together with friends. Zwift uses gaming technology to bring the outdoor experience indoors, making at-home exercise fun, and engaging. It promotes social experience by connecting cyclists and runners in 3D computer-generated platform. Users of the Zwift platform interact, train, and compete together by wirelessly pairing a bike trainer or treadmill to the Zwift app, to power their in-game avatars. Zwift was launched in 2014 by Alarik Myrin, Eric Min, Jon Mayfield, and Scott Barger and is headquartered in Long Beach, California.

Aspinity offers neuromorphic all-analog integrated circuit technology that can replicate the functionality of digital signal processors. It reduces the system power requirements for always-on sensing applications.

A B2B self-driving micromobility platform for the transportation of people and goods in indoor and pedestrian areas.

Blerp is a sound-bite search engine for voice chats, messaging, and live streams. Blerp assists with finding, sharing, and creating short audio memes and soundboards on various media streaming platforms, enabling users to share their moments on preferred social networks.

Inspired by JARVIS, we started our journey thinking about the future of Artificial General Intelligence. At nFlux, we believe solving intelligence can advance and augment human species in positive ways. Our first customer NASA asked us to develop a cognitive architecture to support deep space missions where communication with earth is impractical and the intelligent system onboard will need to assist astronauts independent of support from the ground control station. Subsequently, we received investments from Amazon/Alexa Fund, Techstars, Illuminate Ventures, Plug and Play, USC, and other world-class value-add investors to expand our platform and our team to deliver on our mission.

Amira Learning offers an intelligent reading assistant that listens, assesses, and tutors.  Amira recommends appropriately challenging stories, listens as a student reads aloud, and intervenes when helpful. The company assesses oral reading fluency and analyzes errors to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses. Every time a student and Amira read together, Amira generates diagnostic reports that empower teachers and parents. It gives teachers more time to teach and gives students a more effective way to practice.

SmartRent is an enterprise home automation company developing software and hardware to help owners, property managers and renters in multifamily communities. SmartRent create multifamily technology solutions that provide property owners and managers a platform to better monitor and protect their assets, and create operational efficiencies all while driving ancillary revenue.

Sweepr provides delightfully simple care for the connected home. We are reshaping the way technical support is provided so that it is intuitive and appropriate for the majority of non-technical homeowners. This is an increasingly important problem as our homes get more connected. Many end customers are struggling to keep pace with the increasing quantity and complexity of connected home devices and services leading to dramatic increases in customer support calls and under-discovery of new features. We want to vastly improve the quality of the interaction for the homeowner but also to dramatically lower the cost to provide customer care for the service provider or manufacturer. To do this we are building a platform that makes it easy for service providers and manufacturers to integrate AI-powered, NLP-content rich, customer care capabilities into their products and services, leaving them with more time to focus on new feature innovation and increasing overall end-customer satisfaction and product engagement levels. Our goal is to ensure that non-technical homeowners enjoy maximum, uninterrupted, delightful use from every connected product and service that enters their home.

Bamboo Learning Based in Seattle, is an education-focused software and services company with a mission to become the most trusted guide to lifelong learning using voice-first devices and software. Bamboo Learning is focused on developing skills for Alexa and that enables children and adults to have fun learning and practicing different subjects while listening, viewing pictures, and using their voice. Bamboo Skills, including Bamboo Math and Bamboo Music, automatically get more challenging as children and adults master different levels.

Conservation Labs is an Amazon Alexa Fund portfolio company. We founded Conservation Labs to help you save money and better manage our natural resources. This is our big challenge: there are over 3 trillion gallons of unwanted water use each year in the U.S. alone, costing us $70 billion. With water, a little knowledge goes a long way. H2know helps you save money and improve our water use.

Drivetime provides an online platform designed to help users play games while they drive. It develops interactive audio games that are non-distracting and voice-driven gameplay, enabling users to play hands-free games while driving the car.

Spiral is a software company that focuses on building solutions for scanning customer feedback using AI.

