Techstars is a global platform that provides investment and innovation. Through the Techstars Worldwide Entrepreneur Network, founders and their teams connect with other entrepreneurs, experts, mentors, alumni, investors, community leaders, and corporate partners who will help their companies grow. Techstars operates four divisions: Techstars Mentorship-Driven Accelerator Program supercharges success and Techstars Startup Programs inspire, educate, and connect entrepreneurs. Techstars Venture Capital Fund invests in innovative and disruptive companies. Techstars Corporate Innovation Partnerships help brands create products and services. Techstars' accelerator portfolio includes more than 1,000 companies with a market cap of $8.1 billion.

Techstars

Vestigo Ventures is a seed an early-stage venture capital firm headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts that invests in technology companies focused on financial services.  We are distinguished by our deep financial industry expertise, exclusive access to the team and technology at Cogo Labs, powerful network of advisors and proven record as investors and operators. These advantages position us to successfully target the next generation of disruptive FinTech companies.

Vestigo Ventures

Netcapital

Sterilize with ease: The future of hygiene technology

Hygiene Tech

Transparent Path spc is a Seattle-based logistics technology company that provides real-time, end-to-end shipment visibility solutions to help businesses reduce costs, risks, and waste in their supply chains. Their platform utilizes advanced technologies such as 5G, IoT, AI, and cloud computing to continuously monitor shipments and provide insights into location, temperature, humidity, tilt, shock, acceleration, light exposure, and door openings.Transparent Path's offerings are designed to protect the efficacy of products during transit, especially for perishable goods like food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, biomedical products, sensitive chemicals, and high-value assets. Their proprietary machine-learning algorithms enable predictive analytics, such as FreshScore, to forecast product freshness.The company's business model revolves around attaching advanced cellular sensors to shipments, enabling real-time monitoring and collaboration with supply chain partners. Their platform facilitates seamless handoffs and tracks changes in custody throughout the supply chain journey.Transparent Path's flexible pricing model allows customers to use and reuse the trackers as needed, paying only a monthly fee based on their requirements. The company targets businesses that regularly ship loads worth USD 50,000 or more, deal with highly perishable goods, experience losses due to supply chain disruptions, or burn cash on claims and reconciliations.In 2023, Transparent Path secured a USD 1.6 million seed funding round and announced a key partnership to fuel its expansion into the Southern Hemisphere. Additionally, the company was awarded grants totaling USD 411,750 from the National Science Foundation and ReFED to develop a biodegradable sensor and reduce food waste, respectively.

Making cold chains faster, smarter, and cooler.

Cold Chain Innovation

Transparent Path is a logistics technology company that provides real-time, end-to-end shipment visibility solutions to reduce costs, risks, and environmental impact in supply chains. The company's platform utilizes advanced technologies including 5G, IoT, AI, and cloud computing to monitor shipments continuously. Transparent Path's system tracks various parameters such as location, temperature, humidity, tilt, shock, acceleration, light exposure, and door openings. This comprehensive monitoring helps ensure product quality and freshness, particularly for perishable goods in industries like food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, biomedical products, sensitive chemicals, and high-value assets.
The company's platform is designed to facilitate collaboration and seamless handoffs throughout the supply chain, tracking changes in custody without requiring additional infrastructure. Transparent Path offers a unique, patent-pending freshness prediction metric called FreshScore, which uses proprietary machine-learning algorithms. The system aims to prevent lost loads, provide evidence for meeting service-level agreements, and help businesses reclaim costs lost to supply chain inefficiencies. Transparent Path's flexible pricing model allows customers to use and reuse trackers as needed, paying only for the trackers they require on a monthly basis.
Key customers and partnerships
Transparent Path has worked with Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks. Rod Wieber noted that the company's technology has been added to loads shipped across the nation to food banks in the Feeding America network over the past year. The ability to track load location and monitor temperature has provided assurance that food arrives in optimal condition for quick distribution to those in need. Wieber stated that Transparent Path's sensors have exceeded expectations in terms of performance and reliability.

Avadain is a graphene flakes manufacturer. Adadain's technology uses a patented, environmentally friendly process to produce graphene flakes at a low cost.

