2021 Jones + Foster Accelerator Cohort Revealed
An incredible opportunity awaits the seven early-stage startups accepted into the 2021 cohort of the Jones + Foster Accelerator at the University of Washington. The teams (detailed below) used grit and savvy to emerge from a year of challenges into a position of strength. Now, they must meet six months of measurable goals to receive up to $25,000 in follow-on funding from the program hosted by the Foster School’s Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship. Along the way, they will receive mentorship from established entrepreneurs and investors from across the region.
“Ideas do not develop in a vacuum and neither do successfully-launched startups,” said Amy Sallin, director of the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship. “We’re confident this group has the drive to follow in the footsteps of previous cohorts and be impactful for years to come.”
The 2021 Jones + Foster Accelerator Cohort
Afterlife Listings
Afterlife Listings is bringing the cemetery industry into the 21st century with the first platform for online burial plot transactions, cemetery management, and financing.
Ananta
Ananta is developing an innovative bioreactor to grow T-cells 50 times faster for cancer immunotherapy treatments with the greater vision of creating limitless solutions for cell therapies.
LifeAt
LifeAt created a next-gen virtual experience for higher education students and administrators to boost productivity, engagement, and community.
Novoloom
Novoloom aims to be “the HelloFresh” for clothing by empowering anyone to make their own bespoke garments. Their sew-by-numbers approach makes quality garment tailoring fun and intuitive
Puget Buoy
Puget Buoy developed innovations in experimental fishing gear designed to prevent whale entanglements and reduce lost fishing gear for the improved health and sustainability of the seafood economy and ocean fisheries.
Sound Sustainability
Sound Sustainability aims to bring an audiologist’s office into the palm of your hand by improving hearing health for everyone through education, engagement, and increased access.
Violett
Violett is a health technology startup developing UVC disinfecting products to help keep workers, essential or otherwise, safe while doing their jobs and interacting with their teams.
Past Success on Display
The 2021 cohort brings with it a strong resume of success from their days as students. Here’s a snapshot: Afterlife Listings won the grand prize at the 2021 Dempsey Startup Competition. Ananta won the third-place prize at the 2021 Dempsey Startup. LifeAt was a Sweet 16 Round finalist in the 2021 Dempsey Startup and Novoloom was a finalist in the 2021 Alaska Airlines Environmental Innovation Challenge (EIC) and completed the HCDE capstone. Puget Buoy won second place and the best sustainable business prize in the 2021 Dempsey Startup, the grand prize in the 2021 EIC, the top prize in the 2021 Science and Technology Showcase (STS), and previously participated in the Washington Maritime Blue Innovator Accelerator in Seattle. Sound Sustainability also won the grand prize at the 2021 Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge and was a Sweet 16 finalist in the Dempsey Startup.
These teams will look to follow in the footsteps of the 69 startups who previously earned awards through the accelerator. Including the 2020 cohort, 58 are still in business today—harnessing TikTok to build a huge base of users, improving the development of pharmaceutical drugs, working on new technology to make face masks even more protective, being named to Forbes 30 under 30 by reducing wasted medication, disrupting the knitting world, partnering with the NFL, empowering thousands of young girls, creating real-time air quality analysis, and opening a chocolate factory at Pike Place Market while lifting up the spirits of healthcare workers on the front lines.
The program is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Herbert B. Jones Foundation, program incentives like the McAleer Early Start Fund, and supporters of the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship. A special thank you also goes out to the 45+ mentors who dedicate their valuable time to helping grow the startup ecosystem in Seattle.
For more details on the Jones + Foster Accelerator, please visit startup.uw.edu, or contact the Buerk Center at [email protected].
