Over 175 Startups Sourced Globally to Drive Innovation in Artificial Intelligence, Fintech, Health, and More

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Plug and Play, the global innovation platform connecting startups to industry leaders, has announced the launch of their final Silicon Valley accelerator program of 2024, closing out a year of significant progress and growth. Alongside their partners, Plug and Play sourced more than 175 startups from around the world to participate in the program, which spans 20 different industries, including enterprise and AI, fintech, and health. The cohort features founders from over 15 countries, including the United States, Canada, the UK, Germany, Japan, and more, reflecting the global reach of Plug and Play’s program.

As the last Silicon Valley program of 2024, these startups will participate in an intensive three-month accelerator, culminating at the Silicon Valley Summit, November 19-21, 2024, where they will pitch their solutions to a curated audience of investors, corporate partners, and industry leaders.

“At Plug and Play, we believe in the power of innovation to transform industries, and our global network helps us connect the right partners to the right startups to accelerate growth and success,” said Saeed Amidi, Founder and CEO of Plug and Play. “These entrepreneurs are not just pushing boundaries; they are creating solutions that address real industry needs, and we look forward to their pitches at the Silicon Valley Summit.”

Key Data from Plug and Play’s Silicon Valley Program

175+ startups accepted into the November 2024 batch55+ artificial intelligence startups in the November 2024 batch focusing on next-generation technologies160+ startups accepted into the June 2024 batch950+ startups accelerated through Plug and Play’s Silicon Valley programs since 2022

Participation in this three-month program allows startups to build their businesses through exclusive events, mentor sessions, and private dealflows, enabling them to leverage Plug and Play’s extensive network for potential pilots, proofs of concept, investments, and other key collaborations. There are no equity requirements for startups in any Plug and Play program.

“The value of Plug and Play’s accelerator program lies in its network that connects startups with leading global corporations. These connections are especially beneficial in emerging fields like AI, where access to corporate partnerships can accelerate both sales and product development,” said Anatoly Kvitnitsky, CEO & Founder of AI or Not. “Having been a part of two startups that have gone through the program, I’ve seen firsthand how it can propel a company’s trajectory and set it up for long-term success.”

For the full list of participating startups, please visit the website.

Since 2006, Plug and Play has accelerated growth and innovation for startups worldwide, supporting early-stage companies in scaling their operations and securing partnerships. The Silicon Valley program has become a hub for innovation, consistently helping startups secure pilots, proof of concepts, and investment opportunities.

The Silicon Valley Summit, held November 19-21, 2024, will be a pivotal moment for these startups as they present their solutions to key decision-makers in the tech ecosystem. This exclusive event will feature cutting-edge innovations across industries, positioning these startups for success in the global marketplace.

Plug and Play invites the media to follow the journey of these startups through the final accelerator batch of the year and attend the Silicon Valley Summit. To schedule interviews with the Plug and Play team or founders, cover the summit, or request additional information, please contact Jacky Tsang at press@pnptc.com.

Visit the website for more information about the Silicon Valley Summit.

A press kit with photos showcasing the program and events, video clips from previous summits, and key information about the event is available.

About Plug and Play
Plug and Play is the leading innovation platform, connecting startups, corporations, venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we’re present in 60+ locations. We also organize startup acceleration programs and have built an in-house VC arm to drive innovation across multiple industries where we’ve invested in hundreds of successful companies including Dropbox, Guardant Health, Honey, Lending Club, N26, PayPal, and Einride. For more information, visit https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/. 

Media Contact
Jacky Tsang
Senior Communications & PR Associate
press@pnptc.com 

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SOURCE Plug and Play

Ollie Will Harness New Data for Various Industry Enhancements – Defined As The Foodback Loop™ – Including Recipe Refinement and Development, Advanced Health Screenings, Weight Management, and More

NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Ollie, an industry-leading subscription fresh dog food company dedicated to helping dogs thrive, announces the acquisition of DIG Labs, an AI-powered diagnostic company providing real-time image-based pet health screenings across stool, weight management, skin and coat, dental care, and more. In tandem, Ollie introduces the rollout of its new Foodback Loop™, a revolutionary, closed-loop, and proprietary process that leverages over 20 million first-party data points–and counting–to improve product development, recipe formulation, and feeding algorithms, ultimately leading to healthier dogs. As part of the acquisition, DIG Labs co-founder Tara Zedayko joins the Ollie team serving as Chief Scientific Officer where she will lead the Foodback Loop initiative, specifically science, research, product development, and Ollie’s proprietary portioning and recommendation algorithms.

