Russell Nichols is a freelance writer who focuses on technology, culture and mental health. His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Governing Magazine and Government Technology.
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Startup of the Month: Red Line Safety
Wearable tech on track to transform fire services
Red Line Safety, Scott Holman’s Sacramento-based startup, is enhancing firefighter safety and efficiency with wearable technology that monitors a firefighter’s location, vital signs, environmental conditions and toxic gas exposure in real time.
Startup of the Month: MyFloraDNA
Gene-editing startup aims to create allergy-free peanut
Peanut allergies affect around 6.1 million Americans, with cases rising as awareness has grown. A 2017 study found that peanut allergy had increased 21 percent since 2010. But what if there was a way to eliminate the genes responsible for peanut allergies?
Startup of the Month: NuCicer
Davis startup seeks to raise chickpea from fringe ingredient to mainstream hero
By applying machine learning and data analytics to plant breeding, this Davis-based company aims to elevate the chickpea as a key crop to address growing food demands while also improving crop resilience, yield and nutritional value.
Startup of the Month: EpiSense
Device to alert patients, contacts of imminent epileptic seizures
Getting diagnosed with epilepsy changed not only Jaya Athuluru’s life but her career path. With co-founder Simran Lallian, Athuluru developed EpiSense, a wearable device that detects irregular spikes in electrical brain activity and alerts patients and emergency contacts five minutes prior to an episode if a seizure seems imminent.
The Details of Success
Local auto detailer branches out for Air Force One project
Chris Tabieros was selected as one of about three dozen detailers to restore, maintain and preserve the first presidential jet Air Force One.
Startup of the Month: Strived.io
Education platform integrates academic and behavioral insights with AI
When a student is struggling with a concept, the reasons may go beyond the teaching. Other factors, such as social needs and learning styles, could play a role. But educators need science to identify and diagnose these issues, which may be happening anecdotally, according to Shweta Gandhi.
Startup of the Month: Unstructured
Company helps businesses turn raw data into AI-friendly formats
Think about a global company where each department has its own unique jargon, and employees speak different languages. To thrive, this company would need a way to keep valuable information from getting lost in translation.
Dare to Dream
Entrepreneurship runs on resiliency
For many entrepreneurs, the past few years have served as something of a litmus test. From lockdowns and layoffs to a tumultuous economy, business owners have had to take a hard look at themselves and ask: How badly do I want to do this?
Startup of the Month: 811spotter
Ticket management software for contractors’ efficiency, safety
811 is the national toll-free, call-before-you-dig number. Homeowners, excavators and contractors must call 811 before excavating to have underground utility lines marked to prevent accidental damage. But the system is flawed and inefficient, according to 811spotter co-founder and CEO Marc Krichman.
Startup of the Month: Soar Optics
Company targets microplastics in water with high-tech microscopes
Microplastics can be found everywhere, from Antarctica to Mt. Everest to breast milk. A Western Regional Winner in 2022, Soar Optics develops technology to identify these microscopic particles in water.
Startup of the Month: Inspirame
College and career navigation platform aims to repair education pipeline
In 2019, CEO Maria Medrano co-founded the equity-driven startup Inspirame to repair these critical gaps in college enrollment and workforce development.
Startup of the Month: AgriNerds
Mapping tool helps farmers track carriers of bird flu
In recent years, avian influenza (or “bird flu”) has been on a rampage, wiping out wild and domestic birds, disrupting the environment, and causing a shortage of eggs and poultry meat. The Davis-based startup AgriNerds aims to help farmers to identify potential risks and protect poultry against the threat of diseased ducks.
Startup of the Month: 3D Organic Polymer Silk
Trio of researchers aim to revolutionize orthopedic medicine with spider silk
With over 3 billion years of evolution under its belt, the natural world has a pretty long track record of creativity. Knowing this, three interdisciplinary researchers at UC Davis looked to the golden silk orb-weaver spider to develop an innovative biomaterial.
Startup of the Month: OnSight Technology
Company deploys robots to detect issues on solar farms
After years in the solar farm industry, Derek Chase was looking into different drone companies to handle aerial flyovers. But he found these companies couldn’t provide the information he needed, which was found on the ground, under the panels, where the wires are.
Are Probiotics Safe for Infants?
UC Davis spinoff startup comes under fire after infant death linked to product
In recent months, Infinant Health has come under fire after the death of a preterm infant has been linked to its probiotic product. The FDA issued a warning in September to hospitals, advising them against administering Evivo with MCT Oil, the product which contains the live bacterium B. infantis.
