Pre-seed

With 500K+ annual structural fires causing $500B+ in economic loss, firefighters across the U.S. face life-threatening risks searching for victims, resulting in tens of thousands of injuries, fatalities, and immense healthcare costs exceeding $6B annually, despite 60% of these fires having no human presence. Beyond firefighting, industries like oil and gas encounter thousands of dangerous incidents yearly (300+ fires, 300+ explosions annually), while over 15,000 HazMat emergencies demand swift, advanced robotic intervention.

HAND Technologies, LLC (HAND) is a custom materials company founded upon extreme performance materials discovered at Mississippi State University (MSU). Our startup is committed to expanding the high-performance materials options available to the U.S. aerospace market, starting with one materials platform at a time.   We are currently commercializing a platform of BODA-derived resins (BDR) to help solve a staggering production limitation plaguing the carbon/carbon (C/C) composites industry.

Coulomb Technology is developing next-generation sodium-ion batteries that are fire-safe, durable, and sustainably manufactured in the United States.

80% of all business data is structured data in the form of tables and databases. Regulatory constraints like HIPAA, CCPA & GDPR make it difficult and costly to run AI, analytics, and software development workflows on structured data. With the synthetic data market projected to grow from $600M in 2025 to $4.9B by 2032 at a 35% CAGR, there is an urgent need for scalable, efficient, and privacy-compliant solutions.   

Annate Bitherapeutics is fundamentally reengineering a natural component of the human innate immune system to target and destroy cancer cells. Our approach focuses on Relapse Refractory Multiple Myeloma (RRMM), a difficult stage where patients become resistant to all available therapies, leaving them with few options and no cure.  Rather than relying on traditional drugs, stem-cell transplants, or T-cell activation, our approach harnesses Apolipoprotein L1 (ApoL1), a protein that naturally protects humans against the parasite Trypanosoma brucei.

The rapid growth of AI, data science, and GPU-based workloads has resulted in a "data explosion," creating a widening gap between well-resourced organizations and the majority who lack GPU expertise. This disparity is particularly pronounced in the $16.5 billion simulation software market and the $600 billion cloud computing market, where prohibitive costs and limited expertise often hinder impactful R&D.

Cervu is developing an innovative at-home pelvic health trainer system that combines a hardware device that features multiple functionalities with a mobile app to deliver personalized care for women seeking to improve their pelvic health.

Nemea Therapeutics is advancing first-in-class oral small molecule therapies that inhibit mitochondrial sustenance to treat aggressive solid tumors.

The lead program targets mitochondrial RNA polymerase (POLRMT)—a long-elusive cancer hallmark. Many advanced cancers increase reliance on mitochondrial function after standard chemotherapy, making POLRMT inhibition a promising approach for safer, more effective therapy across a broad range of malignancies.

Ecoatex is a biomaterials technology company that transforms agricultural and marine byproducts—nutshells, crop residues, and seaweed—into engineered cellulose materials, coating formulations, and specialty cellulose intermediates.

These bio-based materials enable the production of advanced cellulose materials for packaging, coated materials, nonwovens, and other industrial applications, using existing manufacturing equipment and reducing reliance on fossil-based inputs.

Fibarcode’s core technology—an engineered optical structure integrated directly into textile fibers—serves as a unique, indelible identifier that can be woven or knitted into fabrics using standard manufacturing processes.

Over 200 customer discovery interviews (conducted during and after the NSF I-Corps program) revealed critical pain points in the apparel resale and recycling ecosystem: