Louis Stewart has been the face of technological innovation efforts in Sacramento city government since 2017, leading initiatives such as the Sacramento Urban Technology Lab.

How do you measure the thirst of a plant? Michael Santiago, founder and CEO of FloraPulse, says give it a chip.

“We make it easier for our most vulnerable community members to get the care they need to stay independent and stay home,” says Kwamane Liddell, DispatchCare’s founder and CEO.

This spring, COVID-19 forced schools to go online. But, for the most part, the teaching models remained the same. Sama Learning, a Nevada City-based startup, wants to transform those models.

With teleconferencing, email, e-commerce and social media, the internet makes it possible for many people to work virtually. However, being “always online” comes at a cost.

Sacramento app developer Rich Foreman led the development of wellness apps with self-assessment modules and toolkits, including access to peer-support groups and therapists vetted for their expertise with law enforcement.

As a hospital assistant at UC Davis Medical Center, Tony Braham helps nurses lift and move patients. In other words, “We’re the muscle of the hospital,” Braham says, and his startup aims to help “the muscle” be more mobile.

After screening millions of cells that secrete antibodies, scientists at a Rancho Cordova-based automated cell processing company and its collaboration partners believe they found a potential path to treat COVID-19.

As companies have transitioned en masse to remote operations due to the coronavirus, Brian Maletsky has had a front-row seat to some of their cybersecurity missteps. He spoke to Comstock’s about some of the unique security challenges businesses are facing during the pandemic.

Based in Sacramento, OpenGrants is a free platform that uses machine learning to sift through, list and match users with grant writers and opportunities. The platform reduces the opportunity cost inherent in the grant funding process by 30-40 percent.