Kairos Society Reveals 2015’s Kairos 50 Young Entrepreneurs Tackling World Issues, Announces Kairos Global Summit in Hollywood October 13
San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) September 28, 2015 -- The noted organization supporting young entrepreneurs solving the planet’s most difficult issues through technology, Kairos Society, will hold its seventh annual Kairos Global Summit on October 13, 2015 in Hollywood, California. The Global Summit experience will include a VIP demo day on the world famous Warner Brothers Studios New York streets backlot, intimate conversations with leading VCs and industry thought-leaders, and an after party that night at the Avalon Hollywood.
During this invite-only event, the Kairos 50 (K50), representing the next generation of entrepreneurs making breakthroughs in the areas of biotech, education, agriculture, mobile, cleantech, healthcare, and more, will bring their cutting-edge innovations before a diverse group of global investors, industry mentors and corporate leaders.
In a new addition to this year’s event, Obvious Ventures co-founded by Twitter/Blogger/ Medium founder Ev Williams, and James Joaquin (When.com/Ofoto/Xoom), are giving the inaugural #worldpositive Prize of a $50,000 uncapped note as an investment to one K50 company creating an innovative solution to a global issue. This is the first time Obvious has offered a $50k uncapped note in the context of an event. Joaquin and Williams will be making the investment live at the Kairos Global Summit, and it will be a surprise to the winning startup!
As the Kairos Society supports entrepreneurs at the intersection of profit and purpose, they are very aligned with Obvious Ventures mission to fund and build ventures that deliver positive social and environmental benefits with every dollar of revenue they earn, what they call #worldpositive venture capital. As Ev Williams notes, “Obvious Ventures was purpose-built to fund scalable solutions to Earth’s serious challenges. We’re excited to meet the Kairos 50 and see the #worldpositive startups they are building.”
This year a group of over 300 mentors will attend the event, including Tim Draper (Founding Partner, Draper Fisher Jurvetson), Josh Elman (Partner, Greylock), and Robyn Ward (Head of New Media Ventures, United Talent Agency). Attendees of the Kairos Global Summit will learn what the next generation is developing and form partnerships to bring their products and services to a global scale.
The K50 (complete list below) include disruptive new technologies from a low-cost, 3D bio-printer and ink to create organ models with human cells; to an education start-up that helps high schools teach coding with web-based curriculum, teacher tools, and teacher training; to a new source of protein for livestock, poultry, and fish farms by raising black soldier fly larvae off of various streams of organic waste; to a robotic rehabilitation exoskeleton, that allows the wheelchair bound to walk; to a biotech solution to track and evaluates women’s intimate health.
This year over 500 early stage ventures, from almost 50 countries and across 30 industries applied for the opportunity to collaborate with today’s leading corporations and investors. In the past 18 months, K50 companies have raised over $100,000,000 in funding. Last year’s K50 companies include some of the world’s hottest startups with world-changing technologies:
Eko Devices, finalized FDA approval for their “intelligent” stethoscope, Eko Core, this week, and closed $2M in funding. They were also featured in the 2014 Forbes 30 Under 30 List after appearing at last year’s Kairos Global Summit.
DigitalGenius, was a finalist at this year’s TechCrunch Disrupt.
Owlet Baby Care, recently raised $6 million in Series A funding led by Formation 8 and secured a $1 million NIH grant.
“Kairos has helped us make connections that resulted in real business outcomes: over $12M in international contracts, projects that will build infrastructure in Africa and Columbia. Kairos provided access to these incredible opportunities” says Curren Krasnoff, Founder of Cortex Composites.“The Kairos Global Summit is a place where innovative thinkers from all over the word gather to discuss all facets of business with the leaders of today and we love being involved.”
“The Kairos Global Summit is a once-a-year forum that showcases the brilliant ideas that young entrepreneurs are conceptualizing and developing to solve some of our world’s greatest challenges,” said Alex Fiance, CEO of Kairos Society. “The Summit is not about pitching ideas, it’s a platform for innovators to collaborate with global mentors with the goal of bringing their game changing solutions to market.”
The 2015 Kairos 50 are as follows:
Abaris - Complete online marketplace for privatized social security products for purchase within 401(k).
