The 5G Open Innovation Lab (5G OI Lab), a startup program funded by T-Mobile, Intel, and NASA, today revealed its second cohort of companies.
The Bellevue, Wash.-based lab debuted in early May and wrapped up its first 12-week program in July. It aims to help entrepreneurs take advantage of 5G technology and build connections with a variety of partners from the public and private sphere.
Unlike many accelerators and incubators, the lab does not take equity stakes in the startups. But the sponsoring companies get early access for potential venture investments and are part of the cohort selection process. They also get a chance to work with early-stage startups that could end up being the next billion-dollar tech giant.
The lab is also a founding member of a Washington state “Innovation Partner Zone,” an alliance developed by the Department of Commerce to help spur collaboration between institutions, government organizations and companies. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, Snohomish County, Washington State University (WSU), the University of Washington, T-Mobile, and the City of Bellevue are part of the “5G Open Innovation Zone,” in addition to the lab.
5G is the next generation of wireless service that is expected to pave the way for smarter cities, faster downloads, self-driving cars, and countless other innovations that are hard to predict, just as tech stalwarts such as Uber and Snapchat couldn’t be anticipated until 4G and LTE made their business models possible.
Here are the 16 new companies, with descriptions from the lab:
- Bluebox Labs: Bluebox uses Co-pilot to offer an affordable software ecosystem for any car, providing security, convenience, and savings to the user.
- FreedomFi: FreedomFi uses commodity hardware, open source software and CBRS shared spectrum to build cost efficient private LTE networks and future 5G IoT deployments.
- GenXComm: GenXComm has developed an advanced technology for 5G deployment which can operate in a variety of bands, including the unlicensed CBRS Band optimizing spectrum usage by allowing communication to transmit and receive simultaneously – on the same frequency.
- Innov8.ag: Innov8.ag combines on-farm and off-farm data with machine learning to inform grower decisions and maximize resource efficiency.
- Kubermatic Gmbh: Kubermatic’s platform automates the operations of Kubernetes clusters across multi-cloud, on-premises, and edge environments with a single management UI, addressing the operational challenge of running Kubernetes at scale.
- Latent AI: Latent AI’s modular software solution automates the resource-intensive tasks of training AI models for constrained devices anywhere on the edge continuum.
- Mangata Networks: Mangata Networks provides scalable global coverage, with satellite and terrestrial solutions for high capacity and affordable backhaul.
- MATRIX Labs: MATRIX Labs offers affordable FPGA-driven development boards with sensors, mics, and wireless communication protocols to facilitate IoT app creation.
- Megh Computing: Megh Computing provides a Real-Time Streaming Analytics Platform with AI+ acceleration using FPGAs for Edge-to-Cloud deployments.
- mimik Technology, Inc.: mimik provides a hybrid edgeCloud platform to enable any computing device with server capability, increasing data privacy and development speed while lowering the latency and cost of cloud hosting.
- MixComm: MixComm is the “Antenna to AlgorithmTM” company solving the challenges constraining 5G mmWave performance by extending the link range, reducing power consumption, and reducing system costs with their RFSOI Front End ICs and modules.
- Moeco IoT: Moeco combines a web platform with low-cost sensors to provide an end-to-end solution for data and sensor management as well as insight generation.
- Nodle: Nodle is a decentralized wireless network of millions of smartphones and Bluetooth devices connecting people and things privately and securely.
- PerVices: PerVices delivers a flexible, multi-channel transmit and receive solution using their high-performance software defined radio (SDR) platforms.
- QuayChain: QuayChain builds digital infrastructure through private LTE/5G for the Supply Chain, creating Smart Industrial Hubs to harvest & democratize data through IoT and AI-driven solutions in large multi-modal locations.
- Taubyte – Taubyte is The Smart Computing Platform that enables scaling software to the global infrastructure catalyzed by 5G and IoT; being fully automated (i.e. NoOps), it eliminates software development, deployment, and routing complexity at the Edge, allowing (I)IoT developers to focus on product features, while reducing costs and time to market.
