Companies to Watch - Sept 13, 2018

These NYC startups were born at Cornell Tech

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Happy Election Day! If you haven’t already, please don’t forget to vote. If you’re still deciding how you’ll fill in your ballot, Tech:NYC has put together a handy voter guide to help.Who you vote for matters. Our elected officials can and have consistently helped shape the broader tech industry here. For example, back in 2008, New York government officials realized early that the city presents significant opportunities in the tech sector and recommended a series of initiatives to better capitalize on these developments. In response, then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg launched a competition to build an applied sciences campus in New York City with a focus on entrepreneurship and job creation.Less than a decade later, Cornell Tech was born. It now has a full campus on Roosevelt Island, and it’s quickly become an anchor for the New York tech community. As of mid-2018, more than 40 startups had been formed on the Cornell Tech campus. Together, those companies have raised a total of $46 million in funding, employ more than 170 people, and we’re glad to say, 93 percent of them are headquartered in NYC. Tech:NYC is proud to work in partnership with Cornell Tech and Bloomberg to present a speaker series with leaders in New York tech, and tonight, we’re kicking off the next series of events with Zola CEO Shan-Lyn Ma. To mark the new season, we’re highlighting five startups that were created and cultivated at Cornell Tech.Below is a shortened version of our look into these companies that are solving problems in workplaces, construction sites, hospitals, and more. Be sure to read the whole post to see more.

CraterWhat does your company do?Crater co-founder and CEO Arpit Sheth: Crater is a new type of local TV — led by creators, made for mobile, and powered by AI. You can discover unique local shows or create your own.How has the support from Cornell Tech helped build your company?AS: Our company was born out of Cornell Tech’s Startup Studio program. Throughout our journey, we were taught by professors that pushed us into the wild. Cornell Tech connected us to investors early on, brought in industry leaders for candid conversations, and ultimately invested in our company after we won the Cornell Tech Startup Award. 

Cabinet

What does your company do?Cabinet co-founders Julia Hawkins and Evan Kesten: Cabinet helps executive assistants and admins connect with each other across companies, cities, and industries to share best practices and travel recommendations. Our mission is to unlock the potential of the admin network.How has the support from Cornell Tech helped build your company?JH: Cornell Tech has given us the opportunity to meet smart, ambitious people who are all willing to help. We’ve received dozens of introductions to admins through this network and been given great advice on scaling our business from professors, administrators and peers. 

OnSiteIQ

What does your company do?OnSiteIQ co-founder and CEO Ardalan Khosrowpour: OnSiteIQ provides a visual documentation and risk assessment platform for construction projects. In other words, using high-resolution 360-degree image capture and some astounding technology our team has built, the platform enables building developers and their key stakeholders to explore their sites and pinpoint progress, quality, and safety issues in an easy-to-navigate virtual environment from any device with a web browser.How has the support from Cornell Tech helped build your company?AK: Besides the investment in OnSiteIQ, the Cornell Tech Runway Startups program trained me to become an effective CEO and put my scientific background and computer science skills into work and start OnSiteIQ at the intersection of construction, insurance, and computer vision industry.

Biotia

What does your company do?Biotia co-founder and CEO Niamh O’Hara: We work with hospitals to eradicate hospital acquired infections. We leverage DNA sequencing and our AI software to identify pathogens and drug resistance makers and stop them before patients get sick.How has the support from Cornell Tech helped build your company?NH: Cornell Tech has been instrumental to building Biotia. Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute was our first investor, and they have provided extensive business training, resources to build our tech and find our product-market fit, as well as extensive connections for fundraising 

TatchWhat does your company do?Tatch CEO Amir Reuveny: Tatch advances sleep medicine and makes it more accurate and accessible than ever before.How has the support from Cornell Tech helped build your company?AR: We are very lucky to have it. Their approach to entrepreneurship is very unique in the global ecosystem. The leap-of-faith, the funding, the mentors, the Maker Lab, and the great network — all together make Cornell Tech an amazing place to cultivate great ideas and build strong founders.Join Us

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