ECHO
Digital platform to improve housing and mobility choices of lower income populations
MITdesignX Extends Its Reach With Seven Highly Successful International Programs
More is this MAD MIT story.
MITdesignX CDMX 2023 supported twelve startups addressing the energy transition this summer and awarded three top prizes to Oxtron, VEU, and Batu.
Read more (en español) at Fortuna
Tulu (MITdesignX 18) is working to change the bias for ownership. It provides modular rental units for buildings, offering household items such as vacuum cleaners, home theater projectors and waffle makers. The company seeks to reshape consumption habits, particularly in cities where space and financial constraints make many purchases wasteful and unnecessary.
Read more at Greenbiz
With so many educational tools that are “screen-based and focused solely on coding,” Kim Smith Claudel created Learning Beautiful (MITdesignX 17) – a business making tactile and beautiful materials to teach computation without computers. Read about Kim’s work in MIT news.
Now available: the The Dormio V3 – a hand-worn device that tracks changes in three bio signals to identify when there is a window of opportunity to play audio that will influence your dreams. Find out more at MAKE:
COVID may have mainstreamed wastewater epidemiology, and Biobot is the leader: TIME Best Innovations of 2022
The team is a finalist in the “Learning” category for their classroom-in-a-box product. Read the list here: https://www.fastcompany.com/90772183/learning-innovation-by-design-2022
Learn about the team’s latest version of their sleep tracker, which they refer to as the “Dormio Dream Incubator”. Read more: https://makezine.com/projects/dormio-dream-incubator/
MIT News interviews co-founder and CEO of Quipu Market, and MITDesignX 2019 alumna, Mercedes Bidart (SM ’19). Bidart discusses her startup’s growth and its vision for decentralized banking. Read the story at: https://news.mit.edu/2022/quipu-market-business-loans-0624
Mariana is the co-founder of Biobot Analytics (MITdesignX 2017) is ranked #8 among the 50 top people influencing the technology industry in Massachusetts. Read more: https://bostontechleaders.bostonglobe.com/people/mariana-matus-biobot-analytics/
Together with Google, Visible Hands will launch a program called VHLX to train 20 selected individuals on the basics of building a start-up and attracting funding. Read more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/05/24/business/boston-vcs-partner-with-google-entrepreneur-training/
Biobot Analytics (MITDesignX 2017) is among the top 50 private companies named on the CNBC Disruptors list. Read their entry here: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/17/biobot-analytics-disruptor-50.html
Read more: CTECH
Read here (in French): Le Figaro
Cofounder & Executive Director of Buy-In Community Planning, Kelly Leilani Main, is named a Grist 50 2022 Fixer. She joins a group of emerging leaders in sustainability, climate, and equity. Read her story here: https://grist.org/fix/grist-50/2022/#kelly-leilani-main
Co-founders Mercedes Bidart, Juan Cristobal Constain, and Viviana Siless continue their work of building communities by supporting microbusinesses. Read the list here: https://t.co/vwe2SHUDd8
With MITDesignX and Biobot Analytics as the focus, Jean-Jacques Degroof explores the entrepreneurial ecosystem here at MIT. Read more: https://mitsap.medium.com/from-the-lab-to-the-marketplace-5edc49920f06
The team will join Gensler as a partner, where the team will share their expertise and suite of built environment AI tools. Read more here: https://www.gensler.com/blog/recruiting-robotics-against-climate-change
Read how they are responding here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna10451
Mariana Matus, co-founder of @BiobotAnalytics (MITdesignX 17) explains how wastewater analysis can give a very early indication of the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) in cities. Read more here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-track-covid-19-surges-scientists-are-studying-sewage-11640082603
Read the interview here: https://blog.dormroomfund.com/post/how-education-startup-out-of-the-box-builds-preschool-curriculums
Read more here: https://bertzman.com/bertzman-funds-zilper-trenchless
Read more at the following link: Bloomberg
Designed for the 2021 Seoul Biennale, it is currently on view in Paris, France. Learn more: https://www.roofscapes.studio/newsfeed/head-in-the-clouds-at-academie-du-climat
Visible Hands (DesignX 2020) has received a $750,000 philanthropic contribution from JPMorgan Chase in support of their inaugural fellowship program. Read More: https://medium.com/visible-hands-vc/visible-hands-receives-750-000-philanthropic-contribution-from-jpmorgan-chase-ed2295c0405a
Read more: Boston Globe
Hosta Labs (DesignX 2017) and Zilper Trenchless (DesignX 2019) are finalists of the RISE challenge that will enable them to perform pilots, in addition to their grant prizes. Read more: https://t.co/smBzPWXy97?amp=1
The DesignX hosted symposium, “Design >> Fast-Forward”, is featured in this review and discussion of the infrastructure design and construction topics presented across panels.
Visible Hands’ newly announced virtual fellowship is highlighted in BostInno. Applications for their fellowship are open now. Read more here.
Zilper Trenchless, members of the 2019 designX cohort, currently operate in Colombia. Read more here (ESP): https://forbes.co/2021/03/05/emprendedores/las30deforbes-zilper-trenchless/amp/
Natasha Sadikin, member of designX 2020 venture P(art)ner, speaks to MIT News about the confluence of design and real estate in her work. https://news.mit.edu/2021/sadikin-real-estate-design-0114
Read more here: https://www.govtech.com/biz/Essential-The-2021-GovTech-100.html
Acelab (designX 2020) has been recognized as a top architecture startup to follow. See the complete list here: https://startupill.com/38-innovative-architecture-startups-worth-a-follow-in-2020/
Biobot Analytics’ (MITdesignX 2017) wastewater epidemiology tech has been recognized as “Technology of the Year”.
Read more: https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/technology-of-year-biobot-analytics-2020/588313/
Biobot Analytics (MITdesignx 2017) and MIT professor Eric Alm explain the public health insights to be gained from our toilets. Read more here.
As Covid-19 cases rise across the U.S., Biobot’s technology and analysis are being used as part of the public health arsenals of municipalities across the country. Read more here.
Quipu, members of the 2020 MITdesignX cohort, placed third in the Visa Everywhere Initiative in Latin America and the Caribbean. You can learn more about the initiative and watch the virtual showcase here.
“What we measure today predicts what happens in the community in four to seven days. So it’s sort of like looking into a crystal ball in the shape of a toilet,”
Season Three (MITdesignX 2018) walks Design Milk through the creative process of their first boot, the Ansel. Read more: https://design-milk.com/season-three-breaks-down-the-design-process-behind-the-ansel/
AirWorks, member of the 2018 MITdesignX cohort, is among 25 firms selected from New England to move onto the finals in October. Read more here.
The community of Villas de San Pablo in Barranquilla, Colombia, the location of the first QuipuMarket created by team Quipu (2019), is featured. Read more.
Season Three, a fashion brand and alum of MITdesignX (2008), share their history and their brand philosophy in this feature. Read more.
DesignX 2018 team TULU is equipping New Yorkers with household products, printers, and mobility options right from their own building. Read more.
Biobot Analytics, member of the inaugural MITdesignX cohort, has raised $4.2 million in funding to support their research into COVID-19. Read more.
Nesterly, a MITdesignX alumna team, has partnered with the City of Boston to launch the ‘Good Neighbors’ program. Read more.
AirWorks, alum of the 2018 MITdesignX cohort, is listed among Built In Boston’s 50 Startups to watch this year. Read the list here: https://tinyurl.com/s8yxjsq
MITdesignX 2017 alum, Biobot Analytics, has been listed on the New York Times’ 2019 “Good Tech Awards”, in recognition of their work tackling the opioid crisis. Read more.
A wonderful feature on SpaceUs, an MITdesignX 2018 alum, and the future of artist spaces. Read more.
Season Three, graduates of the MITdesignX 2018 cohort, are interviewed about their unique branding strategy. Read more.
Lipifai, an alum of MITdesignX cohort 2019, is featured on a list of burgeoning, Israeli-based assistive tech. Read more.
Professor Dennis Frenchman and his firm, Tekuma Frenchman, win competition to reimagine the waterfront in Shenzhen, China. Read more at MIT NEWS
Nesterly (MITdesignX cohort 2017) CEO Noelle Marcus discusses the global housing crisis through the lens of renters and senior homeowners.
A member of the 2019 MITdesignX cohort, Zilper Trenchless is highlighted in The Buzz. Read more about their history and their future here.
MITdesignX’s curriculum is highlighted in this May Architect Magazine’s survey of entrepreneurs in the building industry. Read more.
MITdesignX 2019 venture Zilper Trenchless wins multiple cash prizes at the annual Rice Business Plan Competition. In total, they won $435,000. Read more.
Seed fund will support venture-design education and entrepreneurship in the School of Architecture and Planning. Read more.
MITdesignX 2019 venture Zilper Trenchless has been accepted into Imagine H20 2019’s cohort. They also received the Audience Choice Award at Imagine H2O Demo Day.
Spaceus, MITdesignX 2018 alums, are among those featured in this article on transforming empty storefronts in Massachusetts.
MITdesignX venture Nesterly (Cohort 2017) is featured in this AARP article:
Biobot Analytics is included among 50 top women led startups, curated by Forbes magazine (2019). Read more here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/allysonkapin/2019/02/20/50-women-led-startups-who-are-crushing-tech/?sh=7293a66d52b3
MITdesignX Cohort 2017 start-up nesterly featured in the Globe and Mail:
Biobot helps cities transform sewage into actionable public health data to tackle the opioid crisis.
Cohort 2018 startup Dormio featured on 60 Minutes:
Digital platform to improve housing and mobility choices of lower income populations
School of Architecture and Planning / Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue 7—336
Cambridge MA 02139
MITdesignX faculty and staff are available for inquiries and consultations throughout the year. Please email us to sign up for office hours.