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: Anu Snacks
Crafting a snack bar from spent grain
Anu Snacks produces snack bars from spent beer grain, mixed with dried fruit and nuts with various coatings. The idea was a hit, winning $17,500 in prizes this year at the UC Davis Big Bang! competition for entrepreneurship.

Startup of the Month: Rhombus Systems
Virtually-managed cameras help secure physical buildings
With Rhombus Systems cameras, customers can view and share livestreams, manage unlimited locations from one console and set up other features.

Startup of the Month: Gray Mountain Sports Drinks
Nephrologist develops magnesium-rich thirst-quencher
Full of electrolytes, this drink supports light to strenuous activity levels, repleting and rehydrating the body without excess sugars and calories.

The 5G Promise
Does Verizon’s 5G wireless network have the power to boost entrepreneurship in the Sacramento Region?
With the deployment of Verizon’s 5G wireless network on the horizon in 2018, some say Sacramento has the potential to become a lightning rod for tech. Is there truth to the hype?

Startup of the Month: Kili Medical Drain Carrier
A mesh apron device designed for surgical patients
She’s a four-time breast cancer survivor who has been through nine surgeries. But for Cinde Dolphin, the post-surgery process has always been a pain, specifically the drain bulbs.

Under Pressure
Fighting tight regulations and stiff competition, young community banks turn to well-established banks to turn profits
In 2018, Golden Pacific Bank is an anomaly, one of the few remaining community banks in the Capital Region to emerge in the past 10 years and not be acquired by a larger entity.

Startup of the Month: Trifecta
Going door to door with healthy ready-made meals
Even though 76 percent of Americans think fast food is “not too good” or “not good at all for you,” almost half say they eat fast food at least weekly, according to a 2013 Gallup poll.

Seal or No Seal
Clean carpets, proper ventilation and special filters may help keep allergens out of the workplace. Another strategy entails sealing cracks in a building to make sure unwanted particles can’t sneak in.

As The Wind Blows
When allergy symptoms strike, poor planners and productivity suffer
Allergies are the sixth-leading cause of chronic illness in the U.S and result in nearly 4 million missed or lost workdays each year and over $700 million in lost productivity. We talk to local experts about ways to keep them at bay, both medical and holistic.

Startup of the Month: Molecular Matrix
Biotech company uses carbs to help bones heal themselves
You might say Dr. Charles Lee created a synthetic bone graft substitute by accident.

Passing Up a Good Thing?
Mike Malinowski, president of the Streamline Institute, had a plan.
With 26 industry professionals, he set out to create a program that streamlines permitting for construction in the Sacramento region. The idea was that with clear standards for building document content and organization plus a checklist used by all participating jurisdictions, plan examiners, building officials and design professionals could be on the same page.

Startup of the Month: Cineshares
Web platform links underrepresented filmmakers to capital
In the early 2000s, Mariah Lichtenstern was an undergrad studying the rhetoric of narrative and image at UC Berkeley and starting a boutique production company in the Bay Area. That was when Napster was disrupting the music industry in a way that would leave it forever changed.

Meeting of Minds
In 2014, the City of Sacramento’s construction valuation (which tracks the dollar amount of issued permits) was $390 million, but by June 2018, that valuation will be about $1.5 billion (adjusted for inflation), according to Ryan DeVore, Sacramento’s community development director.

Codes of Conduct
When it comes to crafting stronger permitting processes, communication is key
Permitting can be a logistical mess for developers, while the future of economic development depends on this process. Efforts to improve the process find that enhanced communication trumps speed in terms of efficiency.

Startup of the Month: Tenkiv
With the power of the sun, Sacramento startup aims to make waves by purifying water
Around the world, 2.1 billion people lack safe drinking water at home. This Sacramento startup aims to make a difference.

Stockton Plants Seeds for Job Growth
Nationally recognized program aims to bolster businesses and revenue
If you have any stake in Stockton’s economy, you know the pain of watching residents (a.k.a. super commuters) leave the city to work in the Bay Area every day of the week.

Startup of the Month: Athena Intelligence
Ag-tech startup plots to make data efficient at the ground level.
For almost a decade, David Sypnieski has been working in the ag-tech space, focusing on the production and processing levels of California’s food system. Six years ago, he noticed a major hole in the supply chain: Food companies and growers didn’t have solid, easy-to-access data to help them evolve with the times.

Startup of Month: Dermveda
With integrative approach, comprehensive skin care website delivers personalized content to users
The most common reason people visit their doctor might surprise you. It’s not back problems, high blood pressure or diabetes. According to a 2013 survey by the Mayo Clinic, the No. 1 reason is skin disorders.

Dawn of the Developers
Despite a tough climb, indie developers are pushing the Capital Region’s gaming industry to the next level
The Capital Region has a couple of homegrown video game success stories, but most growth is taking place in its community of indie developers. As the region seeks to brand itself more as a tech hub, these gamers want to ensure their industry is part of the push.

