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: InVixa
Startup uses popular drug to target COVID-19 inflammation
As COVID-19 vaccines roll out worldwide, InVixa is working on a new delivery method for a cholesterol-lowering drug to treat respiratory inflammation caused by the coronavirus.

Startup of the Month: BoxPower
Delivering clean energy to end-of-the-line customers
In a world of portability and to-go orders, Grass Valley-based startup BoxPower delivers energy in a box.

Startup of the Month: Warchest
Budgeting software aids political campaigns
The 2020 presidential election may be over, but the team at Warchest still has work to do.

Startup of the Month: Factory OS
You might not associate remote work with construction, but Mare
Island-based Factory OS is redesigning the business model by
building multifamily homes off-site, then shipping them to the
designated location.

Coping With COVID
As stress levels have soared, treatment programs for substance use battle to keep up
The challenge for treatment programs can be broken down into four
parts: lack of workforce, limited capacity, timing conflicts and
insurance issues.

Startup of the Month: Unfold
Breeding seeds for vertical farms
The future of vertical farming begins on the genetic level. That’s the philosophy of Unfold, a Sacramento-based startup focused on innovating fruit and vegetable seeds to better serve indoor growing facilities.

The Image of Health
Co-inventor Simon Cherry on how the world’s first total-body PET scanner could significantly change disease diagnosis
Comstock’s spoke with Cherry about the groundbreaking work that led UC Davis to name him and co-inventor Ramsey Badawi among the recipients of the 2020 Chancellor’s Innovation Awards.

Startup of the Month: Humanly
AI-powered hiring platform helps big companies find best candidates
With the help of artificial intelligence, this Sacramento-based startup wants to make the hiring process run smoother for companies flooded with applications.

Startup of the Month: Drinjk Wines
Wine business delivers single-serve bottles
There’s nothing worse than pouring wine down the drain, says Brett Bayda, so he created Drinjk Wines for consumers who want more portion control.

Startup of the Month: FloraPulse
Agtech startup measures water levels in plants
How do you measure the thirst of a plant? Michael Santiago, founder and CEO of FloraPulse, says give it a chip.

Fighting for Fairness
Black business owners are trying to survive amid the pandemic and economic and racial injustice
Not only have Black Americans suffered more from COVID-19 infections and deaths, but Black-owned businesses were hit the hardest due to the shutdown.

Startup of the Month: DispatchCare
Health app delivers services to doorsteps
“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.

Startup of the Month: Sama Learning
VR platform expands learning possibilities
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.

Behind the Screens
The increase in technology use is changing our lives, and not everyone thinks that’s a bad thing
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.

How Leaders Can Build True Inclusion
Adrienne S. Lawson, of UC Davis Health, talks about how leaders can promote workplace inclusion and justice
As the U.S. grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, factors such as socioeconomic status, education, neighborhood and employment play a pivotal role in the fight against systemic racism and social injustice.

Startup of the Month: RAIVES
Medical clip helps organize hospital room equipment
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.

New Field of Study
Chris Xu of ThermoGenesis discusses his Rancho Cordova company’s role in the coronavirus pandemic
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.

Storm Chasers
Real-time weather forecasting is helping to balance the need to store more water while still preventing floods
In the face of climate change, environmental stress and population growth, advanced technology can lead to enhanced weather forecasting, which could make a huge impact in preventing floods and keeping reservoirs full.

Startup of the Month: OpenGrants
Platform simplifies search for public funding
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.

Startup of the Month: Nytch
App helps small businesses make online shopping personal
Nytch, a Woodland-based mobile app, connects independent, offline businesses to local shoppers looking for specific items.

Startups of the Month: Where Are They Now?
Progress reports from five standout startups in the Capital Region
Since 2015, Comstock’s has spotlighted more than 60 regional startups in our Startup of the Month column. Here are five standouts from the column that are going stronger than ever.

Startup of the Month: DapIt
Digital gift cards give small businesses a boost
With gift cards continuing to soar in popularity, a Woodland-based startup aims to bring their convenience to small businesses while cutting down on plastic.

Startup of the Month: Zennify
Consulting firm guides companies through digital upgrade
With industries moving at the speed of the internet, many companies have trouble keeping pace. Zennify, a Sacramento-based cloud solutions and consulting firm, wants to help legacy businesses catch up.

Startup of the Month: Humaxa
A new model for employee-satisfaction surveys
Humaxa uses artificial intelligence and natural language processing to help employers boost productivity and satisfaction among their workforce.
Sponsored

The Golden Working Years
More seniors are electing to continue or return to work
The job hunt looks different than it did 40 years ago. Kurt Lemons found that out the hard way after dusting off his resume to send to big-box retailers and car dealer- ships. “I didn’t need the money, just something to keep me busy and off my butt,” says Lemons, who is 75 and lives in Placer County. “I sent out resumes, but all I got was crickets.”

Startup of the Month: Advanced Farm Technologies
Robotic harvester lends hand to fruit-picking process
In California, where 90 percent of American strawberries are grown, the time is ripe for a faster, better way to pick them. That’s the idea behind Advanced Farm Technologies, a Davis-based startup that uses customized tools to lend farmers a helping robotic hand.

Startup of the Month: TagCarts
A veteran-owned startup looks to improve medical carts for health care professionals
Medical carts are mobile storage units for health care equipment, supplies and medication, and may include workstations for access to electronic data.

Startup of the Month: Sparck
If your manager tosses you a $200 gift card for reaching a milestone, it’s nothing personal — and according to Anna Straus, that’s a problem when it comes to employee retention and workplace productivity.
Sponsored

Under One Roof
Construction companies explore an all-in-one business approach to keep costs and scheduling competitive
After years of planning and restructuring, Clark Pacific, the West Sacramento based provider of prefabricated systems, has completed a phase of transformation as a one-stop shop for general design, engineering, architecture, field operations and manufacturing.