Last fall, Ollie partnered with DIG Labs to launch free app-enabled Health Screenings, which prompted members to submit photos to receive expert analysis and guidance within 24 hours about their dog’s digestion, weight, skin and coat, and oral health. These screenings, having been enormously well-received by the Ollie community, prompted interest in the acquisition of DIG Labs and have become an integral part of the Ollie member experience. Since introducing additional Health Screening benefits over the last year, 89% of members strongly agree that screenings are valuable features in their Ollie membership, while 86% of members strongly agree that Ollie health screenings give them more confidence in their decision to feed Ollie.1 With this core technology in-house, Ollie is building world-class machine learning models and AI applications to deliver a lasting impact for dogs across health screenings, food R&D, recipe improvements, and evolutions to Ollie’s portion-feeding algorithms.

Leveraging millions of data points, Ollie is capturing the most real-time pet-level data and using it to design and improve its recipes for maximum effectiveness, turning unique learnings into personalized experiences that recommend the right food and portions for each dog, better serving Ollie members individually and collectively. Through direct relationships with Ollie members, their pet-level data, and Ollie’s proprietary Foodback Loop research and development process, Ollie empowers parents to confidently feed their dogs the right food and exact portions, giving dogs a much-needed voice in their healthcare. The Ollie consumer will see improvements to their membership experience like portion control, diet transition screenings, and recipe development and refinement, and will be introduced to new initiatives including weight programs, customized experiences for puppies, recipe optimization for ideal stool health, and more.

Initial learnings from Ollie’s Foodback Loop have yielded significant findings. Of note, only 58% of dogs have healthy stool before joining Ollie, however, according to Ollie Digestion Screening results, 75% of dogs attain healthy stool just 1-2 weeks after feeding Ollie. In regards to weight, Ollie has determined that dog parents tend to underestimate their dog’s need for weight management support. Ollie Weight Screening results have shown that dogs are 18% more likely to be overweight than dog parents think and 28% less likely to be underweight than dog parents think. Overall results from the program show that all five of Ollie’s Fresh Plans increase healthy weight scores for dogs by 10-12% within the first few weeks of feeding Ollie. Insights like these have already helped Ollie prioritize its product roadmap, including digitizing healthy weight programs to help dogs achieve and maintain ideal weight and identifying the biggest opportunities to iterate upon its food recipes to create the optimal experience for dogs.

“Pet parent demographics are shifting to younger generations, and with the acquisition of DIG Labs, we are meeting their demand for tech-enabled and personalized products to improve the quality of life for their pets and themselves,” explains Nick Stafford, Ollie CEO. We are the only pet food company creating a direct data-led link between what we are feeding our dogs and their health outcomes through individual pet data on stool, weight, skin and coat, and teeth and gums”.

Since Ollie’s pioneering start in 2016, the business has been determined to help pet parents see the benefits of healthy, human-grade fresh pet food so that every dog can receive the nutrition and care they deserve. Ollie’s vet professionals have helped more than 25,000 dogs with health screenings while utilizing AI classification models trained with over 100,000 images to quickly evaluate a dog’s health based on its skin, coat, stool, dental, and weight. The global pet industry is poised to grow at a healthy rate, and Ollie is growing at a rate 10x the industry average.2 Following the acquisition of DIG Labs and its new data-driven capabilities, Ollie will continue expanding upon its brand mission by helping members provide the individualized love and care each dog deserves.

“We are thrilled to join Ollie to help carry our shared vision forward, stewarding new applications of our technology to empower people with greater insights about their pets’ health,” said DIG Labs co-founder and Ollie Chief Scientific Officer, Tara Zedayko. “We look forward to applying these technologies to improve pet health and improve their quality of life, which is so significantly impacted by their diet.”

About Ollie
Ollie believes our pups deserve better than the poor quality, one-size-fits-all pet food pet parents have been unknowingly feeding their pups for years. That’s why we made it our mission to provide the highest quality, human-grade food in personalized portions that lead to lean, healthy, happy pups and longer, more active lives. Our recipes are developed by experts in pets, food science, and vet nutritionists – and Ollie uses pet parent feedback and diagnostic data from hundreds of thousands of their dogs to continuously improve our formulations and deliver the healthiest outcomes. 
Follow Ollie on Instagram @ollie or visit www.myollie.com.