Fill in the Blanks
Facing a teacher shortage, Sacramento City Unified School District crosses the Pacific to find help, but not everyone is on board
Should a school district struggling to fill vacant teaching positions recruit from overseas? With that question looming overhead, Sacramento City Unified School District develops a new credential program with Sacramento State to address its teacher shortage over the long-term.

Startup of the Month: Wyllness
Granite Bay startup launches solution to help solve the opioid crisis
The opioid crisis was born in the late 1990s. Pharmaceutical companies said opioids — a class of drugs that produce pleasurable effects and relieve pain — weren’t addicting. Healthcare providers prescribed more of them. Twenty years later, we’re in the throes of an epidemic.

Startup of the Month: Alphapura Robotics
To impact the world, local business seeks to turn trash into 3D treasure
The big idea was garbage.
Frederick Janson was in the garage, taking the trash out of his first house in North Natomas. That was when he noticed how full the blue recycle bin was with plastic containers. He realized these recyclables he was paying somebody to take away could be used as building materials.

Dr. Robot
On the cusp of the new automation age, health care providers have more high-tech tools than ever before, which may forever change medicine — one robot at a time
From a robot’s perspective, humans probably look like deeply flawed creatures: imprecise, accident-prone, injury-ridden, hazardous — walking glitches waiting to happen.
This view isn’t exactly wrong.

Startup of the Month: Shenanigans Inflatable Pubs
With Irish imports, family business taps into inflatable pub trend
Inflatable Pubs can be rented for corporate events, weddings, birthday parties or any other type of festivity. Prices range from $400 to $600 per day with additional shipping fees for deliveries outside the region. Right now, Shenanigans has two inflatable pubs, imported straight from Ireland.

Startup of the Month: Fantag
With on-demand instant replays, spectators can watch live games from different shots
For sports fans, it’s not about wins and losses, but how you experience that game that counts. Brian Dombrowski learned this shooting videos for youth and high school sports events in the Bay Area. He was filming original content for coaches, but they weren’t the only ones interested in his footage.

Equity Loves Company
With JOBS Act provision, startups can crowdfund by selling company shares
In a virtual world, everybody who helped Oculus Rift raise $2.5 million on Kickstarter would own a piece of the company. But in reality, the VR pioneer was bought by Facebook in 2014 for $2 billion, and the backers received high-tech goggles and other goodies, but no stock.

Troubles of the Trade
As the Sacramento region fails to meet housing needs, builders scurry to train a much-needed new workforce
The Sacramento Area Council of Governments reported that between 2013 and 2021, the region needs to build about 105,000 housing units to meet demand. Dividing that number by the nine years means almost 12,000 units per year.

Startup of the Month: Branch to Box
Lodi delivery service brings fresh fruit from the farm to your office
Typically, fruit goes through many hands — farmer, packer, shipper, broker — before reaching the supermarket. Based in Lodi, Branch to Box focuses on cutting out the middlemen (hence the name) to provide the freshest possible fruit to offices.

Getting Schooled
Plumas Lake school district takes advantage of Prop 39 for energy-efficiency projects
Plumas Lake Elementary School District in Yuba County partnered with SmartWatt, a New York-based solar firm with an office in Rocklin, to optimize its energy system, including the installation of a solar photovoltaic system. It wasn’t the first solar panel project for SmartWatt, but it is the company’s largest to date.

Daylight Savings
As financial incentives get phased out, local utilities and industry experts grapple with the future of solar power
This year marks the deadline for California’s 10-year bet on solar roofs. In 2006, the state launched the “Million Solar Roofs” vision, pumping $3.2 billion into incentive programs. The plan was to build one million solar roofs, or the equivalent thereof, generating 3,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2017.

Startup of the Month: Hoop Maps
Looking to play pickup basketball games? This app will assist you.
If you’re a basketball player, you’re not one to just sit around and spectate. You want to prove you got skills too. Problem is, finding people to hoop with is no walk in the park.

Startup of the Month: Free Form Factory
Rancho Cordova-based advanced manufacturing company aims to make waves with durable, all-electric watercraft
In 2014, Darling launched Free Form Factory, making after-market decks and hulls out of durable polymer material. Two years later, the company relocated from Rochester, New York to Rancho Cordova. Free Form Factory has unveiled a stand-up watercraft prototype that is 100-percent recyclable and electric-powered.

Startup of the Month: Text to Ticket
With traffic safety app, citizens earn cash targeting distracted drivers
If you’re texting and driving, Sarah Morell might be recording you. She’s usually riding shotgun, as her husband drives, with her camera phone, ready to catch traffic safety violators on video. Her 6-year-old daughter’s in on the action too.

Local Business Aims to Transform the News
VR media startup in Nevada City plans to build platform to immerse readers
The push to integrate VR into the media has surged in recent years. The Guardian last summer unveiled its first VR project, 6×9, putting viewers into a solitary confinement prison cell. Last fall, The New York Times introduced The Daily 360. These immersive videos, made with Samsung technology, give readers rare glimpses into scenes worldwide.

Surreal Estate
Virtual Reality Tours Give Real Estate Builders And Buyers Room to Play
If you’re going to live in a 3D environment, you need to see a 3D environment.”
These are the words of Stephen Phillips, co-founder and chief technology officer at Theia Interactive, a design firm based in Chico. His company creates VR tours for people looking to build or buy homes, cars and yachts. It was one of the four startups to come out of the Green Screen Institute’s first accelerator program.

