Rev Welcomes the Inaugural Protofacturing Hardware Accelerator Cohort 

Rev: Ithaca Startup Works is excited to announce the inaugural cohort of its Protofacturing Hardware Accelerator. Piloted in the summer of 2023 and now running the first full cohort, the program is tailored for physical product startups with proof-of-concept prototypes and focused on helping entrepreneurs transition to initial manufacturing. Throughout the accelerator, participants will engage in customer discovery, secure manufacturing funding, and refine their prototypes to achieve “design freeze”—the final stage before production.  

“Protofacturing is one of my favorite programs – it’s the cleanup between the scrappy garage build and the rigor of quality control and large manufacturing runs,” said Deanna Kocher, Associate Director of Hardware Programs. “The Rev team of engineers has been working closely with several teams in the cohort already – replicating, improving, and redesigning for manufacturability. We’ve got a great mix of products in this group – we’ve been working with everything from textiles to films to food and medical grade parts.”

The program has two tiers of support: Content-Only and Development Support. Content-Only participants access all curriculum, workshops, and mentorship, while Development Support participants receive engineering and hardware prototyping assistance, with remote lab access and the option for in-person sessions at Rev for regional teams.  

The Protofacturing Hardware Accelerator offers four specialized tracks tailored to different sectors: AgTech, ClimateTech, MedTech, and the Classic Track (open to any field). Each track provides sector-specific mentorship, funding resources, and networking opportunities to prepare participants for the challenges of scaling their hardware products. 

Classic Track Hardware Accelerator

Open to all innovators in any field since 2014, Rev’s classic track provides foundational training across industries.

Meet the startup teams from the Classic Track:

• Babel Blocks: Annie Hua is making play inspired by child development accessible in every language with their innovative toys. 

• Balcony Suites Retractable Screens and Covers: Ondray Cleveland is creating a portable, adjustable tent-like frame with mesh screen and canvas cover cloth screen enclosure for balconies and terraces, providing safety, comfort, and protection from the outside elements. 

• Canoeist Carrier: Terry Kent, OR & IE ’86 and Cornell staff member, is developing a wheelie that fits easily into a receiver installed in a kayak or canoe, stays securely in place, and enables kayaks to be rear-loaded onto roof racks. 

• Golf Swing AI: Christopher Cilip, Antonio Johnson, Ryan Taylor, and Sasha Logunov ‘25 are developing an on-camera artificial intelligence golf training solution that measures and tracks the repeatability of your golf swing. 

• GoRaqt Inc: Rio Lu, John Missale, and Alex Eagan ‘24 are offering a courtside solar-powered smart kiosk and a connected app for sports-as-a-service gear rentals and AI-powered coaching. 

• Plateful: Malvina De Salvo is leveraging AI and ML capabilities to foster nutrition literacy and develop healthy eating habits in children with their comprehensive nutrition platform. 

“We are hoping to reach a stage in development of our hardware that enables us to complete robust pilot testing and be manufacture ready to reach the market making Plateful available for consumers,” said Malvina De Salvo, founder of Plateful. 

ClimateTech Prototyping Hardware Accelerator

This track trains innovators working to support the economy’s decarbonization. ClimateTech startups are matched with experienced clean energy and clean tech mentors and provide access to industry-leading guest speakers. 

Meet the startup teams from the Climate Track:

• EquiPad: Sanjana Gurram, Pooja Patel, and Bryan Wong are making sustainable and comfortable period pads accessible and available in public restrooms with a low-cost and easy-to-install dispenser. Equipad is cross-listed across the AgTech and MedTech tracks.  

“We’re excited to continue the work and momentum we developed from Rev’s summer prototyping accelerator with this program,” said Bryan Wong, Co-founder of EquiPad. “We aim to continue utiliing the resources and relationships from Rev to refine our dispenser, finalize our design for production, and increase customer and manufacturer relationships to get EquiPad off the ground and into bathroom stalls.” 

• Frost Methane Labs: Elizabeth Hillstrom, Olya Irzak, Angela Mitcham, Laughlin Barker, and Edwin Chiu are mitigating methane emissions from animal manure and coal mines with their proprietary flare and monitoring device. 

• Liteon: Champion Olatunji is providing accessible and sustainable off-grid electrification solutions for residential and small commercial businesses in urban Africa with swappable battery technologies. 

AgTech Prototyping Hardware Accelerator

Supported by a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s University Center program, these entrepreneurs are immersed in specialized training and connected to experts within the agriculture industry. 

Following the completion of the accelerator, these AgTech entrepreneurs have the opportunity to participate in the Grow-NY Food and Ag Business Competition, in which startups can win up to $1 million and further contribute to the regional agrifood system. 