Caesar Media Group provides marketing solutions for companies as well as lead generation, website development, SEO, data, sales, and social media building.

GenesisAI is a machine learning marketplace for AI products and services. It connects companies in need of AI services, data, and models with companies interested to monetize their AI tech. By linking AI services with each other and increasing the supply of AI services, GenesisAI provides a web platform that offers low-cost AI services. This makes AI technology more efficient and affordable for businesses. Their platform enables different AIs to communicate with each other, exchange data, and trade services. Anyone can develop and purchase AI services. GenesisAI platform allows software engineers to discover, test, and integrate various AI-related APIs.  GenesisAI was established in 2018 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA and Miami, Florida, USA.

SEED-STAGE • LOGISTICS TECH • FOR-PROFIT • SOCIAL PURPOSE CORPORATION. For buyers and sellers of perishable goods, Transparent Path creates real-time, end-to-end supply chain visibility technologies that reduce waste, cost, and risk.  WHO WE ARE: Former senior executives from the food, tech, and social impact sectors, from companies like Amazon, IBM, Xerox, Microsoft, Target, and General Mills. We came together in 2020 to use the skills we honed over long careers to create meaningful positive impacts. Our social mission: to keep food, medicines and other critical perishables out of landfills.  Founded as an LLC in 2018. Restructured and launched as a social purpose corp (C-corp) in 2020.  PROBLEM Supply chain data technologies have been underfunded for generations — still largely powered by paper, faxes and disconnected systems. These antiquated approaches were incapable of handling the enormous systemic strains caused by pandemic-related labor and equipment shortages, disruptions, and growing, complex regulation. Paper systems mean shippers and receivers can't manage what they can't see. So we decided to combine a number of advanced technologies and new approaches for today's challenges, including AI, IoT, 5G, printed electronics, and machine vision. SOLUTIONS We bring both software and hardware solutions to the market to reduce cost, waste, and risk in perishable supply chains.  -- PRODUCT 1: The Transparent Path Visibility Platform (PaaS). Customers affix our continuously-connected cellular sensors to pallets entering the supply chain. These sensors constantly capture and report the location, temperature, humidity, and other factors for these shipments into our visibility cloud. This platform was built with collaboration in mind. Supply chain partners are grouped in Consortiums — dynamic partnerships based around common trade relationships. Product customers are tracked, easing data sharing and showing who's ''got the ball.''  When location or conditions jeopardize our customers' products, we send out real-time alerts to the appropriate parties who can intervene and save the shipment, along with its freshness, safety, and financial value.  -- PRODUCT 2: FreshScore™ - our patented predictive freshness algorithm targeted at buyers. FreshScore uses both production data and supply chain environmental data to predict the freshness of perishables before they arrive at retail. This unique algorithm arms food producers with quality control data, allowing for the routing of the best product to the best customers, minimizing surprises and rejections. It also helps reduce waste by anticipating freshness and viability issues before they occur. We are partnering with ReFED, the top food waste non-profit, to bring this technology to market. -- PRODUCT 3: ProofScore™ - our ''credit score for transparency.'' ProofScore is a patented algorithm that scores perishable producers and products based on data transparency. The more data shared with supply chain partners and consumers, the higher the ProofScore.  ProofScore puts information into the hands of consumers, answering the question, where did this product come from? How did it get to me? What happened to it along the way? ProofScore-ranked products can command higher margins and grow stronger customer satisfaction. We are partnering with a large Japanese multinational firm on its development.  -- PRODUCT 4: ProofTracker - our eco-friendly sensor device. This advanced temperature/humidity/shock tracker is a cellular gateway built on biodegradable materials.    BENEFITS Our products reduce customers' supply chain losses, retailer rejections, insurance premiums, wasted time, and labor costs spent on reconciliations. They also reduce negative impacts to natural capital, including keeping food and perishables out of landfills. Using our system, all supply chain partners know exactly what's happening to products in transit — reducing disputes while improving collaboration and trust. And customer relationships are maximized by the delivery of fresh, safe products at full margin.  CUSTOMER PROFILE Transparent Path technologies support food, pharmaceuticals, blood/plasma, transplant organs, and construction chemical shipments. The company also currently provides asset tracking for high-end hard goods.  PARTNERSHIPS Transparent Path has created partnerships with Intel, T-Mobile, Duke University, and ReFED. Intel has donated hardware, software, and ongoing counsel since 2020. We are working with Second Sun Laboratories to develop the most advanced hardware in the market, and with a large multinational Japanese tech manufacturer to develop ProofScore.  ACCELERATORS/INCUBATORS Over its short tenure, Transparent Path has been accepted into numerous accelerators, including 5G Open Innovation Lab, Microsoft for Startups, NewChip, and most recently, Plug and Play IoT.  FUNDRAISING To date, Transparent Path has been funded via bootstrapping, two RegCF raises, three grants, and four angel investors. In April 2023, the company was awarded grants totaling $440,000 from the National Science Foundation, ReFED, and the State of Washington. The company is building traction toward a Series A that will fund sales scaling and feature expansion.   FOR MORE INFORMATION Headquartered in the US, Transparent Path was founded by Eric Weaver, a 30-year enterprise transformation specialist. Prior to founding the company, Weaver launched the Xerox Customer Experience Practice, where he managed a $550M services book of business. His executive team includes senior leaders from Amazon, General Mills, Microsoft, Target, KraftHeinz, Xerox PARC, and the University of California at Berkeley.  Please visit transparentpath.com to learn more.