Ambit Analytics is internet company helps leaders build collaborative teams through insights on how they talk and listen.  A spin-off from SRI International, the birthplace of Apple’s Siri and Nuance, Ambit leverages world-class audio AI technology to quantify verbal communication and uses those metrics to train people to become better communicators. Ambit Analytics is headquartered in San Francisco.

Ejenta is building an intelligent personal assistant platform, applied to several industry verticals, including space, government and healthcare. Ejenta's personal agent technology uses artificial intelligence to understand users’ daily activities, to monitor adherence to mission plans, and to offer personalized advice, coaching and support. Our agent technology is currently running 24/7 in NASA's Mission Control for the International Space Station.  Ejenta's platform is based on exclusively licensed NASA technology and 20 years of research in human activity modeling, human-robot interaction, multi-agent systems and security. The platform integrates wearable and ambient sensors that gather real time behavior data, with a team of intelligent agents running in the cloud. Users can interact with their personal agents via mobile devices, Smart TVs and spoken natural language

VoiceHero is an analytics platform that helps businesses measure performance and make data-driven decisions on voice.

Midgame is a technology company building voice experiences and analytics for gamers and esports teams. Minfgame is a voice-enabled gaming assistant in early access for Stardew Valley

EX-IQ is revolutionary mobile and desktop applications empower life-long learners and leaders to make the most out of every moment. -IQ’s dynamic, artificial intelligence technology transforms any environment into a personalized high-speed learning laboratory—offering users unprecedented autonomy, efficiency, and productivity. Whether you’re a serious student, driven professional, or just insatiably inquisitive, EX-IQ is the tool of choice to radically transform your learning landscape.

Doppio is a conversational game studio, creating the next big step in entertainment: voice and narrative-driven games. Check out our titles, The Vortex and The 3% Challenge, on your Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.

Anycart is the world's first grocery shopping engine. A better way to grocery shop.  Find meals, shop for groceries and follow guided cooking videos in one place.  Anycart will recommend a recipe, add the ingredients to your preferred grocery delivery service cart, provide step-by-step video cooking instructions, and also recommend other recipes that can use excess ingredients. Anycart was initially started in 2019 in Seattle during the Amazon Alexa Accelerator and is now headquartered in Palo Alto in California.

Lightform provides sound-reactive projectors, projector kits, and creator products. Their products transform spaces using projection mapping, adding effects and ambient interfaces to any 3D object. They design hardware tools for projection.  Their user interface streamlined the projection mapping workflow and pairing process.

Unruly Studios creates interactive games that empower children with critical STEM skills while stimulating creative problem solving through physical activity and social engagement. Its pioneering product, Unruly Tiles, teaches kids between the age group of 6-12 years to code and develop creative problem-solving skills while balancing screen-time and play-time. Unruly Tiles is a set of programmable electronic floor tiles that kids can run around and jump on to play games created by them. Unruly Studios was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Unruly Splats provides programmable floor buttons. They offers educational toys, active toys, active games, edtech, tech toys, child development, coding, coding toys, and kids coding.

Jargon's low code platform enables developers and business users to build and operate chat and voice apps. Through integrated IDE and CMS functionality, Jargon empowers enterprise teams to scale their app production while preventing errors along the way.

CTRL-labs is a New York City-based startup pioneering the development of non-invasive neural interface technology that fundamentally reimagines how humans and machines collaborate. In the near term, CTRL-labs’ release of CTRL-kit will help developers address urgent problems of immersion and control in the fields of XR, robotics, productivity, and clinical research. CTRL-kit is a wireless, non-invasive electromyography device that translates neural signals into control. Using the CTRL-kit SDK and API, developers can begin integrating neural control into their applications. Long term, the company’s scientific groundwork and developer partnerships will pave the way for mass consumer adoption of non-invasive neural interface technology: a new kind of universal controller that empowers humans to harness their machines as natural extensions of thought and movement.

