use the Web service to save health workers such as wellness coaches from spending long hours phoning patients for things like checking in on their progress and making appointments. Emrich said the firm has two paying clients, the Vila Serena medical clinics in Brazil, and Shape Up The Nation.
—Leotus, which is a team made up of Brown and RI School of Design graduates, is developing a better home air conditioning unit. The A/C unit is designed to fit over the bottom of a window frame, with the bulk of the unit positioned below the frame on both the inside and outside of the home. Because most of the hardware sits below the window frame, less of the machine sits above the frame like traditional window A/C units. The firm plans to initially sell its A/C units on the Web and eventually break into mainstream distribution through superstores like Target and Best Buy.
—Expedit.us, founded by software developer Matt Gillooly, is dedicated to “humanizing online maps.” The firm wants to make it easier for people to find events and restaurants, as well as to navigate their way around places. Built on Google Maps, the firm’s Web-based software is designed to provide directions that come without unneeded information such as details of surrounding areas that aren’t important to the user and include things like popular landmarks that help people find their destinations. The firm has already created a site called Minivite.com that enables people to send invitations with maps of the location in short URLs via e-mail, Twitter, and IMs.
—NuLabel Technologies, led by Brown graduate and company President Max Winograd, is developing liner-free adhesive labels for commercial use. By eliminating the label liners, which are removed from the adhesive side of labels before they are used, companies like FedEx could reduce the amount of solid waste they generate and save millions of dollars on label storage and shipping costs, according to Winograd. The company plans to eventually license the technology and hardware for its labels, which use polymers that can be activated into adhesives, to a printer machine manufacturer.
—Dijipop, the firm that has already raised $100,000, is developing enterprise software that manufacturers and retailers would use to organize online advertising campaigns. The software is designed to automate steps in the process of developing and deploying online ads to reduce the time required for such activities. Betaspring’s Templin, who sat next to me during the startup demos, told me that one of the firm’s Betaspring mentors was impressed enough to invest in the company after working with it for six weeks.
—Minds In Motion Electronics, which is led by a team of Brown and RISD graduates, wants to make sure kids don’t space out while they’re studying. The group is developing educational software that interfaces with headsets that monitor the electrical activity in students’ brains while they are using the program. The frequency of the electrical signals indicates whether a student is losing focus, and proprietary algorithms enable the software to adjust the educational activities to get the student to reengage.
—Feed My Future, led by Johnson & Wales University professors Mehdi Moutahir and Brian Alves, wants to tap the powers of social media to help young adults repay their student debt. Moutahir and Alves are developing a website that would allow family members and friends of, say, a recent college graduate to make secure contributions that go directly toward paying down that person’s student loans. The team also plans to create widgets that people can put on their Twitter pages, Facebook profiles, and other social networking sites to bring people to their Feed My Future Web page.