Mariposa Technology provides a cutting edge service to farmers through data and technology. Starting with the hemp industry, in conjunction with our database and software tool, our technology can provide farmers vital, analytical information about their crops identified through the plants molecular structure. Once the data on a specific hemp variety is logged in our Raman spectroscopy database, farmers can optimize their harvest with unprecedented access to daily crop test readings.

GZI translates scientific innovation into financial technology. We aim to net users higher returns and reduced volatility by repackaging global knowledge of the new normal into cutting edge alternative data to users in search of higher returns and less volatility. Success to Date: - Launched at the Founder Institute, the world’s largest pre-seed accelerator - Data producing over 400% on biotechnology companies in 2020 - Mark-to-market gain of 58% in 2020 - IRR of 60% - Back Tested data projected to outperform the indexes by 30-73% - Mark-to-market of 30% in 2021 - GZI is an FI Select company, which constitutes the top 2% of their portfolio of over 5,000 companies across the globe. Other top FI companies: Udemy & Thumbtack Invest in GZI: https://bit.ly/gzixnetcapital Launched at the Founder Institute.

Phoenix PharmaLabs believes strongly in the value to the worldwide human family of a class of potent analgesics with the potential to relieve pain and suffering without the problems of addiction, side effects and death.   The Company believes that superior shareholder and investor return can be accomplished while delivering relief to millions of pain sufferers and opiate addicts.

Defynance is the first to refinance existing student loans with smart income share agreements (ISAs). Our AI-driven marketplace pairs refinancing candidates with ISA investors and our proprietary ML algorithm provides individualized risk-based income share pricing for each ISA refinancing candidate.  For refinancers, we also provide resources during unemployment to help them achieve economic prosperity and a cash return when the ISA ends based on their own self-equity account.  For ISA funders, our ISA refinancing fund diversifies and mitigates risk, provides tax-deferred returns, and also shields them from interest rate and stock market risk.

We are a collaborative learning platform built for the modern classroom. Our goal is to strengthen student competencies and empower educators to create long-lasting learning experiences. We encourage you to visit info.ecoText.co to learn more. Also, feel free to reach out to us at info.ecoText.co/contact. We would love to talk to you.

Vantem Global streamlines the construction process, lowering costs and shortening delivery times.

Unity Aluminum was created by Craig T. Bouchard to lead a national transformation in the use of efficient, eco-friendly aluminum alloys that are also lighter and stronger. Our goal is to lead the generational shift in materials science that is currently underway. With a board of directors that includes acknowledged experts in business, research, development, and materials science, Braidy Industries is ideally positioned to take advantage of the rapidly growing market for aluminum in the automotive and aerospace industries.

