Innovation for everyone
Four rising firms snagged top honors in MIT’s Inclusive Innovation Competition (IIC) on Tuesday evening, as part of a new $1 million contest rewarding companies whose technologies can improve economic opportunity for people from a full range of income levels and social circumstances. Among 20 companies receiving monetary awards, four were named as grand-prize champions: the work-force training firm Year Up, software job-training firm Laboratoria, apparel maker 99Degrees Custom, and health care delivery service Iora Health. The winners, chosen from a field of 243 applicants worldwide, were honored at a reception on Tuesday evening at the MIT Media Lab, following an afternoon showcase where leaders from nominated firms made on-stage presentations about their work. Speaking at the afternoon event, MIT Provost Martin Schmidt said it was “really exciting today to see the finalists here to present their pitches,” and noted that the IIC was a natural outgrowth of the now-annual MIT Solve conference....