Your Window Into the Innovation Economy

About 20% of U.S. small businesses fail within their first year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A lack of business support is one of the key factors contributing to this failure rate. Alumni Ventures portfolio company Hello Alice is helping solve this problem by offering small business owners (SBOs) an enterprise/government SaaS marketplace of direct networks to help them grow and flourish.

Vertical farming (growing crops in vertically stacked layers within a controlled environment) is an innovative process working to increase the quality and speed of crop production. In addition to providing fresh produce, vertical farming also helps mitigate many environmental factors that can hinder crop development, such as, drought, pests, and extreme weather fluctuations. As the world population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2037 and increase the need for substantial food production, vertical farming has the potential to become even more valuable.

Since 1958, NASA has made significant discoveries in the realm of space exploration — from putting humans into orbit to launching numerous satellites, landing the first man on the moon, and more. Recently, NASA contracted next-gen aerospace company Axiom Space, an Alumni Ventures portfolio company, to help complete another milestone: commercializing low-Earth orbit (LEO).

Alumni Ventures portfolio company Excision Bio has made significant breakthroughs with CRISPR-based therapies using genome editing to cure viral infections at the source. The company is developing treatments that eliminate infectious viral diseases rather than suppressing or stalling their effects, with focuses on HIV as well as Herpes, Hepatitis B, and John Cunningham Virus.

Visual AI is a transformative technology that enables machines to recognize and catalog images and other visual data better than the human eye, usually by an order of magnitude. Massive datasets are used to train the AI to enable it to parse objects, actions, and states with increased accuracy, whether for public or business benefit.

Rebate marketing improves customer engagement by offering rewards over discounts. The advantages of rebates include valuable sales incentives, more affordable marketing, attracting new buyers, and improved customer data. Even with the increasing complexity and volume of rebate deals, manual processes and software — like Microsoft Excel — are still commonly used. These archaic tools are inefficient for the logistical and technical side of handling rebates.

COVID-19 has accelerated the shift from physical to digital shopping nearly five years faster than projected by IBM’s U.S. Retail Index. In order to meet customer needs, businesses are establishing micro-fulfillment centers closer to stores to improve the speed and efficiency of delivery. While that is beneficial, retailers don’t have enough drivers to cover the number of runs between distribution centers and storefronts.

Cluster computing refers to a computer setup where individual computers or “nodes” are connected to a network and perform as a single entity. Modern supercomputers use cluster computing architecture to help solve complex problems by providing faster computational speed and better data integrity. Genomics, quantum mechanics, public health, climate research, and energy exploration are only some of the many fields that require this type of advanced computing power.

We are living in a remote world. Zoom is the modern way to maintain “water cooler” office talk, and attending school online is the new normal.

According to OECD Health Statistics, health spending per person in the U.S. was an estimated $11,000 in 2019 – nearly 50% higher than the comparable country average. That number continues to rise, exceeding $12,000 at the end of 2020.

Today, there is no shortage of options for an investor to consider, with thousands of public equities to choose from and a bevy of apps that make trading as easy as a swipe. Private investments are increasingly popular for sophisticated portfolios, but options can be limited for many individual investors and deliver varying results. However, there is another asset class that can play an important role in your financial strategy, and it’s still missing from many seasoned investors’ portfolios.