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Startups offered two-minute pitches at MIT\u2019s Stata Center during the first Boston Tech Week, sponsored by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.Aaron Pressman<\/p>\n\u201cWe saw the gig economy [rise] over the last 10 years,\u201d said Jason Syversen, founder and chief executive at SportsVisio, a startup that analyzes amateur sports events with AI. \u201cNext we\u2019re going to see the entrepreneurship economy, because the barriers to entry to starting a business and the amount of capital required have just been reduced by orders of magnitude,\u201d he said at a Wednesday morning event at the offices of startup backer Venture Lane in downtown Boston. <\/p>\n
Kim Walsh, an early employee at HubSpot, said she was working on a health care app last year when a software developer told her it would cost $200,000 and take six months to code. Instead, she used AI tools from Swedish AI coding firm Lovable to build a working prototype in a few days. The experience convinced her to join Lovable\u2019s sales team at its new office in Boston.<\/p>\n
Lior Div, cofounder and chief executive of cybersecurity firm 7AI, said no human at his company has written a line of software code in months and people in various roles across the company are writing their own apps. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe lines are blending,\u201d Div said at an event on Tuesday held in the three-story atrium of Klaviyo\u2019s financial district headquarters. \u201cOur head of product is writing software, the lady that\u2019s responsible for customer success, she\u2019s writing software.\u201d <\/p>\n
An event Tuesday night at MIT\u2019s Stata Center auditorium attracted dozens of investors filling the red cushioned seats to hear short pitches from startups backed by TNT, an accelerator for early stage companies coming out of Harvard and MIT. Most were fueled by AI.<\/p>\n
Startups offered two-minute pitches at MIT\u2019s Stata Center during the first Boston Tech Week, sponsored by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.Aaron Pressman<\/p>\n
Edmond Douglass, founder and chief executive of Lupa Robotics, bounded on stage in a blue baseball cap to pitch how his startup is collecting data from humans performing physical tasks in order to train AI models to operate robots.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe future of robotics will not be won by the company that builds one perfect robot,\u201d Douglass, who dropped out of Harvard to work on his startup, said. \u201cThe future will be won by the company that makes intelligence portable across every robot and builds the universal platform for physical intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n
After watching Douglass, I grabbed an Uber and crossed the Charles River to see Daniel Lee, cofounder of wearable startup Lumia, making his pitch in a more formal setting \u2014 the private dining room of French fine dining restaurant Rochambeau in the Back Bay. <\/p>\n
After a dinner that featured steak frites and crispy duck breast, Lee showed off his company\u2019s $249 sensor-laden earrings that can measure body temperature, blood flow, and other health metrics more accurately (he claims) than wrist-based wearables. <\/p>\n
Lee wore Lumia\u2019s sensor on an ear cuff, since he doesn\u2019t have pierced ears. But he\u2019s promised coworkers he\u2019ll pierce his ears after the company achieves its next revenue milestone. \u201cIt\u2019s coming soon, really soon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Still, as AI makes it easier than ever to start a company, startups will have to emphasize other aspects beyond software features to stand out, Div noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we\u2019re talking about the level of service, consistency, the founder vision, the way that [we] are interacting internally and with customers,\u201d he said of 7AI. <\/p>\n
The strategy reminded him of how the top restaurants stand out to win Michelin stars. \u201cSo now we\u2019re building a three-star Michelin cyber company,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a mindset that\u2019s not in the tech world.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\ud83d\ude97 Mass. rideshare drivers just became first in nation to unionize after yearslong push. Read more from Globe contributor Bryan Hecht.<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udcbc Boston cybersecurity startup 7AI is going on a hiring binge. Read more from tech reporter Aaron Pressman.<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83c\udfdb\ufe0f R.I. attorney general sues Kalshi, Polymarket alleging prediction market operators skirted sports betting laws. Read more from Rhode Island reporter Christopher Gavin.<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83c\udfe6 AI banking startup Catena Labs<\/a> in Boston raised $30 million<\/a> in a deal led by a16z crypto and Acrew Capital and including Breyer Capital, General Catalyst, and IDG Capital.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udda8\ufe0f 3D-printing company Markforged<\/a> in Waltham is being acquired by Minnesota-based Stratasys for $42.5 million<\/a> from Nano Dimension, headquartered in Israel. Nano bought MarkForged for $116 million last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcda Edtech company Skillsoft<\/a> in Boston is selling its instructor-led training business to a unit of private equity firm Enduring Ventures for an initial payment of $10 million<\/a> plus possible future additional payments.<\/p>\n \u26a1 Energy equipment maker GE Vernova<\/a> in Cambridge is acquiring<\/a> Canada-based Robotech Automation. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.<\/p>\n \ud83e\ude7a Health tech company Outcomes4Me<\/a> in Boston acquired<\/a> Geno.Me based in Milwaukee and Realyze Intelligence in Pittsburgh. Terms of the deals were not disclosed. <\/p>\n \ud83d\udc4b Quantum computing software firm Zapata Quantum in Boston said two of its cofounders had rejoined. Zapata hired Yudong Cao<\/a>, former head of quantum at BCG X, as chief technology officer and Jonathan Olson<\/a> as vice president of strategy and operations. <\/p>\n \ud83d\udcdd Edtech company Skillsoft in Boston hired Ron Kisling<\/a> as chief financial officer. Kisling previously was CFO at Fastly and Fitbit. Current CFO John Frederick is retiring.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfd8\ufe0f Real estate tech firm Tour24 in Boston hired Cara Athmann<\/a> as chief product officer. Athmann previously worked at Cardinal Group Companies, RevGen Partners, and AIMCO Communities.<\/p>\n \u271d\ufe0f In a sweeping manifesto, Pope Leo XIV called for robust regulation of artificial intelligence<\/a> and for its developers to work for the common good rather than profit.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udccd Chicago-based communications tech company Motorola Solutions opened an AI and resilience software hub<\/a> in Boston.<\/p>\n How I Choose Which Cloudflare Employees to Replace With AI<\/a> (Wall Street Journal)<\/p>\n I wore Google\u2019s Fitbit Air for a week, and it gives the Whoop a serious run for its money<\/a> (ZDNet)<\/p>\n AI Agents Plunged the Tech World Into Chaos. Here\u2019s Exactly How That Happened<\/a> (Wired)<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc4b Thanks for reading. We\u2019ll be will be back next Wednesday. <\/p>\n \u2753 Have a tip? Email Aaron at aaron.pressman@globe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u270d\ud83c\udffc If someone sent you this newsletter, you can sign up for your own copy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Aaron Pressman can be reached at aaron.pressman@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @ampressman<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GT2FUJQFFJGIZL2YPE2TSVALGI.png\")
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