Mass Innovation Nights #MIN63 Recap

Welcome to MIN @ Autodesk

#MIN63 (63 already?!?) convened at Autodesk in Waltham on Wednesday, June 11. I was still all fired up from the Sandbox Summit and ready to discover, photograph, and write about Massachusetts entrepreneurs. Autodesk was a most generous host. Not only did they provide a wonderful space, but they also provided pizza and the appropriate beverages. Thank you, Autodesk!

And Salad Too!

The crowd started to build early on. I think this is the first MIN in ages where I got to visit every table before the presentations started.

Early Crowd

An extra-added feature of #MIN63 was the Babson Summer Venture Program's student entrepreneur showcase. Babson even brought a busload of program participants to the event.

Bobbie C Greets The Babson Bus

dondeEsta

It was a rich and diverse mix covering everything from keeping track of where your family members are to charging your electric vehicle, with humor and outdoor gear rental too.

I loved the idea of dondeEsta, a family safety app that uses cellphones to help you know where your family members are. I definitely could have used that when my mother was out late at night delivering food to food banks.

OktopusInsights had the best prop with their stuffed octopus. Their cloud-based SaaS platform brings together email marketing and unique analytics algorithms to glean multi-dimensional insights about source, response and click-stream data, as well as measure audience interactions and affinity across email campaigns.

Simplifying paying a parking ticket is the next best thing to not getting the ticket in the first place. TicketZen enables you to pay it with your phone. Just scan a ticket's bar code, enter your credit card and submit payment. It would be cooler to invent parking spaces that pay for themselves AND magically get you back to your car before your time expires :-) but until then, at least they're making it easier to pay the ticket.

Oktopus - Best Prop

ViewGuard manufactures accessories for all kinds of screens: smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops and TVs. Anything that reduces glare and protects the screen is a good innovation in my book. And they were handing out free ViewGuard Anti-Glare Matte Screen Protectors.

Wellapets uses virtual pet games to teach kids to stay well. The  first game, free on Android and iOS, teaches kids to manage asthma by caring for a lovable pet dragon that has asthma. It is adorably cute and gets its message across. I awarded Wellapets "Best Costume of #MIN63" for the colorful T-shirt, too.

Merrimack Media gives indie authors everything they need to get their work out there: crowdfunding and support, quality book publishing, websites, and social media and promotional campaigns. It's a one-stop shop for self-publishing, and it has a cool name.

Wellapets - Best Costume

GearCommons  brings the sharing economy outdoor gear rental. They connect people who own gear with the people who need it. Kayaks, tent, backpacks, whatever - you can post it on GearCommons and make money by renting it to someone in your neighborhood. Hmm, next winter when I want to try snowshoeing, maybe I'll be able to rent snowshoes from someone nearby.

PowerHydrant is a computer-vision robot that provides a hands-free, automatic, and affordable conductive charging solution for electric vehicles. Each device can charge up to four vehicles simultaneously (time-sharing, an old concept withe a new use). Imagine charging whole fleets of electric vehicles simply and affordably.

TheGahlik delivers a new spin on fake news, way funnier than that other news vegetable.

Explaining PowerHydrant

Merrimack Media

The two companies featured in the Babson Summer Venture Program showcase were Jossle and HigherMe. Jossle takes college student marketing to a new level by empowering students to become leaders by building your brand on campus. HigherMe uses data and video to help retail and service employers find better employees faster.

Team HigherMe Looking Entrepreneurial

Team Jossle Looking Entrepreneurial

Some of the Babson Summer Venture Program Attendees

ViewGuard

GearCommons Looking Outdoorsy

I got lots of great photos, so maybe some of them will appear in future blog posts. And finally, since there was no Experts Corner this time, Product Architect (and alum of the Institute at the Center of the Universe), Scott Lawton, agreed to look expert for the closing "looking expert" photo.

Expert Looking Expert