Startup of the Month: PairAnything
A new age for wine
PairAnything, run by an eight-person team, won the $10,000 Food + Agriculture Sector Award at the 2019 Big Bang Business Competition at UC Davis.

Startup of the Month: AppA11y
Software developer creates games for visually impaired players
Before 2012, Nick Barbato was a software developer working in a cubicle, and he was miserable. He wanted more control over his life, so he left that job to start a company called Pangia Games. Not long after he and his cofounder, Lee Hobbs, released their first game, he received an email in 2013 from someone who played it.

Status Check: Home Kitchens
Yolo County alleges that Foodnome had been operating illegally
Prior to 2019, the California Retail Food Code had strict limits on which facilities could store, package and serve food at the retail level. These restrictions were put in place for health and sanitation purposes.

Startup of the Month: The Makers Place
A family home for work-from-home parents
As a leadership educator and coach working from home, Leslie Bosserman had a tough time being fully present with both her first child and her clients. Eight months into her second pregnancy, she came up with the idea for The Makers Place, a Sacramento-based coworking space customized for families.

Slow Progress for Fast Speeds
Two years after partnering with Verizon, few Sacramento neighborhoods have 5G availability
Sacramento boasted of being one of the first four test cities for Verizon’s 5G network, with officials calling it a major step toward the future. But nearly a year after launch, none of the city’s eight council districts have full 5G coverage — and it isn’t clear when any of them will.

Startup of the Month: Foodnome
Home cooking loves company
For Akshay Prabhu, nothing ties a meal together like community. His Davis-based startup, Foodnome, reflects that philosophy, turning regular homes into restaurants the way Uber turned regular cars into taxis.

Startup of the Month: IndiPUB
Self-publishing with a twist
The first book Amy Altstatt wrote was about a little girl in a world in which color represents what one wants to be when grown up. The girl tries different colors to see which one suits her, but none feels right. Then she cries, and, in her rainbow tears, she realizes all the colors are part of her.

Startup of the Month: HealthSherpa
Guiding customers to health insurance coverage
When HealthCare.gov — the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchange website — went live in 2013, it was slow, buggy and hard to navigate — a digital mess. Two weeks later, three programmers in the Bay Area launched HealthSherpa.com, an alternative website to help online shoppers understand their options under the ACA and see plans and prices quickly.

Women’s Health is Long Overdue for Fresh Eyes — And Needed Funding
Throughout the region, public and private-sector players are rethinking women’s health, expanding and diversifying their approach to maternal and infant health.

Startup of the Month: Pheronym
In the mood for pest control
Nematodes pose a conundrum to farmers. The worm-like microscopic creatures are everywhere. Some are parasitic, infecting plants and destroying crops — but others actually attack insect pests. The ability to target the “bad” while leaving the “good” unharmed would be a boon for agricultural production.

Startup of the Month: Robotics Evolution
Building robots for battle and jobs
Eric Sweet used to be a pilot, hauling cargo and flying corporate jets. Then he tried his hand at real estate. Now, through his Sacramento-based startup, Robotics Evolution, he’s focused on educating youth on robotics by offering special arenas where their robots can compete in various competitions.

Startup of the Month: Japa
UC Davis grads smarten up parking lots
As part of an entrepreneurship course at UC Davis, Mathew Magno was instructed to come up with a problem to solve. He didn’t think twice: Magno wanted to solve the nightmare that is finding a place to park.

On the Move
Is taller, denser housing near transit hubs right for the Capital Region?
City officials and developers are eyeing transit hubs for residential projects — but can it be effective in the Capital Region, which lacks the mass transit hubs of larger cities?

Startup of the Month: Cognivive
VR games for injured brains
Anybody who says video games are bad for your health hasn’t met Dr. Tony Simon.

The Doctor Is (Logged) In
The rise of telehealth targets rural patients and preventative medicine
Telehealth is on the rise throughout the Capital Region, with video visits that save patients and hospitals both time and money. But can it reach the patients who need it the most?

The Fall of An Agency
Yolo county bids farewell to long-standing family clinic
For more than 50 years, Yolo Family Service Agency provided mental health services to Yolo County. In May, the small nonprofit agency shut down for good.

Good Help is Hard to Find
The region’s lack of mental health professionals leaves many without care
California is in the throes of a mental health crisis. But there’s a severe shortage of mental health professionals, which experts predict will only get worse. Comstock’s looks into access to mental health resources and efforts to get services to the people who need them most.

Startup of the Month: Newell’s Botanicals
Sacramento startup delivers cannabis-infused skin care products
The Sacramento-based startup makes cannabis-infused topical skin care products and for Chelsea Dudgeon, CEO and cofounder, her grandmother was “a tough sell” in the beginning.

Restaurant Industry Gets Proactive
Sacramento restaurateur serves up mental health training
The Tuesday after renowned chef Anthony Bourdain committed suicide, Patrick Mulvaney asked for help. The owner of Mulvaney’s B&L restaurant in Midtown Sacramento could no longer cook in good conscience — but he needed guidance.

Startup of the Month: STEMtrunk
Yuba City-based company launches subscription service for educational toys
In 2017, Aaron Watkins launched a rental service called STEMtrunk because he doesn’t believe educational toys should be left behind. He calls his Yuba City-based startup “Netflix for learning toys” because it works with the same subscription-based concept.

Breaking Up is Hard to Do
For some families in commercial real estate, breaking up may be essential to succession
Before big-time Sacramento developer Mort Friedman passed away in 2012, he handed the keys of the family business to his son, Mark Friedman. The transition was relatively seamless. Mort’s other sons pursued careers outside the industry and in different cities.