Ben Franklin Backs Founders Fighting COVID-19 and its Effects

As part of the Save Our Startups initiative, made possible with support from the Department of Community and Economic Development, Ben Franklin has committed a total of $100,000 in grants to 15 early-stage companies for development of technologies related to fighting COVID-19, and mitigating its various effects on health and well-being.

The grants will be deployed through the research and development partners within Ben Franklin’s PRIMA initiative, which is supported by the US Economic Development Administration. The companies selected are working to improve such conditions as effectiveness of vaccines, PPE device and decontamination manufacturing, remote healthcare, and exchange of safety-related information within residential buildings.

Companies include:

AAPlasma LLC: CEO Greg Fridman

AAPlasma is developing a cold plasma based system that is based on previously-successful technology capable of achieving in-between-patient decontamination of PPE items to allow for rapid reuse.

Cogwear LLC: CEO David Yonce

Cogwear is developing a next-generation wearable that goes beyond providing physical measures available with today’s products and adds cognitive and emotional insights, unlocking breakthrough potential to advance human health, safety, and performance.

Digitability Inc.: CEO Michele McKeone

Digitability is developing a Workplace Behavior Training Platform that will provide the behavioral data teachers need to monitor progress toward behavior goals both at home and in the classroom environment.

DRSLINQ, inc.: CEO Rakesh Shah

DRSLINQ is developing a mobile EKG device which is coupled to an interactive application powered by a natural language processing integrated with a machine learning platform to appropriately triage chest pain patients to the ER.

Dynamis Skin Science: CEO Annette Tobia

Dynamis is working to screen Amino Sugar analogues for efficacy in mitigating COVID-19.

Guiding Technologies Corporation: CEO John Nosek

Guiding Technologies works to enable quality, remote, one-on-one instruction for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and individuals who experience aphasia (loss of speech) from strokes.

Narbis: CEO Devon Grecco

With children out of school and at home full time during this period, parents are becoming more keenly aware of their children’s attention problems, creating a real need for products such as Narbis. Without the availability of the many resources normally available, parents are searching for in-home solutions to help their children and Narbis’ device can fill the gap.

Open Medical: CEO Eric Sugalski

A unique joint venture between Archimedic and NextFab, Open Medical is manufacturing N95 respirators and providing them at cost to local hospitals.

Optical Inventory Solutions: CEO Thomas Lake

OIS is developing a ‘smart vaccine refrigerator’ that automatically images, identifies, counts and manages vaccine inventory.

Polynetworks LLC: CEO Azim Samjani

To screen potential carriers of COVID-19, Polyworks is capturing visuals through a thermal camera and detecting the body temperature with potential applications in avoiding spread of the virus.

Pression: CEO Adam Salamon

Blood clots, including DVT, are a highly-prevalent complication of COVID-19 infection. Pression device provides a safe, affordable, and effective therapy for high-risk patients including COVID-19 infected individuals.

RightAir: CEO Marek Swoboda

RightAir is working to develop negative pressure ventilator for at-home use in treating COVID-19.

SFA Therapeutics, Inc.: CEO Ira C. Spector

SFA Therapeutics is working to develop its SFA005 drug to prevent cytokine release syndrome, a frequent cause of major lung, heart and brain damage in COVID-19 cases.

WhoseYourLandlord (WYL): CEO Ofo Ezeugwu

To create better ways of disseminating housing literacy content and COVID-19 housing resources to both residents and to the owner/operators, WYL i’s gathering demographic and psychographic data around renters experiences with their landlords and property managers during this time of health and economic hardship. WYL is developing survey tools for its platform to receive and manage this very important data.

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