Meet the startup teams participating in the AgTech Track:

• Agriwater Corp: Led by Bianca Bailey, Ph.D.; Cobie Mooney; and Mateen Abdullah; this team is developing solutions to optimize water usage in agriculture. It targets drought-prone regions with innovative water recovery systems. The team hails from Oak Ridge National Labs and has been recognized as a Grow-NY Finalist in 2023. 

• Avid Solutions Intl: Dr. Malcolm Adams; Willette Crawford, Ph.D.; Shalaya Morrisettel; Sherri DeGraphenreed; Bret Bowlin; and Mike Spade are integrating advanced technologies into sustainable agriculture and manufacturing processes. They develop innovative agrobotics systems that enhance crop productivity and resource efficiency through automation, AI-driven decision-making, and precision farming techniques. 

“The Protofacturing Hardware Accelerator offers a unique opportunity to collaborate with industry experts, access cutting-edge tools and resources, and develop scalable, market-ready products,” said Dr. Malcolm Adams, co-founder of Avid Solutions Intl. “Our goal is to emerge from the accelerator with a more robust, innovative hardware platform that addresses key challenges in our industry, ultimately positioning us to drive significant impact in sustainable agriculture and advanced manufacturing.” 

• BuzzHive: Luke Riddoch, Damian Bednarski, Peter Kladias, and Joon Yoo are building a smart beehive that uses sensors to collect data on bee health and, using machine learning, can detect real-time when the bees need help. 

• Labby: Julia Somerdin, Ansh Das, Luca Chiossone, Zach Sobel-Pressman, and Joe Adams are offering an end-to-end enterprise milk testing solution combining optical hardware, cloud computing, and machine learning. 

• Prosparity Systems: Eric Lane and Dimitris Korres are developing a multipurpose vehicle with disruptive suspension technology for essential agricultural transport and mechanization services in developing regions. 

• SAYeTECH Inc: Jeffrey Appiagyei, Theodore Ohene-Botchway, and Dr. Mark Amo-Boateng are providing smallholder farmers with IoT devices for predictive maintenance, geolocation tracking, and yield data to reduce post-harvest losses and enhance food security. 

• STEWARD: Hannah James, Ph.D ’27, is developing a ruggedized, low-cost virtual fencing ear tag to make digital agriculture more accessible to low-income countries. 

• The NutriFilter^TM: Jesse Wexler and Ellie Sangree are developing a low-cost solution that removes nitrogen pollution from water, providing an affordable path to regulatory compliance. 

MedTech Prototyping Hardware Accelerator

This track is funded by the $2 million “Build to Scale” grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and a local matching fund of $2 million, including $1 million from Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR). The MedTech track participants will have access to design resources, equipment, and faculty in the university’s Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering and College of Human Ecology; Weill Cornell Medicine will be a source of applicants and industry expertise for the track. 

Meet the startup teams participating in the MedTech Track:

• Ergami Endoscopy: Hrishikesh Deo is developing a low-cost robotic automated colonoscope insertion solution that reduces patient pain and the need for sedation, prevents endoscopy-related injuries, and enables faster insertion. 

• Minji: Mikah Jones, Christy Kelly, and Kobi Jones are developing a comfortable, non-invasive sleep aid with Bluetooth connectivity and active noise-cancellation technology. 

• NextSeth: Sanvi Bhardwaj ‘24 and Siddhant Bhardwaj are creating a low-cost, high-efficiency AI-enabled stethoscope that records and digitizes heart and lung data for remote access by professionals. 

“With Rev, we aim to refine our prototype to a fully functional and accessible device ready for mass production with the needed customer insight and feedback to boot, so we can help as many people as possible,” said Siddhant Bhardwaj, co-founder of NextSeth. 

• Ortholorica: Cornell alumni Jack Lowe ‘25 and Romano Tio ‘23 are designing a smart knee brace to improve post-surgical recovery by allowing physicians to analyze physical therapy metrics for virtual care. 

• Port Align: Hilario Castillo and Sasha Logunov ‘25 are developing a medical device that stabilizes the chest port while providing a guide for accurate needle insertion. 

• SuivantLabs: Mojtaba Javid and Fahimeh Tabatabaei are developing a device that attaches to TC culture flasks and is paired with an app that continuously updates cell count, well-being, and behavior. 

• Triton Bio, Inc: Lorenzo D’Amico, Patrick Viste, and Aniket Andraskar are developing Mira, a web-connected incubator with built-in computer vision systems to automate the visual analysis of plate-based assays. 

The Protofacturing Hardware Accelerator, backed by a $4 million investment from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and Empire State Development, bridges the gap between prototype and production. This diverse group of entrepreneurs will benefit from expert-led workshops, networking opportunities, and access to industry-specific mentors to take their products to market faster. 

For additional details and to stay updated on the startups’ progress, follow Rev: Ithaca Startup Works on Instagram and LinkedIn. Visit our website to learn more about the Protofacturing program.