Mass Innovation Nights recently celebrated their 100th event sponsored Draper’s Sembler office and it was a hit. They had such roaring response that they had to close registrations early! The Museum of Science hosted the sold-out event and also allowed attendees to explore the museum before and after talks. They also amped it up with a Theater of Electricity Show but then the real space magic began.
Mass Innovation Nights was founded in 2009 by a group of people heavily affected by the economic downturn who wanted to launch an experiment. They wanted to leverage social media in order to create a community of local entrepreneurs and judging by the response – they were successful at their experiment.
The theme of the night was space technology and after a few words from the sponsors, representatives from eight startups took the stage to give a rapid-fire pitch on what they’ve been working on.
Analytical Space is solving the problem of sending large amounts of data from satellites in orbit back down to earth by using laser communication. They provide two services; satellite RF data relay which increases data throughput from existing satellites without changing hardware and IOT device connectivity which collects and delivers data from existing assets.
The Quantly Group – a company with an all-female core team focused on data collection took the stage next. This Harvard Innovation Lab Venture offers an analysis tool that yields very specific results to companies that want in-depth analysis.
Accion Systems has a different approach on generating ions for creating thrust by using technology that produce an electric field to accelerate ions. Their product TILE stands for Tiled Ionic Liquid Electrospray.
Valt Launch Systems is disrupting the way nanosatellites get into space by making a smaller more affordable launch vehicle. Their launch costs millions of dollars less than traditional launches.
Gaurdion Technologies, a MassChallenge finalist (congrats!) has developed a nanomaterials-based sensor to help Smart Cities be safer.
MoonWatcher gives you a “front row view of the moon.” Their images are unobstructed & real-time views of the lunar surface and will make you feel almost like you’re actually in space.
Upstream tech is changing the way freshwater resources are managed and measured using satellite imagery and machine learning. They aim to empower environmental conservation using their technology.
Lastly, we have Kernel. Kernel is a software platform from TellusLabs that delivers daily agricultural insights through a web application, API, and push notifications.
Overall #MIN100 was a success and we look forward to following the journeys of the startups involved. Mass Innovation Nights 101 sponsored by MIT Sloan Executive Education will be the next event in the series.
