Like other accelerators, Brinc hasn’t let 2020 get in the way of its program for early-stage startups. The firm is known for focusing on food technology, health tech, clean energy, and hardware, and has a knack for finding some of the most interesting startups in those spaces. Today, we joined Brinc’s first online Demo Day to meet startups from its spring Hong Kong programs, as well as its hardware and IoT program in India.
Here are the startups in alphabetical order:
Based in Singapore, Aurora Food focuses on glycemic-lowering technology that can be used in ingredients for baked goods that are safe for diabetic people to eat because they release sugar more slowly. It wants to provide a healthier and tastier solution than current market offerings — sugar reduction compromises taste and artificial sweeteners can create health hazards. It plans to monetize through a B2B model by selling dessert mix to the likes of bakeries and confectionaries.
From Australia, iMAGsystems makes professional audiovisual equipment and software. AV systems can be difficult to set up, and iMAGsystems wants to solve headaches with its ‘AV over IP’ networking technology, which delivers audio and visual signals using a client’s existing cable infrastructure, and comes with software to monitor performance and prevent issues before they disrupt meetings and events. The company began shipping in 2017 and is working to launch an SaaS solution soon.
Part of Brinc’s India hardware and IoT program, Enlite Research takes a new approach to building management that uses bluetooth mesh (BLE mesh) systems and sensors to collect data, combined with AI-based software. Enlite’s goal is to reduce the cost of managing small and medium-sized commercial buildings while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
American startup Fybraworks Foods is a new entrant in the substitute meat market, using fermentation and protein ingredients to replicate the taste and texture of meat. Its technology combines animal-free muscle proteins and umami flavor of mushroom, and the final products target both pet and human food ingredients.
Another startup from America, Laava Tech, is creating indoor LED grow lights for farmers that it says reduces energy consumption by up to 90%, while increasing crop yield at the same time. It uses control units that provide lights matching the photosynthetic process and sensors to collect data on plant conditions, which feed into its machine learning system.
Run by former Singaporean government R&D staff, MyrLabs’ flagship product is NaviStar, an indoor positioning system that enables robots to move around facilities with more flexibility instead of sticking to fixed paths. Its technology means that companies, including those in the logistics industry, can find new use cases for robots, increasing their productivity. It’s also working on a wearable for blind and visually impaired people.
Orbillion Bio, a food-tech startup that was part of a UC Berkeley accelerator program, uses “lab on a chip” technology to create to cultured meat products using a small tissue sample from heritage cattle breeds. The team of scientists and engineers works to find the optimal meat cell lines that are both nutritious and tasty, and will appeal to other agricultural and food companies.
Singaporean startup Shandi Global is developing technology that will enable it to manufacture plant-based meat substitutes that have amino acid and protein profiles that are similar to real meats, and thus have more flexible use cases than the current offerings of patties, nuggets and sausages. The company’s tech allows it to modify plants at a molecular level and offers meat alternatives at more affordable prices as it plans to supply to restaurants, online grocers and big-box retailers.
Based in France and the U.S., STYCKR targets the parametric insurance market, which is currently restricted to natural catastrophes. Its end-to-end risk management platform enables clients to track physical goods and other assets as they make their way through the supply chain. Its platform consists of a small, self-powered device that is attached to goods and sends data to STYCKR’s SaaS risk-prediction and management SaaS platform.
Hong Kong startup Symphony has developed plug-and-play sensors that monitor vibrations from machines, sends data to cloud-based software that uses AI to analyze how they are performing, and visualize the data on an app with maintenance advice. This helps facilities predict potential issues before machines shutdown, resulting in expensive downtime.
Canadian startup TROES develops energy storage technology using lithium-ion (LiFePO4) technology. Its indoor, outdoor and container systems are modular, which means they can be customized to meet the needs of clients who include middle-market power distributors. The aim of TROES’ products is to increase the efficiency of power storage, which can result in lower utility bills and fewer shortages. It sees itself taking on power solution giants like Tesla, LG Chem, and BYD.
UpperMed, a med-tech startup based in Singapore, has developed a portable device called PD Care that makes it easier for peritoneal dialysis patients to conduct dialysis by themselves. PD Care gives patients more flexibility over where and when they need to change dialysis fluid. It automatically records its flow rate, transparency and volume, and syncs all data to an app. It starts with a to-consumer model selling devices and charging for its app, and plans to later target organizations by developing hospital management systems.
Another member of Brinc’s India program, Vacus Research takes a new approach to indoor positioning through the use of its patented “virtual radio fencing.” This allows for more precise tracking of people and objects within a space. Use cases include monitoring high-value assets, tracking occupancy, disaster management, and most recently, contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Z Imaging is an American startup that develops augmented reality tools, including its surgical navigation and robotics platform, to help doctors perform surgeries. Incubated at Harvard i-lab and backed by Y Combinator and Plug and Play, the startup focuses on ventriculostomy, a common surgical procedure to drain excess cerebrospinal fluid from the head. Its goal is to reduce the time it takes to perform ventriculostomies while improving safety and accuracy.
