National Technology Day is on Wednesday, January 6, and to celebrate, we’ve found some of the best tech start-ups in Pasadena that you should keep your eye on.
Each of these start-ups is doing something different with the goal of pushing technology to its limits for the greater good of humanity.
A.List, founded in 2010, is an award-winning media platform providing over 1.3 million members of the media and marketing community with insights, trends, data and analysis via its website, events and their newsletter. The company facilitates an active community for their readership across platforms to connect and share insights.
“We are proud to count the world’s leading marketers and media executives in our core readership,” a company statement said. “Our editorial mission is to inform, inspire and feature the most vital members of the global media and marketing community to foster innovation in the community.”
Visit www.alistdaily.com for more information.
codeSpark, founded in 2014, is the company behind the award-winning computer science education platform, codeSpark Academy with The Foos, specifically designed for kids 5 and up.
codeSpark Academy teaches young kids about computer science concepts by letting them program cute characters in a virtual world. The game is self-directed and the interface is 100 percent visual so anyone anywhere in the world can play. In three years, over 20 million kids in over 200 countries have used codeSpark Academy.
For more information, visit www.codespark.com.
DigiFabster is a ML-powered sales automation company for custom manufacturing businesses. Founded in 2016, the company provides web-based, secured and ITAR-compliant software empowering job shop manufacturers and large OEMs to streamline quote generation, making the buying process painless and reduce delays in production.
DigiFabster helps 3D printing, CNC, injection-molding and other manufacturers to price engineering parts instantly, and streamlines eCommerce sales, customer management, and production processes. The company says their solutions can help manufacturers add millions of dollars in online sales in the first year, increase revenue by 25 percent and customer base by 50 percent.
For more information, visit www.digifabster.com.
Embodied, founded in 2016, is a robotics and AI company creating companion robots to revolutionize human-centric care and wellness and enhance quality of life for individuals and families.
“Our mission is to build socially and emotionally intelligent animate companions with believable personality and empathy to enhance our daily lives,” a company statement said.
Backed by a veteran team of technologists, neuroscientists, child development specialists, and creative storytellers, Embodied is rethinking and reimagining human-machine interaction and recently developed SocialX, a new platform that provides a way to use natural human interaction to engage with technology.
The Embodied team is behind Moxie a new robot social companion for children aged 6 to 9. According to Embodied, Moxie is “designed to help promote social, emotional, and cognitive development through everyday play-based learning and captivating content.”
To learn more about the company, visit www.embodied.com.
GuRu, founded in 2017, is a venture capital-funded start-up that’s on a mission to deliver electric power through the air at room scale and beyond, and “to truly free people and businesses from having to run wires, change batteries, plug things in or bring them to a power source.”
“And we’re doing it with the most efficient, precise and intelligent wireless power over distance system ever conceived,” the company said.
For more information, visit www.guru.inc.
MobLab, founded in 2011, is an EdTech startup focused on bringing interactive games and surveys to educational institutions across the globe, both in and out of classrooms. MobLab develops games and experiments for economics and management for high schools, colleges, and universities.
MobLab’s platform has been used in hundreds of classrooms and by tens of thousands of students, augmenting lectures with engaging and immersive activities where students learn by participating and exploring. It is available on iPhone, Android, and all browsers.
To learn more about MobLab, visit www.moblab.com.
ShadeCraft, a robotics and technology company, was founded in 2016 and aims to “improve human life outdoors through the seamless integration of industrial design and technology.”
“ShadeCraft believes in producing products that not only have an emotional connection to the consumer but solve real problems in the outdoor space,” the company said.
Visit www.shadecraft.com for more information.
The/Studio, officially The Studio Technologies, Inc., was founded in 2013 and provides a quick and easy way for companies and individuals to create high-quality custom products.
“Whether you’re looking to create custom pins , patches, socks, or other one-of-a-kind products, our online product creation tool lets you create your entire order from start to finish,” the company said.
The company added they’re building an on-demand manufacturing platform that meets the needs of the 21st century and a social media economy. The statement also said The/Studio has just closed a $10 million Series A round with a top-tier Silicon Valley venture capital company.
For more information, visit www.thestudio.com.
Tap Systems Inc. was founded in 2015 and is behind Tap, a one-handed, Bluetooth wearable keyboard that types characters on your device when you tap your fingers on any surface.
Tap lets you communicate with the world by associating various tapping combinations with each letter of the alphabet. It is easy to learn, ergonomic and fashionable.
For more information about the company and Tap, visit www.tapwithus.com.
UberMedia was founded in 2010 and provides mobile data solutions that businesses trust to solve persistent challenges. The company’s diverse suite of products process billions of social, demographic, and location signals daily for Fortune 500 companies across retail, automotive, and entertainment so they could better understand and influence modern consumers with the most accurate business decision science.
UberMedia was listed as Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies,” The Wall Street Journal’s Top “50 startups,” Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America,” and as one of Advertising Age’s “Best Places to Work.”
For more information, visit www.ubermedia.com.
These startups generally have come to Pasadena because the City has been on the frontline of significant technological advances, Kevin Carroll, an associate at Avison Young, told GlobeSt.com in an article last year.
“The tech industry is honed in on NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the leading center for robotic exploration of the solar system, and research university California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena,” Carroll said. “For a tech company to be situated in proximity to these two institutions is not only significant for recruiting, but also for being in the epicenter of an innovation hub.”
