StartX Welcomes Spring 2012 Founders

StartX Spring 2012 Community. Photo: Alexa Lee

Our Spring 2012 class, the largest StartX session to date, has settled in and the office is bursting with people, dogs, equipment, and energy like never before!  After a series of introductory events such as our Welcoming Party and Office Warming Breakfast, the 16 startups have acclimated to StartX life. Their schedules quickly filled with mentor meetings, workshops, speaking events, product development, fundraising talks, and community events.

StartX party by Game Closure, Jetlore, & MindSumo. Breakfast by Medigram, Wyatt. Photos: Alexa Lee

At all hours, we now have founders coding up a variety of mobile and internet applications. In our same office space, you’ll find rows of workbenches. Yes, a few teams are building tangible products in our headquarters to be used in the real, physical world. In one workstation, you’ll find the tools of educational toy designers. In another, you see an array of eyewear prototypes and can hear the hum of 3D printouts in progress. It’s an awe-inspiring sight to see and we feel really lucky to be working with these very talented founders.

Below is a brief look at our 6th class. While many of our Stanford-affiliated founding teams have chosen to stay out of the spotlight for most of the session, you’ll be hearing about a handful of them over the next few months. One company, Vergence Labs, just launched their Kickstarter for computing enabled eyewear and was prominently featured on the cover of Singularity Hub. Check them out!

Spring 2012, StartX

Founders at a glance:

  • 41 founders
  • 70% are completing or have attained advanced academic degrees
  • 10% are completing or working towards Computer Science degrees
  • Founder who is a wind turbine designer
  • Founder who programmed a six-legged robot in 8th grade
  • Founder who built a successful computer animation and visual effect studio
  • Founder who is a professional musical recording artist and DJ
  • Innovator in Residence – 18 years old
  • Academic majors represented: Education, Business, Computer Science, Linguistics, Physics, Human Biology, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace, Sustainable Design & Construction, Chemical Engineering

Companies at a glance:

  • 16 companies
  • (2) Early childhood learning technology startups
  • (2) Cleantech companies
  • (3) Healthtech companies
  • (4) Consumer web (1) enterprise web
  • Industry focus: edtech, cleantech, hardware, enterprise, consumer web, mobile, finance
  • 35% received previous funding
  • Team of rocket scientists (aeroastro physicists)
  • Team of toymakers with combined mechanical, electrical, and industrial engineering expertise
  • Team of musicians
  • Team of Dads
  • Company working to increase # of women in technology
  • Company aiming to bring the world closer through language