Six Startups We Think You Should Know About
1. Plenty
Funding: $226 Million
Plenty is an agri-tech startup that’s on a mission to grow quality organic produce in urban areas. Farmers grow produce indoors on vertical walls, using less land space and water. Because the farms are located in central areas where people live, the cost to buy produce can be lowered. Plenty has caught the attention of many investors, including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. It has been able to raise $226 million in just 3 rounds and has plans to expand in Seattle with a new farming facility.
2. Celmatix
Funding: $59.6 Million
Celmatix offers women personalized medical recommendations for their reproductive health. The company offers Fertilome, a test that reveals genetic risk factors that may impede a women’s ability to conceive. It also offers doctors with a patient management and consulting software that has the ability to suggest the best fertility treatments for each patient.
Funding: $12.2 Million
Function of Beauty is an emerging beauty-tech startup that is changing the industry by forgoing the one-size-fits-all approach. The company tailors shampoo and conditioner products to meet each customer’s individual needs. They do this by using proprietary algorithms to analyze every customer’s information: hair type, hair structure, scalp moisture, and even personal preferences. Bottles are also personalized with each customer’s name, a nice touch!
4. Airtable
Funding: $62.6 Million
Airtable is a spreadsheet app that is also part database. Cells can hold photos, lists, attachments–basically any content of your choosing. You can even customize the perfect view for your data. Airtable has recently raised $52 million in Series B funding and the app is already in use at companies like Tesla, WeWork, Airbnb, and Time magazine. The company also offers a second product called Blocks (currently a beta feature) which allows users to create customized workflows without any coding.
Funding: $90 Million
Aurora is building self-driving cars to transform the way people move. The company was founded by Chris Urmson, Sterling Anderson, and Drew Bagnell. All three come with an impressive background in autonomous vehicle technology, having worked at Google, Tesla, and Uber respectively. The company received a permit last August to test self-driving cars in California. In January, Aurora announced partnerships with Volkswagen and Hyundai to develop autonomous vehicles for the public.
6. tilr
Funding: $5 Million
tilr is an automated hiring solution that seeks to remove unconscious bias during the recruitment process. The company’s algorithm matches skills to job requirements, instead of titles or keywords. tilr plans to expand in 12-15 markets this year and establish partnerships with healthcare companies to provide insurance for gig-economy workers. They’ve already collaborated with BlueCross and BlueShield to create the Anthem program in Ohio.