New Florence. New Renaissance.

The NASA iTech Challenge

NASA has selected 10 competition finalists to present their ideas at the iTech forum in Hartford, Connecticut, on Oct. 25-26, 2018. Chief technologists from various NASA centers, other federal agencies and industry will listen to presentations and meet with participants. NASA judges will ultimately determine three winners of the 2018 NASA iTech Cycle III competition.

The competition challenges entrepreneurs to consider how their biomedical, software and other technology ideas could be adapted and used for future space exploration missions. Among the finalists are artificial intelligence, big data, advanced materials and other unique innovations.

NASA

NFL Tech Accelerator

The NFL season kicks off tonight

TechCrunch on a tech accelerator run by the NFL Player’s Association

The accelerator is called One Team Collective, and is run by an executive board made up of leaders from the tech industry as well as a player advisory board with nine current and former NFL players.

Founded about a year ago, the group has invested in four startups: WHOOP, StatMuse, Rep the Squad and CampusLore (in video below)

Fortune 40 under 40

the 2018 list of disruptors, innovators, rebels and artists is out here

“A-Team of AI”

according to Fortune

 

Entrepreneur’s 100 Brilliant Companies

Lots of great examples in each of these categories in the magazine's special issue

• Marketing Message (including the CarMax commerical below)
• Growth Strategy
• Product Innovation
• New Services
• Leadership
• Compensation and HR
• Social Mission
• Investor appeal
• Winning personalities

 

50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs

Part of a series on the best of 2017

From Entrepreneur Magazine

Unicorns–a global map

While the majority of the world's unicorns are located in the U.S. and China, India is in third place with ten unicorns, while Germany and South Korea are close behind (four and three unicorns each, respectively).

The spreadsheet with details on country and sector of each of the unicorns is here

HowMuch

 

AgTech Startups

Agricultural tech startups have raised over $800M in the last 5 years.  Deals to startups using robotics and machine learning to solve problems in agriculture started gaining momentum in 2014, in line with the rising interest in artificial intelligence across multiple industries like healthcare, finance, and commerce.

Smart money VCs like Bessemer Venture Partners, Accel Partners, Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, and Data Collective have invested in general-purpose drone and computer vision companies with a focus on agricultural applications, like DJI and Orbital Insight, as well as ag tech startups like Blue River Technology. Big corporations like Monsanto and Syngenta, which are active ag tech investors, have also backed companies like Resson and previously mentioned Blue River Technology.

CB Insights

Startup cultures at large companies

In the trend that's emerging, the founders of prominent startups are finding ways to sell their cake and have it, too. They can run their brands on their own terms inside larger corporations while at the same time providing spark and nimbleness to the parent company. "We needed some sort of outside catalyst to get our digital effort going at the speed I wanted it to," says John Schlifske, CEO of Northwestern Mutual, which bought fintech startup LearnVest. "I didn't feel we had the right speed and agility."

We're now at the point when entre­preneurship doesn't have to end with a purchase. Even better, entrepreneurs like Alexa von Tobel at LearnVest and Marla Malcolm Beck at Bluemercury get to operate with resources they couldn't imagine having as startups. Whether it's Northwestern Mutual jump-starting its online financial planning, or Under Armour building a connected fitness initiative with a startup such as MyFitnessPal, this is how the smart 21st-century acquisition gets done. "At some point, established companies have to adopt some startup thinking," says Alexander Chernev, a professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management. "It's not that startup thinking is the best thing ever. But it forces you to look at the world as a changing place."

Inc with several examples of impactful startups acquired by companies like Macy’s, Under Armour and Sprint

Forbes 30 under 30

600 (across 20 industries) of the brightest young entrepreneurs, innovators and game changers.

Forbes