Adjuvo Motion - Patented robotic brace and e-health service for at-home rehabilitation.
Ava - Mobile app that transcribes conversations to empower the hearing-impaired.
BioBots - Low-cost 3D bioprinter and bio-ink to create organ models with human cells.
Biomedical Innvation - Biotech and mobile app solution to track and evaluate female intimate health.
BioMetrix LLC - Wearable biometric sensor to track and optimize athletic performance.
Biomiic - Software to streamline and sequence genomic information about microbial samples.
Bionik Laboratories Corp. - Robotic rehabilitation technologies for patients with restricted physical mobility.
ChemiSense, Inc. - Sensor and software solution to improve cost and efficiency of air quality monitoring.
CodeHS - Teaches coding with web based curriculum, teacher tools, and teacher training.
Contact CI - A haptic technology for the control of virtual reality environments.
Cosmos Labs - Mobile solution that generates app-based pricing for low-income customers.
Dray Technologies, Inc. - On-demand mobile app that allows truckers and carriers to book leads, manage BOL’s, and receive funds.
DRONAMICS - Cargo drones optimized for heavy payloads and long ranges; for commercial and special delivery.
Dutch UAS - Spectral imaging for drone monitoring of large land masses.
Erghis Technologies - Augmented reality software that creates a universal UI for touch-less interaction.
ExVivo Labs Inc. - A skin patch technology to make allergy testing safe, simple, and certain.
EyeCheck - Handheld vision screening hardware and software that automates retinoscopy.
FarmShots - A platform for delivering and processing multispectral satellite images for the agricultural industry.
Fever Smart - A smart thermometer connected to a mobile device to track real time temperature trends.
Fleet - An online platform to book and manage the international supply chain for businesses.
FOSSA - Software to optimize source license management and compliance.
FREDsense - Technologies Biosensors to detect water contaminants.
Gazebo.io - Software leveraging blockchain technology for data-driven payment release.
GlucoIQ - Software platform to track and monitor diabetic patient data.
Grubbly Farms - A new source of protein for livestock, poultry, and fish farms sourced from black soldier fly larvae.
Hustle - Platform for low skilled laborers to find on-demand jobs.
Knox Medical Diagnostics - Hardware software solution to monitor asthma patients’ lung health.
LeapYear - Enterprise cyber-security solution to analyze datasets and make them anonymous.
Leka Interactive - ed-tech hardware for early-stage child development.
Local Roots - Indoor farming technology to grow high-quality sustainable produce.
Mi Aguila - Mobile platform for booking and reporting taxi services, targeted at enterprises in Latin America.
Nannofood - Fighting global malnutrition by using phytoplankton as a sustainable and renewable food source.
Printr - Easy-to-use hardware and software interface to improve accessibility of 3D printing.
Proscia - Cloud bioinformatics for enhanced cancer analytics.
Rumarocket Limited - Artificial intelligence for hiring and talent management.
Saisai - Wireless Enterprise technology that makes wireless networks perform faster.
Sensable - Dynamics Smart garment technology for athletic training, recovery and injury prevention.
Shotput - A platform for warehouses that uses algorithmic tools to improve shipping logistics.
Sky Mutual - Data-driven insurance solution to protect companies from the risk of climate change.
SonikureTechnology Ltd. - Non-invasive drug delivery inside the eyeball using ultrasound.
SourceSage - Mobile application for B2B trading.
SPIDR Tech - Visual information sharing tool for mobile intelligence for law enforcement agencies.
Stampery - Blockchain to generate reliable and counterfeit-free proof of ownership, existence and integrity.
Suncayr - UV-responsive marker that indicates when sunscreen is no longer effective.
Trimaker - Advanced 3D printed supplies to improve efficiency of hardware and materials manufacturing.
Trinity Mobile Networks - Self-organizing network software that increases the capacity, speed, and coverage of wireless networks.
Verse - Digital wallet that facilitates international remittance payments.
Voltera - 3D printed custom circuit boards.
Wavve Stream Inc. - Advanced water filtration solution.
Susan von Seggern, Kairos Society, http://www.kairossociety.com/, +1 (213) 840-0077, [email protected]
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