KingsCrowd is an online private market rating and analytics platform for equity crowdfunding research and rating service. The platform provides insights, analytics, and ratings to help you navigate the fragmented market of startup investing and vet the deals worth adding to the investment portfolio. It enables us to create a predictive Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven startup investing platform that allows us to identify the factors that drive outsized startup investment returns. KingsCrowd connects investors and entrepreneurs to help private companies grow. It aims to empower everyone to invest in startups confidently through a platform-agnostic suite of EC support products including research, recommendations, data analytics, and financial products. KingsCrowd was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA.

Involved is a single survey software, allowing representatives and organizations to send out one-click questions through their mailing list, social media, and text. Users can respond in one click, leave private comments and share with friends and neighbors resulting in engagement 10x higher than traditional online surveys.

VirZOOM Enabled Controller to propel individuals through endlessly exciting VR games. Power a horse in a race, a tank in battle, a fire-breathing dragon through mountains. Its Patent pending software controls keeps people feeling good.  VirZOOM was founded in 2014 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Netcapital enables investors to invest in entrepreneurs seeking to raise capital using technology. The company makes private transactions transparent and easy by creating a secure place to transact and providing clear information so investors can make their own investment decisions. It helps entrepreneurs and investors to work together to build value by opening the lines of communication and keeping investors updated and allow them to collaborate with entrepreneurs and accelerate innovation. Their Secondary Transfer Platform makes it easy for investors to create bids and asks on offers that have already closed, allowing entrepreneurs to sell shares they already purchased on Netcapital and buy shares in companies that are no longer raising money. Jason Frishman formed the company in Boston, Massachusetts in 2014.

Netcapital is a fintech company that operates a scalable technology platform allowing private companies to raise capital online. Its platform enables investors, both accredited and non-accredited, to access investment opportunities in private companies. Netcapital's platform facilitates various types of securities offerings, including Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) and Regulation D (Reg D) offerings, through its registered funding portal, Netcapital Funding Portal Inc., and affiliated broker-dealer relationships.

Netcapital: invest in startups, raise capital

Netcapital Review

Netcapital announces Alternative Trading System (ATS) partnership with Templum Markets LLC

Netcapital Announces A New Way To Fund and Invest In Startup Companies

Netcapital Named “Best Crowdfunding Platform” at 6th Annual FinTech Breakthrough Awards

Netcapital Inc. Announces Pricing of Public Offering and Nasdaq Listing

Netcapital Announces Exercise of Warrants for $2.2 Million Gross Proceeds

Netcapital Named “Best Crowdfunding Platform” at FinTech Breakthrough Awards for Second Consecutive Year

Netcapital Announces Alternative Trading System (ATS) Partnership with Templum Markets LLC

Netcapital's Scalable Technology Platform Drives Growth In Equity Crowdfunding

Enviro Water Minerals Company on NetCapital 2023

Eliminating financial intermediaries by directly connecting individuals and businesses

P2P Financial Platforms

Netcapital Secures FINRA Approval for Broker-Dealer License

Avadain

K4 Forum Mumbai Network

Caesar Media Group

GenesisAI

Transparent Path spc

Technological equipment and solutions that can be used in an industrial or domestic setting to control biological food hazards (such as microbes and bacteria) and to ensure food safety and quality for human consumption, preventing diseases and illness.

Mariposa Technology, Inc

Phoenix PharmaLabs Inc.

Defynance

ecoText

Vantem Global

Netcapital is a fintech company that operates a scalable technology platform allowing private companies to raise capital online. Its platform enables investors, both accredited and non-accredited, to access investment opportunities in private companies. Netcapital's platform facilitates various types of securities offerings, including Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) and Regulation D (Reg D) offerings, through its registered funding portal, Netcapital Funding Portal Inc., and affiliated broker-dealer relationships.
Netcapital's platform streamlines the capital raising process for entrepreneurs by automating the completion of SEC forms and legal documents, reducing the need for substantial legal fees. It partners with escrow services, transfer agents, and custodians to ensure secure and transparent transactions. Netcapital generates revenue through engagement fees and success fees charged to the companies raising capital on its platform.
Netcapital's technology enables companies to leverage their personal networks and reach a broader investor base, including non-accredited investors, for seed rounds and early-stage fundraising. The platform also facilitates larger capital raises by providing access to accredited investors through its broker-dealer relationships.
Key customers and partnerships
In March 2023, Netcapital announced a partnership with Templum Markets LLC, an Alternative Trading System (ATS) approved for trading unregistered securities. This partnership aims to provide Netcapital's investors with liquidity options by enabling secondary trading of private securities through Templum's ATS.
In October 2017, Netcapital formed a strategic partnership with Techstars, a prominent startup accelerator, to offer investment opportunities in select Techstars companies and accelerator programs. The partnership aims to eventually provide access to the entire Techstars portfolio through Netcapital's platform.