Beyond the Bottle
UC Davis is a hub for breast milk science and innovation
As a chemist of food science, J. Bruce German was accustomed to observing the tiniest things: protein particles, bacteria, mucin layers and much more invisible to the naked eye. But nothing prepared him for his first experience in the neonatal intensive care unit at UC Davis.
How Investing Works
The road to investing is wide and full of many different kinds of drivers that often overlap. Here is a basic guide to understanding how various investors work and what makes each one unique.
Startup Revolution
The Capital Region’s emerging startup community is attracting big investments
Since 2020, the global economy has been mired in uncertainty. On Oct. 5, 2023, investors and entrepreneurs convened at the Roebbelen Center @The Grounds in Roseville to address certain questions regarding business in the Capital Region.
Startup of the Month: Botanical Solution Inc.
Lab-grown plants offer key compounds for crop protection, vaccines
Grown in a lab from raw materials, so-called “baby trees” could be essential for protecting not only the future of fruits and vegetables, but also people. This is the aim of Botanical Solution Inc., a Davis-based ag tech startup with global roots.
Startup of the Month: RePurpose Energy
Fairfield startup puts sustainable spin on retired EV batteries
For an old electric vehicle battery, retirement doesn’t mean the end of the road. This fact was the catalyst for RePurpose Energy, a Fairfield-based startup that converts retired EV batteries into renewable energy storage systems.
The Beat Goes On
Sacramento-area medical centers get high marks for their heart care
Advancements in heart care tools and technology have made surgery less invasive, reducing pain, hospital stays and overall recovery time. These innovations have not only improved patient outcomes, but have also led to greater recognition of hospitals in the region as high-quality heart care centers.
Startup of the Month: Scopi
A portable endoscope helps clinicians diagnose nasal problems
Nasal and sinus problems can be tricky and costly to diagnose. Based on a hardware prototype developed at Stanford University, Scopi Medical aims to solve both problems with the first AI-enabled portable nasal endoscope for diagnosis at the point of care.
Startup of the Month: Badaye Technologies
Machine helps farmers clean maize more efficiently
In Uganda, farmers clean maize in three traditional ways: hand sorting, winnowing and sieving. During an internship in eastern Uganda in 2018, Ismael Mayanja observed these processes and believed there had to be a better method.
Startup of the Month: Biosense
Innovative test strips measure glucose and other substances from saliva
Founded in 2020, Biosense is based on technology with development
led by Luis Bojorquez, founder and CSO. Bojorquez specializes in
combining tiny natural substances (e.g. proteins) with inorganic
materials to develop novel biosensing technologies.
Going Meta
Are Capital Region tech companies buying into the metaverse and Web3?
Will the metaverse be entirely virtual reality, which immerses users in an artificial environment, or utilize augmented reality, which superimposes computer-generated images in the real world? Will it be primarily a gaming and entertainment platform? Or a socioeconomic ecosystem? Or will it be — like many over-hyped ideas — a bust?
Startup of the Month: Shared Vision
For influencers, Sacramento startup compiles scattered affiliate links into micro storefronts
“These content creators, they have thousands of products they’ve
recommended over thousands of posts over a dozen platforms, but
there’s no good way to manage all of those products,” Bardsley
says. “It’s not that they weren’t doing affiliate links, but they
weren’t paying attention to them enough to make money.”
Startup of the Month: AIVision Food
An early detection tool to protect crops from pests
Insect infestation affects crops worldwide, and manually
monitoring food processing and storage facilities is a costly and
time-intensive endeavor. SmartProbe technology aims to make pest
control easier, cheaper and more effective.
Unlocking Reality
As technology evolves, regional entrepreneurs look to unlock the possibilities of augmented reality
Unlike virtual reality, which immerses users in an artificial environment, augmented reality superimposes information in the real world. This information can take the form of graphics, text, audio and other sensory inputs to enhance one’s experience.
Startup of the Month: HuLoop Automation
AI bots streamline workflows to free up human workers from mundane tasks
Too many employees get stuck doing tedious tasks on legacy systems that can impact job satisfaction and the bottom line. This is why Todd Michaud launched HuLoop Automation, a Sacramento-based AI-powered solution to transform the way work gets done.
Startup of the Month: Optimized Foods
Davis company cultivates caviar without harming fish
Optimized Foods, a Davis-based food tech startup, has created a new kind of caviar that is sustainable, nutritious and, most notably, fish-free.
