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Media Lab Spinoffs

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Habib Haddad

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Article Research

Supporting mission-driven space innovation, for Earth and beyond

Aurelia Institute serves as a research lab, an education and outreach center, and a policy hub for the space industry.
Article Research

Mentra Raises $8 Million To Launch Open-Source OS For Smart Glasses

By Charlie FinkSan Francisco-based startup Mentra has raised $8 million to launch MentraOS 2.0, an open-source operating system designed sp…
Article Research

Guardian Ag’s crop-spraying drone is replacing dangerous pilot missions

Guardian Ag’s autonomous crop-spraying drones make farming safer and more efficient, backed by MIT’s E14 Fund and strong grower demand.
Article Research

TED: How to build in space for life on Earth

At TED2025, alum Ariel Ekblaw unveiled TESSERAE—self-assembling space habitats using magnetized tiles to build in microgravity.
Post People

Jiani Zeng named to Inc.’s Female Founders 500 list for 2025

Butlr co-founder Jiani Zeng recognized as one of Inc.’s top 500 female founders redefining the future of business.
Article Research

Startup helps people fall asleep by aligning audio signals with brainwaves

Elemind, founded by researchers from MIT, has developed a headband that uses acoustic stimulation to move people into a sleep state.
Article Research

Engineers 3D print sturdy glass bricks for building structures

The interlocking bricks, which can be repurposed many times over, can withstand similar pressures as their concrete counterparts.
Article Research

Innovative mouth-based touchpad enables people living with paralysis to interact with computers

Today Vega is the co-founder and CEO of Augmental.
Article Research

Creating smart buildings with privacy-first sensors

Butlr, founded by former Media Lab researchers, uses insights from thermal sensors to make buildings safe and efficient.
Post Research

Fast Company's 2024 Next Big Things in Tech: Aurelia Institute

They were honored in the Small and Mighty: Fewer Than 100 Employees category.
Post Research

Ariel Ekblaw among 2024 cohort of Dial Fellows

The fellowship provides resources to help extend the impact of her mission to democratize access to space.
Post Research

Butlr and Illuminate longlisted in Dezeen Awards 2024

The longlisted projects are by studios located across 32 different countries.
Post Research

IAP 2025

An evolving list of IAP activities hosted by members of the Media Lab community in collaboration with other MIT entities during 2025.
Post Research

TIME's Best Inventions of 2024: Media Lab honorees

The companies were selected in the following categories: Consumer Electronics, Manufacturing + Materials, Agriculture, and Medical Care.
Article Research

Guitar Hero… on the oscilloscope!

MIT EECS student Andi Qu re-created the classic video game—developed by Media Lab spinoff Harmonix—using an oscilloscope as the display.
Article Research

From NASA to MIT to Formlabs

MIT alum Audrey Chen talks to MIT News about her career, including joining Media Lab spinoff Formlabs as a project manager.
Article Research

Startup’s displays engineer light to create immersive experiences without the headsets

“We are adding a new layer of control between the world of computers and what your eyes see,” says Barmak Heshmat, co-founder of Brelyon
Post Research

Spinoff Xander secures $1.41 million in seed funding

Xander, a Media Lab spinoff company dedicated to enhancing communication for individuals with hearing challenges, has successfully complete…
Gallery Research

MIT Community Summer Softball: The Media Labradoodles

Read more about this program via this blog post!
Post Research

MIT Community Summer Softball (MITCSS) 2024: The Media Labradoodles

The team consisted of Media Lab community members from both academic + admin groups, led by co-captains Sarah Beckmann + Candido Monteiro
Post Research

The Media Lab at the 2024 Core77 Design Awards

Congratulations to the winners and honorees of the 2024 Core77 Design Awards!
Article Research

Mouth-based touchpad enables people living with paralysis to interact with computers

The startup Augmental allows users to operate phones and other devices using their tongue, mouth, and head gestures.
Article Research

Ten important humans behind Boston’s AI revolution

The list includes Habib Haddad, founding managing partner of the E14 Fund, and Rana el Kaliouby, co-founder and CEO of Affectiva.
Post Research

Media Lab Spinoffs make Fast Company's 2024 World's Most Innovative Companies list

The following spinoffs were recognized in different industry sectors.
Article Research

How Under 30 company Augmental is creating tongue-controlled mouse pads–with just over $1 million in funding

Augmental co-founders have been recognized in the Social Impact category of the 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Post Research

Augmental wins Best Pitch at CES 2024

Media Lab spinoff Augmental was recognized for their work on the MouthPad^, a smart oral splint.
Post Research

IAP 2024

An evolving list of IAP activities hosted by members of the Media Lab community in collaboration with other MIT departments during 2024.
Post Research

Collective Echos at Ars Electronica Festival 2023

Human-AI Systems for Dialogue and Listening
Post Research

Brelyon wins Optica's 2023 Paul F. Forman Team Engineering Excellence Award

The award recognizes technical achievements and contributions to society in the field of optical engineering.
Post Research

Media Lab alums among honorees for Mozilla's Rise 25 Awards

Media Lab alums, Rob Morris (Affective Computing) and J. Nathan Matias (Civic Media), are among 25 honorees for Mozilla's Rise 25 awards.
Article Research

Dr. Mary Lou Jepsen: Curing cancer and human telepathy

Media Lab alum and former professor Mary Lou Jepsen talks to Danielle Newnham about her journey and inspirations.
Post Research

Fast Company's 2023 Innovation by Design Awards: Media Lab Honorees

Congratulations to the Media Lab community members and projects honored in Fast Company's 2023 Innovation by Design Awards!
Article Research

A clean alternative to one of the world’s most common ingredients

MIT spinoff C16 Biosciences, whose founders met in the Media Lab's Revolutionary Ventures course, has developed an alternative to palm oil,
Post Research

Rana El Kaliouby named to 2023 USA Eisenhower Fellows

Former Labber Rana El Kaliouby has been named to the 2023 USA Eisenhower Fellows and hopes to explore AI investment while on fellowship.
Article Research

Want to control your electronics with your tongue? This company is making that happen

Media Lab alum Tomás Vega talks to ZDNet about MouthPad, a Bluetooth-enabled mouthpiece that enables hands-free control of digital devices.
Article Research

MIT graduate develops hands-free tongue-controlled computer interface

7NEWS talks to Fluid Interfaces alum Tomás Vega and his Augmental co-founder Corten Singer about their bluetooth-enabled mouthpiece.
Post Research

Rosalind Picard and Mary Lou Jepsen among 2022 Forbes 50 Over 50 honorees

Rosalind Picard and Media Lab alum, Mary Lou Jepsen, make the 2022 Forbes 50 Over 50: Entrepreneurs list.
Article Research

The company behind this bottle wants to upend the Earth-destroying, $60 billion palm oil business

Shara Ticku, CEO of MIT spinoff C16 Biosciences, whose founders met in the Media Lab's Revolutionary Ventures class, talks to Fast Company.
Post Research

Augmental Tech among 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 honorees

Fluid Interfaces alum Tomás Vega and his Augmental Tech co-founder Corten Singer were recognized in the Social Impact category.
Post Research

MouthPad^ recognized at Cannes Lions Awards 2023

The MouthPad^ received the Grand Prix prize in the Innovation category and Silver in the Health + Wellness category.
Post Research

MouthPad^ honored at Core77 Design Awards 2023

The MouthPad^ has been honored as the Winner of the Emerging Technologies Award and as a Runner Up for the Design for Social Impact Award!
Post Research

Fast Company's 2023 World-Changing Ideas Awards: Media Lab Honorees

A number of Media Lab and MIT projects and spinoffs were recognized.
Article Research

The Research Powering Humanity’s First Space Civilization with Ariel Ekblaw

On StarTalk, Dr. Ariel Ekblaw talks about her work with the Media Lab’s Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) and the Aurelia Institute.
Article Research

Ariel Ekblaw Wants To Go to Space So We Can Save Earth

Media Lab's Ariel Ekblaw talks to Inverse about the questions and the philosophies that drive her work with SEI and the Aurelia Institute.
Article Research

Meet mouthpad^, a mouthpiece with trackpad that fully controls devices using tongue

Spinoff Augmental announces The MouthPad^, a custom-fit 3D-printed mouthpiece that lets users control digital devices hands-free.
Article Research

Startup Creates Mouthpiece for Controlling Devices with Your Tongue

The device converts the user's tongue position and pressure into cursor actions by processing signals through a machine-learning algorithm.
Article Research

Brewing Palm Oil from Yeast

Slice of MIT profiles David Heller, co-founder of C16 Biosciences and producer of an environmentally friendly palm oil substitute.
Post Research

MIT spinoffs listed among Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies 2023

Media Lab spinoff Sourcemap and MIT spinoff Overjet have been listed among Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies for 2023.
Article Research

Assistive tech gains at CES in Las Vegas

Spinoff Xander, founded by alum Alex Westner, provides real-time captions to help users with hearing loss follow in-person conversations.
Article Research

Using robotics to supercharge health care

Spinoff Vecna Technologies uses a wide range of robotic and digital technologies to help solve a variety of issues in healthcare.
Article Research

Learning Beautiful brings MIT’s “mind and hand” ethos to early childhood education

Spinoff Learning Beautiful develops education materials that encourage kids to explore computer science concepts through physical learning.
Article Research

E Ink’s latest color displays have me dreaming of electronic paper magazines

Media Lab spinoff E Ink’s new generation of color displays were introduced at CES 2023.
Post Research

Spinoff Xander raises $1.4 million in pre-seed funding

Xander plans to launch its first product, XanderGlasses, designed for people with hearing loss or auditory processing challenges.
Article Research

Data observability startup Metaplane lands investment from YC, others

Media Lab spinoff Metaplane, co-founded by alum Kevin Hu, recently closed an $8.4 million seed funding round.
Article Research

MIT Media Lab graduates share their entrepreneurial journey during 2022 Newhall Lecture

Alumni Nan-Wei Gong and Anirudh Sharma will deliver the 2022 C. Ashton Newhall Endowed Lecture at Elon University.
Post Research

Media Lab spinoff Xander honored at CES 2023

Co-founded by Media Lab alum Alex Westner, Xander will introduce its first product, XanderGlasses, at CES 2023.
Article Research

Palm oil is in almost everything, and it’s devastating rainforests. This Bill Gates-backed company used microbes to create an alternative

C16 Biosciences, whose founders met in the Media Lab's Revolutionary Ventures course, is producing a substitute for palm oil.
Article Research

Labby wants to make milk healthier and cows happier with better sensors

Media Lab spinoff Labby is developing tools to improve the quality of milk and the health of dairy cows.
Post Research

IAP 2023

An evolving list of IAP activities hosted by members of the Media Lab community in collaboration with other MIT departments this year.
Article Research

Butlr lands new cash to put people-detecting sensors in the office

Media Lab spinoff Butlr, co-founded by Honghao Deng and Jiani Zeng, raises $20 million in a Series A funding round.
Article Research

Brelyon secures $15 million for Ultra Reality immersive technology

Media Lab spinoff Brelyon has raised $15 million in Series A financing to accelerate development of headset-free immersive displays.
Post Research

Sourcemap named as one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2022

Sourcemap is a Media Lab spinoff founded by Leo Bonanni, an alum of the Tangible Media group.
Post Research

Spinoff Graviky Labs unveils collaboration with Johnnie Walker and Bulletproof

The “Keep Walking City Collection" features art that uses Graviky Lab's AIR-INK to evoke a strong sense of place.
Article Research

Media Lab spinoff Empatica receives new FDA clearance for its Health Monitoring Platform and announces Series B financing

Co-founded by Professor Rosalind Picard, Empatica develops medical-grade wearables and algorithms for health monitoring and diagnostics.
Article Research

He sold his mental-health startup to Airbnb, then relaunched it as a nonprofit with a bigger mission

As a graduate student at MIT, Rob Morris struggled with mental health. Today, he wants to make it easier for others to find help online.
Article Research

Butlr's people-sensing platform is designed as Google Analytics for buildings

In Dezeen, learn more about Butlr, a spinoff co-founded by former Labbers Honghao Deng and Jiani Zeng.
Article Research

The Human Founder: Building 2 successful startups and the significance of your mindset and desire play

On a recent episode of The Human Founder podcast with Gali Bloch Liran, Media Lab alum Natan Linder recounts his path to MIT.
Article Research

Helping dairy farmers raise healthy cows

Labby has developed an optical milk scanner based on materials-sensing technology that dairy farmers can use to measure their cows' health.
Article Research

Ayah Bdeir on design, engineering and activism

Ayah Bdeir on her journey from Lebanon to MIT Media Lab, and why she started littleBits.
Article Research

How Headspace Health is tackling the global mental health crisis

CNBC profiles Headspace Health, which was formed through a merger between spinoff Ginger and meditation + mindfulness app company Headspace.
Article Research

An Augmented Lean Ecosystem

Alum Natan Linder talks about spinoff Tulip Interfaces, which he co-founded with fellow alum Rony Kubat and Professor Pattie Maes.
Post Research

Butlr among World Economic Forum's 2022 Technology Pioneers

The World Economic Forum has chosen 100 innovative tech firms based in 30 countries to join its Technology Pioneers community.