Celebrating student entrepreneurship at delta v’s 2024 Demo Day

With this year's delta v Demo Day, the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship proved two things: first, that students can make remarkable progress toward creating impactful new businesses over the course of a single summer; and second, that the Trust Center remains one of the best party-throwers on campus.

The Sept. 6 event, which was the culmination of a summer of work by students, revolved around 22 startups showcasing their business accomplishments in the delta v startup accelerator program. The event began with a member of each startup pitching to cheers and applause from a filled Kresge Auditorium and continued well into the night Friday with a reception that also featured live music, food and drinks, cheerleaders, and a 360-degree selfie camera for good measure.

The festivities were designed to celebrate each startup's progress as well as inspire students in the audience to get involved with entrepreneurship at MIT.

"These teams have worked hard on their ventures all year long, particularly in the summer as part of the fully immersive delta v program," said MIT Sloan School of Management Interim Dean Georgia Perakis. "Today marks further evidence of a point the Trust Center makes all the time: Entrepreneurship is a craft that can be taught."

Startups go full throttle

This year's Demo Day featured 50 students from 22 startup teams, each of whom described the problems they were solving and noted key early business achievements to boisterous applause over the course of two whirlwind hours of rapid-fire presentations.

Through the Trust Center's delta v startup accelerator program, the students received guidance from mentors, funding, and worked through an action-oriented curriculum full-time between June and September.

The startups are tackling problems ranging from pet adoption to workplace burnout, cardiovascular disease in India, and energy storage at data centers.

One company, LymeAlert, is creating a kit that allows families to test ticks for the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, in their home. The device, which resembles an at-home Covid-19 test, gives results in 20 minutes or less.

"Lyme disease is the most common insect-transmitted disease in the U.S.," says LymeAlert co-founder Erin Dawicki MBA '24, who noted as a physician's assistant she saw Lyme disease result in nerve damage, loss of balance, and personality changes in patients. "Our mission at LymeAlert is to improve access to health care through home tick testing. This will speed up the time to diagnosis, reduce the use of unnecessary antibiotics, and aid in local disease surveillance."

Another company, Ogma, is using artificial intelligence to develop novel catalysts for biomanufacturing that are more sustainable than traditional enzymes. The company is seeking to reduce the industry's reliance on petrochemical-based products and remove the pollution associated with their production.

"Getting inspiration from nature, we have engineered the first ever nanocatalysts that look and function exactly like natural ones, but are stable, cost efficient, and they're made for complex reactions, making them the perfect fit for large-scale industrial applications," explained co-founder Richard Robinet-Duffo.

Ogma's technology was developed in the MIT Laboratory for Soft Materials and will be deployed in three pilots with cleaning companies this fall.

The other startups in this year's cohort include the following:

All Unique Objects is using AI to convert sketches into 3D models, simplifying the design process for the home decor and furniture industry.

COIL provides a digital platform using machine learning to offer personalized hair care solutions for Black women with textured hair.

Continuity is developing a minimally invasive wearable device to continuously monitor real-time molecular changes in the human body.

EQORE offers smart energy storage systems to reduce demand charges and cut electricity bills for industrial facilities by up to 30 percent.

Expat AI helps immigrants complete U.S. immigration forms with AI-powered, native language assistance, similar to TurboTax for immigration.

Fount is building an AI co-pilot for insurance marketers, optimizing ad spend and acquisition strategies across platforms to target high-value customers.

Health Galaxy is promoting heart health awareness and navigation for young people in India through a connected platform.

Health+ offers an AI-powered solution for workplace mental health, preventing burnout and boosting productivity for high-stress professionals.

Helix Carbon transforms captured carbon dioxide into carbon-neutral fuels and chemicals for industries like steelmaking and petrochemicals.

Intendere is a software that helps universities scale tutoring programs, empowering students to make an impact in their communities.

LeadQualify leverages AI to analyze prospecting data, helping investment banks identify and engage with high-potential clients.

MakerSharks automates procurement processes by connecting businesses with vetted manufacturers, reducing sourcing time by up to 70 percent.

Mashi simplifies pet adoption with a universal application platform that matches adopters with pets and offers post-adoption recommendations.

Otomo offers AI-powered clinical workflows and personalized patient engagement tools to allow physicians to focus more on patient care.

Pixca uses AI to improve onboarding and communication for greenhouse workers, standardizing processes to boost agricultural productivity.

Psyche provides caregivers with tools to support their children's mental health at home, helping reduce youth mental health crises.

Sakhi offers an AI-powered health literacy platform that provides expectant mothers in India with personalized, real-time health care information.

Tarragon Systems uses AI-backed demand forecasts to reduce waste in restaurants by optimizing food inventory and preparation processes.

Thinkstruct accelerates the literature review process for researchers by providing a platform to find, extract, and visualize academic papers.

Entrepreneurship as a discipline

The event also served to celebrate the impact of MIT's entrepreneurial ecosystem more broadly. Trust Center Managing Director Bill Aulet noted that the students on stage benefitted from entrepreneurial support resources from across the Institute.

"No one up here is doing it alone," Aulet said. "So many of our colleagues beyond the Trust Center have supported these students in their journey from inspiration to what we call 'escape velocity.' MIT has the teaching and the research, and entrepreneurship is that third pillar that makes the teaching and research that much more valuable and impactful."

Perakis pointed to the pioneering research done by former MIT Sloan Professor Edward B. Roberts '58, SM '58, SM '60, PhD '62, who passed away in February. Roberts later co-authored a report estimating that, as of 2014, MIT alumni had launched 30,200 active companies employing roughly 4.6 million people.

Aulet said events like Demo Day helped further Roberts' belief that entrepreneurship should be promoted more intentionally around the world.

"People don't take entrepreneurship as seriously as they should, but MIT is changing that," Aulet said. "We're making entrepreneurship into a rigorous field of study with a rigorous curriculum that's evidence-based, just like we did for chemical engineering in the 1890s."

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