Startup of the Month: Advance Ag
Agtech company aims to bring real-time data tools to farmers
Using Internet-of-Things devices and sensors, the Sacramento-based startup analyzes real-time plant data to monitor the health and performance of crops and water soil saturation.
Startup of the Month: Core Impact
Wearable tech company aims to enhance peak performance of athletes
For athletes, consistency can lead to greatness. Performance data can help get them there. The sports technology startup Core Impact offers a targeted solution through its patent-pending wearable technology.
Startup of the Month: California Cultured
Food tech company makes real chocolate from plant cells
It takes about five years for a cocoa tree to grow and start producing cocoa beans. But Alan Perlstein, who spent the last 20 years in cellular agriculture and pharmaceuticals, had an idea: Why not bypass the tree and just grow the bean?
Startup of the Month: EV Life
Financing platform gives potential EV buyers a boost
EV Life was created to help make the cost of an electric vehicle
equal to or less than a car that runs on gas. The startup’s
founder and co-CEO explains how his business works with potential
EV buyers in three phases.
Startup of the Month: Mediminder
New device helps people with allergies track EpiPens
With her Davis-based startup, CEO Liz Tang wants to remedy the
problem of people with medical conditions not having immediate
access to the medical devices that may save their lives.
Meet Dr. Robot
Advanced robotics bring speed and accuracy to operating rooms
Robots may not possess empathy, but they provide precision
and consistency that’s hard for even the most highly trained
health professionals to replicate.
Can AI-informed technologies hit the medical
mainstream?
The Legacy of Robodoc
Four decades later, the first surgical robot lives on
Robodoc co-creator Dr. William Bargar talks with Comstock’s
about the legacy of Robodoc.
Startup of the Month: VestLife
Elk Grove startup creates app to collect, customize disability information
VestLife, founded by a special needs attorney, enables
parents of children with developmental disabilities to
organize, manage and instantly access their child’s key
disability information via one secure web app.
Starting From Scraps
Developers look to convert the region’s rotting eyesores into unique visions for business
While repurposing old warehouses for new use comes with
technical and financial challenges, it also presents great
benefits, and is one way to build green and sustainable.
Startup of the Month: Matrubials
UC Davis spinoff finds big potential in breast milk
Breast milk has antibiotic-like health benefits? It sure does. Matrubials, a startup out of UC Davis, is developing products that use breast milk components to treat bacterial infections.
Call to Interaction
To reach young consumers, advertisers think outside the checkbox
Savvy advertising won’t help a business if its core values aren’t
consistent on every level. In today’s marketing landscape,
authentic messaging aimed toward building trust and
engagement is critical.
Startup of the Month: Neural Lab
Touchless technology ushers in new wave
Based in El Dorado Hills, Neural Lab has developed touchless technology that turns hand and body motions into commands for devices like keyboards, mice, touchscreens, games and TV controllers.
Startup of the Month: June Care
Platform for child care connects parents to hosts
Davis-based June Care is an online platform that connects parents who need child care with host parents who can provide it.
Startup of the Month: EyeRate
Elk Grove team wants service workers to get their due
Elk Grove-based EyeRate is a social platform designed to recognize and reward employees for their product knowledge and customer service, helping them earn more of what their labor is worth.
The Power of the Breath
UC Davis professor develops device for COVID-19 detection
Cristina Davis, a professor of mechanical and aerospace
engineering and associate dean of research for the UC Davis
College of Engineering, is developing a breathalyzer-like
device to detect COVID-19 and its severity in individuals.
The Doctor Will See You Now
COVID-19 gave a major boost to telehealth services, but for how long?
During the pandemic, the benefits of patients connecting
virtually have been transformative in many ways.
Startup of the Month: VasoBio
UC Davis medtech team pumps life into potential kidney dialysis solution
Davis-based VasoBio has created a medical device that could improve the quality of life for people with kidney diseases.
A Cardiologist’s Guide to Good Health
Dr. Ramin Manshadi, founder of the Manshadi Heart Institute in
Stockton, has been studying human hearts and health for
decades.
Older, Better, Faster, Stronger
Capital Region innovators build new paths to wellness and longevity
Doctors, researchers and trailblazers are exploring how
to use both tried-and-true methods and new tools to
improve physical and mental health as we age.
Startup of the Month: FarmX
E-commerce platform empowers farmers
Fairfield-based FarmX enables farmers to sell directly to grocery chains and restaurants via its e-commerce platform.