In its latest camp, VC and accelerator Betaworks focused on startups building native applications enabled by AI.
The program was first announced in May. Explaining this focus, managing partner John Borthwick said at the time that while things like AI chatbots and writing assistants exist, “we are still not living in the future we imagine. “No,” he wrote.
In other words, despite advances in AI technology, Borthwick said: “When end users like us are faced with a task or project, we believe we can do it faster, better, and smarter by leveraging the power of off-the-shelf tools: AI.” There is an incredibly limited amount of what is available to us at any given moment. ”
Naturally, Betaworks hopes campers can change this. The camp is a 12-week themed program in which each participating startup receives $500,000 from a syndicate of investors. The latest program culminates with Demo Day on Wednesday.
Betaworks partner (and former TechCrunch associate editor) Jordan Crook said accepted companies will ultimately fall into three broad categories: “agency” B2B, personalized software, and hardware-enabled AI. Ta.
The startup companies are:
Unternet is working to break the “dumb square” of the web, which forces users to open tab after tab to perform tasks like comparison shopping. We are building new forms of web applications that AI can understand and use, and web clients that can turn user intent into actions within these “web applets.”
Ursula constructs an artificially living character that has emotions, needs experience, forms memories, and exhibits unique behavioral patterns. Its first work is a child companion, also called Ursula.
ESAI helps students create personal stories for college applications and more. The company says it does this in an ethical way by automating the process of helping students draw connections between their experiences and turn those experiences into compelling stories.
Autoplay creates AI agents that help users interact with software in real-time, allowing businesses to increase product adoption and reduce churn. Use self-driving technology that learns software and integrates with session replay databases to understand user intent.
Alice Camera provides an AI-native mirrorless camera that attaches to users’ phones, making it easy to capture professional-quality content. Automate various aspects of camera functionality and streamline post-production.
Dessn created a Chrome extension that overlays the live app and allows product designers to make changes. AI writes code and pushes it directly to your codebase, and developers approve the code before publishing it.
Sarama has developed a dog collar that analyzes dog vocalizations to help owners better understand their pets’ emotional and physical needs. Both of its founders are involved in animal communication research.
Tato simplifies complex IT projects by automatically documenting interactions such as meetings, emails, documents, and project management apps, and providing insight into those interactions to the right people on your team.
Hopscotch Labs built an app called BeeBot that powers on when you put on your AirPods or headphones and provides information about nearby places, people, and events as you walk. Founders include Dennis Crowley of Foursquare.
