Startups

WHDH spotlights MIT startup E25Bio, which is developing a new rapid test to diagnose Covid-19. The test being developed by E25Bio is a paper strip that can deliver test results in 15 minutes, WHDH explains.

TechCrunch reporter Zach Whittaker writes about Butlr, an MIT startup that has developed passive infrared sensors that use a “mix of wireless, battery-powered hardware and artificial intelligence to track people’s movements indoors without violating their privacy.”

Architects from MIT and Generate Technologies have designed Boston’s first cross-laminated timber (CLT) building, a “’revolutionary’ type of timber [that] promises to reduce emissions that cause climate change, create affordable housing and jumpstart a new job-producing, homegrown industry in New England,” reports Bruce Gellerman and Kathleen McNerney for WBUR.

TechCrunch reporter Ingrid Lunden spotlights Ginger, an MIT startup “that works with organizations and their healthcare providers to provide employees with an app-based way to connect with coaches to talk through their issues and suggest ways forward,” reports Ingrid Lunden for TechCrunch.

The Engine has announced that it plans to expand into a new location at 750 Main Street to better accommodate the early-stage tough-tech startups that the MIT subsidiary serves. “Renovations to create offices, labs, and fabrication space are scheduled to start at the end of the year; they are expected to open by early 2022,” reports John Chesto for The Boston Globe.

MIT alumna Payal Kadakia speaks with New York Times reporter David Gelles about her startup ClassPass, a platform that allows users to access a myriad of fitness classes. Kadakia explains that she was inspired to attend MIT, as “the curriculum is so mathematical. Everything is numbers. It was this idea of this world that I lived in.”

STAT reporter Kate Sheridan spotlights MIT startup Lyra Therapeutics, which is developing a long-acting treatment for chronic rhinosinusitis.

Boston Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray writes that MIT startup DUST Identity has developed a technique that uses diamond dust to identify counterfeit products. The diamond dust is sprayed onto a product to tag it, and “because the bits of diamond are distributed at random inside the material, no two tags will ever be the same,” Bray explains.

Fast Company reporter Katharine Schwab spotlights MIT startup Embr Labs, which has developed a wearable device that can help keep users cool. “Cooling individuals could be a lot cheaper and less wasteful than cooling entire buildings,” writes Schwab.

Optimus Ride, a startup founded by MIT alumni, will start a self-driving car shuttle service at an industrial park in New York City, reports the Associated Press. “The free service is expected to transport some 500 passengers daily on the yard’s internal roads,” the AP explains.

MIT startup Optimus Ride is launching a self-driving shuttle service at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, reports Andrew J. Hawkins for The Verge.

Forbes reporter Amy Feldman spotlights MIT startup Ginkgo Bioworks, which aims to “design, modify and manufacture organisms to make existing industrial processes cheaper and entirely new processes possible.” Feldman notes that the promise of synthetic biology is “not just a proliferation of new products, but also a reduction of the environmental harm that comes from our heavy reliance on petrochemicals.”

MIT Solve has launched an innovation fund aimed at attracting funding for social-impact ventures tackling global issues such as access to clean water, reports Eillie Anzilotti for Fast Company. “There’s an increase in focus on these issues in the U.S. and across the world, and there’s definitely increased movement on the political and investment spectrums,” explains Alex Amouyel, executive director of Solve.

The Economist highlights how MIT startup Indigo is developing an engine system that could be incorporated within an electric vehicle’s wheels. The Economist notes that Indigo believes their system, “a module that incorporates brakes, steering and an active suspension, as well as a motor, overcomes both the electrical problem and the unsprung-weight problem, thus paving the way for in-wheel drives to become mainstream.”

WCVB-TV’s Chronicle highlights MIT startup Lunar Station, which is developing navigational services for companies and organizations looking to travel to the moon. Chronicle explains that the Lunar Station team “maps the lunar surface to ensure safe and profitable missions.”