Startup tech showcased at T3 Accelerator Demo Day
April 9, 2019
Eight small businesses pitched new tech to the U.S. Air Force Friday afternoon at the T3 Transition Accelerator Demo Day, held at the Steam Plant.
The T3 Transition Accelerator is a new 10-week program dreamt up in collaboration between The Entrepreneurs Center, Wright Brothers Institute, Air Force Research Lab and the regional Small Business Innovation Research office with the goal of rapidly transitioning new tech to the commercialization phase.
Lauren Tiffan, who formerly ran programs with OCEAN, the unique Cincinnati accelerator that focuses on the intersection of faith and entrepreneurship, designed & implemented the T3 Transition Accelerator. She uses the Fitbit as an example of what the T3 Accelerator can accomplish. The sensor tech originally designed for the Department of Defense was expensive and not as advanced — by taking it to the public, the inventors were able to refine the product by listening to the marketplace. Now the company can sell to civilians and the military at a lower cost, thanks to economies of scale.
For this first T3 Accelerator, the Air Force selected ideas around human-machine teaming tech in the areas of intelligence, surveillance and recognizance. Companies winning a phase 1 SIBR — which usually spend six to nine months working on the project, then six to nine months waiting for a response as to whether they’ll be awarded a phase 2 grant — instead spent 10 weeks working through the accelerator, and will wait only 30 days to hear if they’ll receive a phase 2 grant.
Pitching Friday were:
• Alex Sands & Plasticity — Plasticity uses state of the art natural language software, which leverages machine learning over keywords, to filter publicly available information to help intelligence officers rapidly identify threats.
• Chad Weiss & Aptima, Inc. — Aptima’s MOTOR can use the weights of strokes on a keyboard to measure workload and identify fatigue, enabling leaders to assign work effectively so overworked analysts don’t make mistakes.
• Brian Cooney & 361 Interactive — 361 Interactive uses cognitive science and applies automation in high stakes and time sensitive environments to reduce redundant intelligence analysis, shortening the timeline from data to decision to save $11M the Air Force spends to re-do work.
• Scott Grigsby & SoarTech — SoarTech’s reSOARce helps leaders make quick, informed tasking decisions by using advanced AI to track progress toward mission goals.
• Chris Winner & S.A.Wyze — S.A.Wyze’s biosignature platform combines hardware and software to detect burnout.
• Alan Smith & Cognovi Labs — Cognovi automatically extracts emotional undertones from text and applies behavioral psychology to predict what people will do next.
• Tim Klein & Arete Associates — Arete’s ALIEN uses artificial intelligence to detect, locate and describe objects of interest in imagery.
• Josh Gratsch & Ascend Innovations — Ascend is developing eye tracking and facial landmark tech to enable real-time and longitudinal monitoring of fatigue in jobs requiring constant vigilance — like fighter pilots, or long distance truck drivers.
For more information on the T3 Accelerator, visit https://t3accelerator.com/