<div>
 
 Wise (formerly TransferWise) is a financial technology company that provides low-cost international money transfers and multi-currency accounts for individuals and businesses. Founded in 2011 and based in London, Wise operates a peer-to-peer network that allows customers to transfer money across borders without the high fees and markups charged by traditional banks.
 
 
 
 
 Wise's core offering is a money transfer service that leverages the mid-market exchange rate and charges transparent, upfront fees rather than hiding markups in exchange rates. It supports transfers to over 160 countries across 50+ currencies. For personal users, transfers up to around USD 5,000 tend to be most cost-effective through Wise.
 
 
 
 
 In addition to money transfers, Wise provides multi-currency accounts that allow customers to hold, convert between, spend, and receive over 40 currencies. Users can get local bank details in 10 major currencies like USD, GBP, and EUR to receive money like a local. The Wise debit card enables spending in over 170 countries at the mid-market rate.
 
 
 
 
 Wise is regulated by financial authorities in the countries where it operates, including FinCEN in the US It has over 16 million customers and processed USD 11 billion in cross-border transactions per month as of 2024. Key features include low transparent pricing, fast transfers (50%+ instant, 90% within 24 hours), and user-friendly web/mobile interfaces.
 
</div>

Wise

<div>
 
 Remitly is an online money transfer service that enables individuals to send money internationally from the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and the UK to over 180 countries worldwide. The company's primary focus is on facilitating remittances, allowing immigrants and expatriates to securely and conveniently send money back home to their families and loved ones. Established in 2011 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Remitly has grown to serve over 3 million customers annually, with a total transaction volume exceeding USD 20 billion as of 2021.
 
 
 
 
 Remitly offers two distinct transfer options: Express and Economy. The Express service facilitates near-instant transfers, with funds typically arriving within minutes for cash pickups or a few hours for bank deposits. This option is ideal for urgent fund transfers but comes at a higher cost. Alternatively, the Economy service provides a more affordable solution, albeit with a longer delivery time of three to five business days.
 
 
 
 
 One of Remitly's standout features is its extensive network of payout options. Recipients can choose to receive funds through bank account deposits, cash pickups at over 400,000 locations worldwide, mobile wallet transfers, or even home deliveries in select countries like the Philippines, Vietnam, and the Dominican Republic. This flexibility caters to the diverse needs of Remitly's global customer base.
 
 
 
 
 Remitly's fees and exchange rates are generally competitive within the industry. Fixed transfer fees typically range from USD 1.99 to USD 3.99, while exchange rate markups are typically between 0.5% and 2.5% above the mid-market rate. Larger transfers often incur lower fees, with Remitly waiving fixed fees for bank-to-bank transfers exceeding USD 1,000.
 
</div>

Remitly

Zepz is a global cross-border payment group that operates two leading remittance brands, WorldRemit and Sendwave. The company disrupted the traditional remittance industry by taking international money transfers online, offering a faster, more affordable, and secure way to send money globally. Zepz's platforms facilitate digital money transfers to over 130 countries across more than 5,000 money transfer corridors, including emerging markets with high barriers to entry.
The company's business model revolves around providing a seamless digital experience for senders, enabling them to transfer funds from a smartphone or computer, while offering a wide range of payout options for recipients, such as bank deposits, cash collection, mobile airtime top-ups, and mobile money. Zepz's technology eliminates the need for physical cash handling, enhancing security and convenience.
In 2021, Zepz reported a significant 67% year-over-year revenue growth, reaching USD 399 million, following the acquisition of Sendwave in February 2021 and a USD 292 million Series E funding round in August 2021. The company achieved profitability in the first half of 2022, driven by investments in marketing, talent, and technology, enabling efficient customer acquisition and paving the way for future growth.
Zepz's platforms have facilitated the movement of money that has supported education, healthcare, and daily expenses for families, contributing to the economies of recipient countries. In the first half of 2022, WorldRemit users sent more than USD 2 billion to the African continent, with core African and Asian markets experiencing substantial year-over-year volume growth of over 20% and 35%, respectively.

