STEM kits for underserved communities | Agorithm will help hearing impaired
Startup provides STEM kits to underserved communities
DETROIT, MI—Across America, only 7% of STEM college degrees go to black students. Two native Detroiters, Alecia Gabriel, PhD and Deirdre Roberson, think the main reason for that is that schools in underserved communities lack the resources for helping students succeed in STEM early on. To help deal with the problem, they co-f0unded The Lab Drawer, which provides STEM kits school districts and youth organizations. The lab kits contain everything a student needs to learn something new in STEM.
Hearing tools to alleviate ‘Cocktail Party Effect’
COLUMBUS, OH—Hearing aids do a good job of making sounds louder, but they aren’t very good at making speech more understandable in noisy environments. (See the Cocktail Party effect.) Neural Ear, a spinout from the Ohio State, has developed an AI-powered Deep Neural Network algorithm that Ohio State’s Speech Psychoacoustics Lab will use to develop tools. The model is portable and supplements existing hearing devices and apps but doesn’t require any specific hardware or an internet connection to operate.
Abridge raises $30M in Series B
PITTSBURGH, PA—Health tech company Abridge has raised a $30 million Series B. The funding round was led by AI luminary Spark Capital, and included participation from existing investor Bessemer Venture Partners, along with healthcare leaders Mayo Clinic, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, CVS Health Ventures, UC Investments, Lifepoint Health, SCAN Health Plan and the American College of Cardiology. Abridge makes an app that records and condenses conversations between patients and doctors.
Duke University brings in $102.5M from startups
DURHAM, NC–Duke University reported bringing in $102.5 million in licensing and equity payments from technology and startups formed on its campus in its fiscal year 2023. The startups formed by Duke’s faculty and students have gone on to become some of its largest employers. Write or paste your story here …