The Roux Institute Founder Residency 2022 Cohort
The Roux Institute is pleased to announce the cohort of companies selected for the 2022 Founder Residency—designed to support first-time founders and founders from underrepresented groups with high-growth ideas that have the potential to fundamentally alter the way we live and work.
“If we want to diversify Maine’s startup ecosystem and reach Founders that might not traditionally be included in the conversation, we need to think about the barriers that they face,” says Associate Director of Entrepreneurship, Ben Chesler.
All founders in this cohort identify as BIPOC or Female, and companies hail from four states across the U.S., as close as Maine and as far away as Georgia. The companies are developing solutions in the areas of women’s health, civic engagement, eco-friendly manufacturing, intelligent wireless charging, and sustainable fishing.
Each founding team will receive a $25,000 grant to help build their ventures from scratch, intended to lower the barrier of entry for would-be entrepreneurs with a high-growth concept, who might not have the financial means to support themselves while they develop their product or technology.
This was an incredibly competitive application process, and we were blown away by the quality of the Founders and companies that applied to spend the year building their business in Maine. We could not be more thrilled about the five companies who will be in residence at the Roux Institute this year.”
Ben Chesler
Associate Director of Entrepreneurship
The Founders will co-locate on the Roux Institute’s high-tech campus in downtown Portland (or at a partner site across the state), ensuring that each Founder has access to the vast network of technical and business experts from both Northeastern University’s global campus network, as well as the Roux Institute’s corporate partners and in-house researchers. Founders will also be paired with an Innovation Associate to guide them through their residency.
Meet the Founders and Companies
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Ackeem Evans, Founder and CEO of Election Bridge
Election Bridge is a conduit and activator for households to connect and share feedback with the different levels of U.S. government. The platform allows users to come together as a unified voice and utilize technology to generate data-led insights for better governance and improved hyperlocal development.
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Jermaine Hartsfield, Founder and COO of Election Bridge
Election Bridge is a conduit and activator for households to connect and share feedback with the different levels of U.S. government. The platform allows users to come together as a unified voice and utilize technology to generate data-led insights for better governance and improved hyperlocal development.
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Melissa LaCasse, Founder and CEO of Tanbark Molded Fiber Products
Tanbark has unique expertise, first mover advantage, and technologically advanced solutions for an emerging market demanding sustainable, compostable packaging.
Tanbark manufactures Molded Fiber packaging, focusing on Type 3 Molded Fiber packaging, which is one of the best replacements for single-use plastic and Styrofoam.
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Helkin Berg, Founder and CEO of Hey Freya
Hey Freya is innovating women’s digital health solutions that are body-positive, based in science, and made for women by women to answer the ultimate question: How am I doing? Hey Freya is smashing the tradition of women’s health solutions focusing only on pregnancy and fertility to empower women to lead happier and healthier lives.
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Yousof Naderi, Founder and CEO of DeepCharge Inc.
DeepCharge, founded by a group of Northeastern University researchers, is leading the next generation of wireless charging and intelligent surfaces. Its platform features the most advanced, AI-enabled technology in the wireless charging space, delivering multi-device wireless ‘anywhere, anytime’ charging freedom to improve the overall charging experience and untether billions of battery-powered devices from wired charging.
Offering the only fully programmable and reconfigurable system in the market, its proprietary platform simplifies daily life by radically transforming wireless charging as we know it by making surfaces like counters or desks – into intelligent, wireless power solutions – a solution that defies previous technological limits.
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Kaushik Chowdhury, Co-Founder of DeepCharge Inc.
DeepCharge, founded by a group of Northeastern University researchers, is leading the next generation of wireless charging and intelligent surfaces. Its platform features the most advanced, AI-enabled technology in the wireless charging space, delivering multi-device wireless ‘anywhere, anytime’ charging freedom to improve the overall charging experience and untether billions of battery-powered devices from wired charging.
Offering the only fully programmable and reconfigurable system in the market, its proprietary platform simplifies daily life by radically transforming wireless charging as we know it by making surfaces like counters or desks – into intelligent, wireless power solutions – a solution that defies previous technological limits.
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Ufuk Muncuk, CTO of DeepCharge Inc.
DeepCharge, founded by a group of Northeastern University researchers, is leading the next generation of wireless charging and intelligent surfaces. Its platform features the most advanced, AI-enabled technology in the wireless charging space, delivering multi-device wireless ‘anywhere, anytime’ charging freedom to improve the overall charging experience and untether billions of battery-powered devices from wired charging.
Offering the only fully programmable and reconfigurable system in the market, its proprietary platform simplifies daily life by radically transforming wireless charging as we know it by making surfaces like counters or desks – into intelligent, wireless power solutions – a solution that defies previous technological limits.
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Saif Khawaja, Founder and CEO of Shinkei Systems
Shinkei Systems builds robotics that minimize fish waste and multiple shelf-life. Of the 1.2B lbs of fish caught every day, as little as 1 in 3 can make it to a plate. Most fish are left to suffocate on boats, which creates stress and degrades meat quality. We automate traditional processing techniques to improve shelf-life and quality.