Zepz

TransferGo is a digital money transfer service that enables fast and cost-effective international money transfers. It utilizes an innovative approach by opening bank accounts in various countries, allowing local transfers both for receiving funds in the sending country and dispatching them in the receiving country. This strategy eliminates most transfer costs, enabling TransferGo to offer highly competitive exchange rates and low fees.
The company was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in London, UK, with operations across Europe. TransferGo's platform supports transfers in 22 currencies across 47 countries, serving over 5 million customers as of March 2023. It provides services for both individuals and businesses, including batch payments and integration with accounting software.
TransferGo offers a user-friendly online platform and mobile app, allowing customers to easily initiate transfers. Depending on the delivery speed selected, funds can reach the recipient within 30 minutes or on the same day. The company prioritizes security, adhering to stringent regulations and employing robust encryption protocols to safeguard customer data and funds.
As of March 2024, TransferGo was recognized as one of the most cost-effective options for sending money from the UK, being the cheapest provider for 26.2% of all searches conducted on Monito's comparison engine. It also earned top rankings for transferring funds to the UK, being the best choice for 17.7% of the searches.

TransferGo

Girmiti Software is a technology company that specializes in developing digital payment solutions and professional services. The company offers next-generation solutions and services tailored for various industry verticals, including payments, retail, restaurants, healthcare, telecom, banking, transit, and events management.
Girmiti's core offerings revolve around EMV solutions for mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) systems, personal computers (PCs), mobile devices, and card readers. Additionally, the company provides add-on transactional channels for payments processing. Girmiti's solutions leverage innovative technologies like QR codes, Near Field Communication (NFC) wallets, and contactless payments to enhance flexibility and mobilize businesses within the payment ecosystem.
The company's expertise lies in executing and delivering innovative solutions, operations, and professional services with a focus on cost-effectiveness in niche areas. Girmiti Software has achieved CMMi Level five appraisal, affirming its software development and delivery capabilities. The company is ISO 9001:2015 and ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certified, ensuring quality management and information security standards. Additionally, Girmiti Software is PCI DSS SAQ-D v3.2 certified, demonstrating its adherence to payment card industry data security standards.
Girmiti's NFC wallet solution enables financial institutions to offer contactless payment options to their customers through secure smart chips on mobile devices. This mobile wallet application can store various payment cards, access cards, coupons, loyalty cards, prepaid cards, and tickets, facilitating contactless transactions with nearby NFC-enabled terminals or reader devices.
In the transit sector, Girmiti develops Automated Fare Collection System (AFCS) solutions, integrating ticketing systems for public transport networks like buses, metros, and rails. These solutions automate fare collection, support various fare media (tokens, cards, NFC), and facilitate online ticket purchases and recharges, accepting multiple payment methods.
Girmiti's EMV services encompass developing and implementing EMV L2 kernels for point-of-sale (PoS) terminals, mPOS solutions on Android OS, and chip card management systems. The company also offers testing, security evaluations, and payment scheme certifications for its EMV solutions.
In the banking and financial services domain, Girmiti helps firms develop business solutions that drive efficiency, effectiveness, innovation, and virtualization while ensuring compliance with regulations. The company's team of analysts, domain experts, and technology specialists provide solutions tailored to support mobile, ecommerce, and cloud environments.

Girmiti Software

Platforms using a global network of businesses and individuals to complete international fund transfers

Platforms that let businesses and individuals obtain necessary debt through peers (retail investors)

Equity crowdsourcing platforms for private businesses to raise equity funding from retail investors

Enables small businesses and users to access lending, equity, and fund transfers circumventing established institutions

Netcapital

Sources

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless