MIT Startup Exchange is convening its 9th installment of Demo Day on Wednesday, September 20 (12 PM – 1:15 PM ET). The event will feature several exciting industry-ready startups in brief lightning talks and Q&A. Breakout rooms will follow at the end of the event.
This event is for ILP members. You can confirm your company's ILP membership here: https://ilp.mit.edu/search/members.
Ariadna Rodenstein is a Program Manager at MIT Startup Exchange. She joined MIT Corporate Relations as an Events Leader in September 2019 and is responsible for designing and executing startup events, including content development, coaching and hosting, and logistics. Ms. Rodenstein works closely with the Industrial Liaison Program (ILP) in promoting collaboration and partnerships between MIT-connected startups and industry, as well as with other areas around the MIT innovation ecosystem and beyond.
Prior to working for MIT Corporate Relations, she worked for over a decade at Credit Suisse Group in New York and London, in a few different roles in event management and as Director of Client Strategy. Ms. Rodenstein has combined her experience in the private sector with work at non-profits as a Consultant and Development Director at New York Immigration Coalition, Immigrant Defense Project, and Americas Society/Council of the Americas. She also served as an Officer on the Board of Directors of the Riverside Clay Tennis Association in New York for several years. Additionally, she earned her B.A. in Political Science and Communications from New York University, with coursework at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico City, and her M.A. in Sociology from the City University of New York.
Dr. Heidi Wyle is the Founder & CEO of Venti Technologies, a global leader in autonomous vehicle solutions for supply chains and industrial hub logistics. She is a serial entrepreneur having founded three successful companies, including Computational Biology Corporation, which was acquired by Agilent, and in venture capital with Bessemer Venture Partners.
Her distinguished career includes 25 years of business leadership in biotech and technology. Dr. Wyle is a BGSA Shark Tank winner and was named one of Forbes 50 Women Crushing Tech, and the top 50 U.S. women tech CEO’s.
She has served on numerous Boards, including MIT, Harvard Medical School, Brown Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Business School Alumni Association of Boston, and the Massachusetts Women’s Forum. She is a contributor to North American media and speaks globally. She is an avid mountaineer and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
Dr. Wyle holds a BS from Brown University, a PhD from MIT, and an MBA from Harvard Business School where she was a Baker Scholar.
Growing up, Salem spent many years observing and helping his father, Mohammed, operate the family's plastics manufacturing business. These experiences often stretched well into the late hours of the night, finding young Salem and his father sleeping within the factory's confines, tirelessly striving to optimize every facet of production.
Salem realized tracking machine maintenance and other manual activities with checklists had a large margin of error due to employees skipping tasks and performing them incorrectly due to lack of experience and fatigue/lack of attention.
This deficiency in process oversight led to a cascade of problems, from frequent machine breakdowns to production setbacks that took a toll on the company's bottom line.
After spending years at institutions like MIT's Media Lab and Harvard and honing his skills at several startups as Head of Computer Vision, he continues his mission: to revolutionize the way factories operate, leveraging cutting-edge technology and his extensive experience to streamline processes, eliminate inefficiencies, and drive sustainable growth in the manufacturing sector.
Dr. David Dellal is an entrepreneur, engineer, and business leader. He has served as Floe’s founder and CEO since 2017. David also has extensive experience in venture capital, having worked with several funds including Canaan Partners, First Round Capital’s Dorm Room Fund, and Air Liquide’s ALIAD. He has a deep understanding of market dynamics, operations, and product development. David is also an inventor on multiple patents and has developed several innovations that have been featured by the New York Times. He was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 Energy List as CEO of Floe. David holds a Ph.D. in engineering from Yale University, where he was an NSF Graduate Fellow, and a B.S. in engineering from MIT.
Paolo Sabatini is the CEO of DMAT, a ground-breaking startup revolutionizing the concrete industry. Inspired by ancient Roman practices, DMAT has pioneered a novel concrete formulation with self-healing capabilities, extended longevity, reduced embodied and operational carbon footprint, and no retrofitting costs. As co-founder and CEO, Paolo is driving the company's growth to make this innovative concrete the global standard for durable and sustainable building and infrastructure. DMAT has successfully developed and tested its technology through partnerships with leading concrete laboratories and is now actively working on its first construction projects. The future of more resilient and sustainable structures begins with DMAT's visionary leadership and cutting-edge solutions.
Kevin Christopher, JD/MBA, is a patent attorney and past founder of CARB-X awardee Resolute Therapeutics (small molecules), Nucleate regional winner Calliope Bio (synbio), and B Corp law firm Rockridge. He began his career in technology transfer leading biotech public partnerships at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Lab. He has been featured by B the Change, Forbes, RealLeaders, and various other outlets for his work at the nexus of impact and innovation. A survivor to a parent with ALS, Kevin is passionate about the ways QUANTiSCOPE can enhance drug discovery and development, as well as broader climate-based applications.
Ben Bueley leads product development and manages financial strategy at Vistapath. Starting with 4+ years in biomedical research, Ben has been pursuing customer-driven product development and manufacturing for over 12 years. Most recently Ben drove product and process development at Cuming Microwave, a growing OEM for the aerospace industry. Throughout his career Ben has been engrossed in new and challenging technologies, while developing innovative solutions to bring these technologies to market. He received an undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology from Reed College and more recently has completed graduate work at MIT and the Sloan School of Management, developing methods for complex product valuation while completing a degree with the System Design and Management program.
Gonzalo Muñoz, MS, MBA, is the CEO of BioDevek, a pioneering company revolutionizing the field of adhesive hydrogel technologies. With his academic background in chemical engineering and bioengineering, Gonzalo's first goal at BioDevek was to transition a promising hydrogel technology from intellectual discovery into a viable, scalable commercial product. His pivotal role as a lead scientist enabled successful collaborations with strategic partners, applying BioDevek's novel technology to vascular and gastrointestinal sealing areas. Simultaneously, Gonzalo performed his industrial PhD at BioDevek, where the research conducted at the company served as the foundation of his thesis. His contributions to the field of Biomaterials were recognized when he received the "Industry Rising Star Award" at the Society for Biomaterials conference in 2023.