Yale, Stanford grads on mission to replace Google’s inbox

Curated by our data science wizards who use their AI spellbook to source startups early, here’s a batch of brilliant founding teams out of the many we have up our sleeves.

We’ve got tech and agriculture pros mixing genomics and robotics to improve agriculture. A client services pundit cooking a geo-expansion business for companies craving alternatives to the Bay Area–hush hush. Stanford and Yale grads building a replacement to Google’s inbox.

A roundup of some of the coolest startups is coming your way!

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Pattern Ag: Leveraging Genomics to Make Soils Profitable

Ever wondered what robots and technology might do to the future of agriculture? Well, you’re about to find out. Pattern Ag harnesses the power of genomics, robotics and data to improve agriculture and soil. The California-based startup, founded in 2018, is collaborating with experts in the science of soil management and progressive farmers to start prototypes of their genomic and robotic solutions.

We’re about to witness a future where technology is used to foster a green revolution. Or one where technology falls in the wrong hands and a breed of robotic Venus flytraps takes over the world. Poison Ivy would be proud.  

Founding Team

This team combines the best of tech and science, with solid expertise in agriculture, technology and robotics. Co-founder Merritt Jenkins, is a technology whiz who founded Ceres Robotics, which recycles secondhand robotic systems into cutting-edge equipment.

An advocate for sustainability, Merritt designed rooftop water tank support in India to provide access to clean water in slums. He holds an MA in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. In college, Merritt was part of The Big Green Bus, a student-run advocacy group travelling around the country on a vegetable-oil powered bus to raise awareness on climate change. We found this video of Merritt’s younger-self talking about this initiative.

A skillful programmer with experience in software development and data analysis, co-founder Adam Kerr, builds web technologies in the digital agriculture industry. He holds a BA in Computer Science from the University of Michigan. Both Adam and fellow co-founder and Head of Product, Cameron Norgate, worked at The Climate Corporation. Cameron also worked at Intuit, Francisco Partners, and Bain & Company. He has a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario. In his spare time, Cameron likes to build things and hack new languages.

Head of Genomics Operations, Maritza Duarte, is the team’s science head, with expertise in genomics, molecular cloning and agriculture biotechnology. She is former Scientist at Zymergen Inc. and Radiant Genomics. She was also a Research Associate at Aurora Algae Inc, DuPont Pioneer, UC Berkeley and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Maritza published in several scientific journals, and she has a BS in Biology from Seattle University.

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BeyondHQ: Expanding Beyond the Bay Area

Where should we move next? Where can we find the best talent? How do we support distributed local teams and bridge cultural gaps? BeyondHQ, founded in 2018 in San Francisco, is trying to provide an alternative to saturated and overly expensive business hubs such as the Bay Area. Relieving companies of the expansion nightmare, BeyondHQ manages expansion operations, including talent sourcing, on-boarding, and real estate.

Founding Team

Founder and CEO Madhu Chamarty believes in the power of distributed teams. “Growing up, my parents (both doctors) traveled around the world for work. My family has been a growing distributed team, continuously adapting and thriving,” he writes. Madhu is former Director of Enterprise Client Services at Adify, an advertising software platform with a USD $300 million exit. He also led and founded the Client Services team at Dynamic Signal. This Stanford MS holder spent his undergrad years studying Maths and Engineering at Dublin’s Trinity College, where he must have been surrounded by more tourists than students especially at the Book of Kells.

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Monolist: Taskify in One Place

It’s morning. You log into your inbox and BAM! You’re caught in a never-ending loop of unfinished business, work emails, and pending tasks. Next thing you know, dozens of tabs are open and you don’t even know what is what anymore.

Monolist is a global inbox backed with productivity tools like sending emails, assigning tasks, and setting reminders. The San Francisco-based startup, founded in 2018,  helps teams perform tasks with maximum efficiency without switching tabs or context.

Founding Team

With a career track in tech product management and software engineering, this team joined forces to brew what might become “Google inbox replacement.” Scott White, was Senior Product Manager at both Instacart and Wealthfront Inc. He also drove user growth for consumer and enterprise products at Dropbox.

A pundit in all things product, Scott discusses how a product manager is the compass that defines a product’s vision and the “only non-executive with all the answers.” He adds, “As PM, you eat stress so the rest of the team can focus on designing and building products that will delight your customer.” Scott holds a BA in Economics from Stanford University. He is a certified rock climbing instructor, a Liverpool fan and he appreciates comfortable footwear.

Akshay Nathan holds a BS in Computer Science and Economics from Yale University. Akshay worked as an Engineer at Wealthfront Inc. with fellow co-founder Jake Marsh. Jake is a full-stack product Engineer and a passionate coder, with a BSs in Computer Science and Economics from the University of Maine. On June 1st, 2015, he was seen attempting to catch the Hogwarts Express. You could tell by the color of his scarf that he’s a Slytherin. Tell everyone you know!

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From genomics to geo expansion to productivity, this is what's been bubbling in our AI cauldron of rising startups this week. Check us out next issue for more ravishing recipes of spell-binding founding teams!

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How do we shortlist companies?

Aingel’s Sorcerer is designed to help you discover great startups early.

Here is how we do it in a nutshell. First, we use different sources and automated tools to detect new startups early. Then, we analyze and filter for startups that score high on our proprietary predictive algorithm. The algo was developed at NYU by Aingel’s co-founders.

Founding teams data include educational background, work history, startup experience and personality. We deduce character traits using AI from founders’ digital footprint. We also analyze aggregate team experience and composition.

The list above is further curated after analyzing types of startups to make sure they are VC-friendly. Startups do not pay to be listed.

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