Reality Check
Virtual reality is no longer just for the gaming industry — but how wise an investment the cutting-edge technology is remains up for debate
From police shootings to incidents like the Fort Lauderdale airport shooting, gun violence has been dominating news cycles in recent years. Additional virtual training could help civilians know how to respond in a hostile encounter.

Startup of the Month: Foodfully
Davis-based startup reminds you to put your food in your belly, not landfills
By linking with loyalty cards and tracking purchases (by scanning receipts), Foodfully knows what food you buy and gives an estimate about how long it may last, then sends notifications before that estimated date. These alerts help consumers avoid wasting forgotten food

Leader of the Flock
For years, California has led the way in energy policy — what happens when the federal government shifts course?
It wasn’t taken as a joke or a typo or an anonymous quote from some trolling conspiracy theorist. It was a real-live tweet from a billionaire with mystery hair: “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”

Startup of the Month: Sievent
Event app finds niche in helping connect local communities
Sievent is a social experience app that helps event organizers and attendees stay connected with information before, during and after an event. The app is an end-to-end platform that handles all facets of an event such as promotion, ticketing, payment, event analytics and social media management.

Analyze This
Big Data is no small matter, that much is clear. But how can companies capitalize on the trends of today to see results tomorrow?
This is the new age of advertising, a digital world dominated by big data, controlled by those who know how to handle it. New technology, such as mobile devices and smart speakers, has opened the door for advertisers to track everything from customer locations to spending habits.

Startup of the Month: RizKnows
From fitness gear to wearable tech, Rocklin-based vlogger knows the deal
The start of the year is resolution time, the season when gyms push special deals to lure new customers or pull in old ones. Jeff Rizzo isn’t trying to sell you a gym membership, but if you’re into technology and fitness, he does want to equip you with the latest gear for the lowest price.

There’s An ‘Uber’ For That
On-demand economy finds wide supply of regional entrepreneurs
“It’s like Uber for X.” In recent years, this line has become the go-to marketing pitch, where “X” can stand for practically any mobile-based service, from shipping to laundry to valet services to primary care. It’s not hard to see why.

Startup of the Month: Atocera Inc.
Cutting edge Davis-based startup aims to solve surgery and shaving problems with innovative semiconductor blades
Technically, Atocera Inc. is the result of a shaving accident.
Back in 2012, Saif Islam, a UC Davis professor of electrical and computer engineering, was in the campus labs building silicon micro-walls for solar panels. During the process of cutting semiconductor material into small slices, something unexpected happened.

True Detection
Anpac Bio — a medtech company building its U.S. headquarters in Sacramento — makes a bold claim to revolutionize cancer screening
But Anpac Bio’s major innovation is not about where, but when. Catching cancer in the earliest stages has been Yu’s goal since the company launched in 2010. With so much medical research focused on treatment and imaging, he set his sights on early detection as the key to prevention. His ideas were unconventional.

Startup of the Month: LiquidGoldConcept
Health tech startup delivers breastfeeding toolkit — will mothers and med students latch on?
In the first few days after a baby is born, the mother produces colostrum — a yellowish, thick and sticky substance packed with fat, micronutrients and antibodies. In breastfeeding circles, this special milk is called “liquid gold,” which is essentially a supercharged immunity boost to equip newborns for their new world.

Startup of the Month: ViVita Technologies
Medical device startup pumps innovation into replacement heart valves
A healthy human body is a fortress with guards at the ready to seize intruders. When under attack, these guards (antibodies) secrete chemicals that recruit and grow immune cells. The cells then seek and destroy the intruders (antigens) to protect the fortress.

The Hard Cell
Do stem-cell treatments for racehorses hold the key to healing human athletes?
Moore believes UC Davis could be the first institution in the country to have an approved clinical trial using banked stem cells in a young, athletic population.

Startup of the Month: Renter Inc
Like Carfax for landlords, this Land Park-based startup collects reviews on tenants
For many residential landlords, choosing a tenant is a gamble — like shopping for a used car without a full history report. Vitaliy Merkulov learned this the hard way.

Startup of the Month: Brass Clover Cold Brew Coffee Company
For Oak Park startup, coffee is a drink best brewed cold
Is 14 too young to get into coffee? It wasn’t for Randall Echevarria. He grew up in Crescent City on the California/Oregon border, and the small town’s first coffee shop gave him his very first job. He started as a barista and moved up in the ranks over four years, his favorite part being the beverage development. Turns out, this high school gig was just warm-up.

Virtual Investment, Real Growth
Nevada County incubator builds on region’s video technology legacy
On New Mohawk Road in Nevada City, the 27,000-square-foot facility has three components: a training academy, business accelerator and coworking lab for established companies. The academy will include classes that can last from a weekend to up to six months. The Green Screen Institute will hire industry experts on a contract basis to teach the classes. The idea is to develop the workforce needed for the influx of virtual reality and augmented reality companies.