About Ollie Health Screenings

https://www.myollie.com/health-screenings/https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ollie-human-grade-dog-food/id1614301164

About DIG Labs
DIG Labs is an AI-enabled technology startup co-founded by Tara Zedayko and Jessica Chu to bring world-class image-based machine learning models and AI applications to caregivers in pet care and human health. DIG Labs enables real-time insights across research, clinical, operational, and consumer use cases. Most recently, DIG Labs partnered with some of the world’s leading pet care and baby care brands to provide its patented real-time image analysis tools for real-time health insights and action plans.

Media Contact: ollie@laruepr.com

1 Survey statistics are from April 2024. Ollie distributes membership satisfaction surveys on an ongoing basis every three months.

2 https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/pet-care-market-104749

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SOURCE Ollie

BRIDGEWATER, N.J., Oct. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — PictorLabs, a leader in AI-powered virtual staining technology, and Hamamatsu Photonics, a renowned provider of whole slide imaging systems, are excited to announce a strategic partnership to develop cutting-edge applications to advance virtual staining in routine laboratory practices.

Innovations with AI and advanced imaging

PictorLabs, a rapidly growing startup spun off from the UCLA Colleges of Engineering and Medicine, has been at the forefront of the digital transformation of histopathology. By leveraging AI-powered algorithms, PictorLabs eliminates the need for toxic reagents while significantly reducing turnaround times when compared to traditional chemical stain results. With PictorLabs technology and the ability to run multiple stains on a single slide, clinicians and researchers will be able to access digitally stained slides in minutes, enabling faster experiments, less tissue consumption, and better-informed insights.

Hamamatsu Corporation is the North American subsidiary of Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. (Japan), a leading manufacturer of devices for the generation and measurement of infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. Known for its NanoZoomer series of whole slide scanners, Hamamatsu has been a pivotal player in advancing digital pathology. NanoZoomer systems are renowned for their reproducibility and reliability, making them a trusted choice for laboratories worldwide.

The collaboration between PictorLabs and Hamamatsu Photonics aims to explore the growing demand for efficient, scalable digital pathology solutions that can ultimately streamline the workflows and accelerate the adoption of digital pathology at an enterprise scale.

Quotes

“This partnership marks a significant milestone in the digital transformation of pathology,” said Yair Rivenson, CEO, CTO & Co-Founder of PictorLabs. “By combining our AI-powered virtual staining technology with Hamamatsu’s state-of-the-art imaging systems, we are poised to revolutionize the way laboratories approach histopathology.”

“As we look into the future of pathology, we aim to explore areas that not only hold potential but also showcase the innovative spirit of Hamamatsu. We are excited to explore these possibilities with Pictor Labs,” said Earl Hergert, President/CEO at Hamamatsu Corporation.

About Hamamatsu Corporation
Hamamatsu Corporation is the North American subsidiary of Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. (Japan), a leading manufacturer of devices for the generation and measurement of infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. These devices include photodiodes, silicon photomultipliers, photomultiplier tubes, scientific light sources, infrared detectors, image sensors, spectrometers, cameras, and whole slide imaging systems. The parent company is dedicated to the advancement of photonics through extensive research. This corporate philosophy results in state-of-the-art products which are used throughout the world in scientific, industrial, and commercial applications. For more information, visit www.hamamatsu.com.

About Pictor Labs

PictorLabs is a software company that is transforming the practice of histopathology with AI-powered virtual staining. Based in Los Angeles and spun off from the UCLA Colleges of Engineering and Medicine, PictorLabs is a venture-backed startup leading the digital transformation of histological staining. By delivering digitally stained slides in minutes, PictorLabs will enable faster results with better insights for research, pharma, and clinical applications, ultimately improving histopathology operations and outcomes. For more information about PictorLabs and its AI-powered virtual staining technology, please visit www.pictorlabs.ai.

Information furnished by Hamamatsu Corporation is believed to be reliable. However, no responsibility is assumed for possible inaccuracies or omissions. Specifications are subject to change without notice.

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SOURCE Hamamatsu Corporation