Scalable, secure and hardware-agnostic, Mojio is the platform and SaaS solution provider of choice to build, launch and scale connected mobility services. Founded in 2012, Mojio has growing teams in Silicon Valley and Vancouver, and counts some of the world’s biggest brands as customers, investors and partners, including Amazon, Bosch, Deutsche Telekom, Microsoft, T-Mobile and Vivint. Mojio’s platform, apps and services deliver a smarter, safer and more convenient car ownership experience for the global driving community. With over 15 billion miles of driving data gathered from more than a million vehicles, Mojio’s big data analytics framework uses machine learning to generate actionable insights, unlocking the next generation of revenue streams for companies throughout the automotive value chain. Learn more at moj.io.  Force by Mojio is the ideal GPS fleet tracking solution for small businesses that rely on their vehicles to get the job done. Learn more at forcebymojio.com

At Hatch, we're dreaming up ways to help people sleep better. Our sleep products and services have helped over a million people get a good night's rest. We're on a mission to make sleep easier for everyone with innovative, all-in-one solutions for newborns through adults.

Orro is the world's first truly responsive lighting system. Designed to be part of the fabric of your home. Orro responds to your presence, preferences and adapts to natural lighting patterns. Orro increases property values, lowers energy expenses and provides for a better living experience for homeowners and renters.

Arrive powers the last mile of mobility through smart parking solutions. It offers the only seamless mobility experience that predicts and recommends the best parking solution for any journey. Arrive powers smart parking and other connected mobility services through apps, websites, voice platforms, and in-dash integrations to hundreds of clients including smart cities, automakers, fleets, venues, navigation and voice platforms, as well as to its own ParkWhiz and BestParking consumer brands.

Tado° develops a heating app for private homes and small businesses. It adjusts to the residents' behavior in real time and also takes current weather forecasts and building characteristics into account. tado° GmbH is a Munich, Germany-based tech startup bringing Internet of Things into the cleantech market. It was founded by Christian Deilmann, Johannes Schwarz, Valentin Sawadski and Leopold von Bismarck in 2011. A team of qualified young professionals has been working on the development of tado° for approximately two years in Munich.

SevenRooms is a guest experience and retention platform that helps hospitality operators unlock the full revenue potential of their data. From neighborhood restaurants and bars to international, multi-concept hospitality groups, the end-to-end platform enables operators to build direct guest relationships, deliver exceptional experiences, and, ultimately, bring guests back. SevenRooms has dining, hotel F&B, nightlife and entertainment clients globally, including: Bloomin’ Brands, MGM Resorts International, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Jumeirah Group, Wolfgang Puck, Michael Mina, sbe, LDV Hospitality, Zuma, Altamarea Group, AELTC, Chase Hospitality Group, D&D London, Corbin & King, Live Nation and Topgolf.

Aiva Health offers a voice-powered healthcare assistant for patient care. It frees up clinicians to deliver faster, more personal care, which improves caregiving for them as well as their patients. Aiva was part of the Cedars-Sinai Accelerator powered by Techstars and is piloting at several facilities and home care providers. It was founded in 2016, based out of Los Angeles, California.

Roby is a chat/voice-enabled software that handles all requests, automates repetitive tasks, eliminates miscommunication, and reduces resolution time to increase employee satisfaction. It works by simplifying and automating tasks such as employee QAs, room booking, facility requests, and IT support allowing you to focus on what really matters. Roby is a Techstars 2018 company. Its mission is to create an engaged, productive, and happy workplace for our customers by making their operation efficient, simple, and personalized.

Defined.ai is enabling AI creators of the future, from those building their first boot-strapped models, to those fine-tuning complex AI projects. Defined.ai hosts the leading online marketplace where it's possible to buy, sell or commission off-the-shelf or custom-ordered AI data, tools and models, and offers professional services to help deliver success in complex machine learning projects. Defined.ai is a community of AI professionals working together to build fair, accessible, inclusive and ethical AI of the future.

The Amazon Alexa Fund is Amazon’s venture capital fund investing in artificial intelligence, frontier tech, voice, robotics, and digital health across consumer and enterprise. We invest in early- to growth-stage companies globally. To learn more, visit us at alexafund.com.

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