Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator held the second Demo Day for its Summer season 2024 cohort on Thursday, and identical to we noticed on Day 1, AI stays the main focus of most startups on this cohort.
Nevertheless, we did additionally discover a couple of attention-grabbing startups which can be engaged on cool tech like drones that may’t be jammed, carpooling for freight, and climate prediction.
Listed below are the businesses that stood out:
What it does: Detects errors in engineering initiatives, proposes options and might even implement them itself
Why it’s a favorite: I used to be intrigued when Entangl mentioned it has talked to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy about automating information heart verification. The truth that the startup already has offers with AWS and Vodafone is a giant plus.
What it does: Vitality-efficient chips for AI
Why it’s a favorite: One of many issues with AI is that it consumes a ton of vitality. Early checks of Exa’s chips present that they’re practically 28 instances extra environment friendly than NVIDIA’s H100s. What’s higher, these chips can adapt to different models — you simply have to configure them with software program. Exa hopes to have them prepared for utilization by early 2025.
What it does: Growing an autoimmune remedy that kills most cancers
Why it’s a favorite: Keytruda and different autoimmune medication have been a game-changer for a lot of most cancers sufferers, however there’s nonetheless a protracted solution to go. Kopra Bio is engaged on a drug that would change that. In early checks on animals, most had been nonetheless alive after 250 days, whereas animals on an FDA-approved drug died in simply 50 days. If the drug works the identical means in people, it could possibly be an enormous breakthrough for survival.
What it does: AI bookkeeper for startups
Why it’s a favorite: LedgerUp’s AI guarantees to make bookkeeping simpler for companies. It could possibly categorize transactions, discover reductions and credit that you might have missed, handle invoices, and even handle taxes. I hope bookkeeping turns into a job no person will miss.
What it does: Provides a collection of productiveness apps for rising organizations
Why it’s a favorite: Wayne Crosby, OrgOrg’s founder, says that his firm may help companies streamline their app utilization. Whereas many companies could also be able to consolidate their app distributors, what caught my eye about OrgOrg was Crosby’s background: The three-time founder took his first firm by YC all the best way again in 2007 and later bought it to Google, the place it grew to become Google Slides. This expertise is certain to draw investor curiosity.
What it does: Carpooling for freight
Why it’s a favorite: I’m a giant fan of Uber Pool, so I used to be excited to study Oway. The startup lets small companies share truck area and lower your expenses on transport — ridesharing for freight, basically. It’s sooner and cheaper — what’s to not like about this?
What it does: Foundational mannequin for predicting the climate
Why it’s a favorite: Silurian’s founders beforehand helped construct one of many world’s most correct climate forecasting fashions: Microsoft Analysis’s Aurora. However 4 months in the past, they left the tech large to construct their very own climate prediction engine, which they declare is a good higher prognosticator than Aurora — the corporate is constructing foundational fashions for simulating the complete planet, they usually’re concentrating on climate first.
What it does: Develops unjammable drones
Why it’s a favorite: Drones have modified the sport in warfare. They will spy on the enemy in real-time and might even hit targets with pinpoint accuracy, all whereas decreasing the necessity to put pilots in danger. However there’s a catch: there are a lot of methods to jam drones, which makes them ineffective. This has been a giant drawback within the Russia-Ukraine warfare. Theseus claims that its drones can dodge jamming, even when the opponent is Russia.
What it does: Reduces congestion and accidents with sensible visitors lights
Why it’s a favorite: Controlling visitors lights with AI appears like the proper utility of this expertise. Xtraffic says that it’s already doing it in a number of cities in Texas. I hope they make it to my city in California, too, as a result of I positive am uninterested in ready for the sunshine to show inexperienced when there aren’t any different vehicles round.