Santa Cruz Accelerates, the leading accelerator program for Central California Coast startups, today announced the selection of 8 innovative startups for its 6th cohort.

This highly competitive cohort features a diverse group of startups tackling critical challenges in planetary health and social good. The startups selected to join our 6th cohort are:

• Cascarita streamlines recreational soccer league management with comprehensive tools for registration, communication, and data management. Key features include multi-lingual support, a custom form builder, a messaging interface, and a payment service, addressing common challenges faced by league managers. Additionally, Cascarita offers easy data querying and export options, ensuring efficient and effective league administration.

• Eivie is setting new standards in eVTOL technology with breakthroughs that enhance range, speed, and efficiency—50% more efficient in vertical flight than quad-copters and 30% in horizontal flight versus traditional eVTOLs. Targeting private, commercial, and agricultural markets, Eivie aims to redefine aerial mobility and is currently raising a $2M pre-seed round to advance their technology.

• Good Talk is an app that lets users set up challenging scenarios or choose from existing ones to practice conversations with a role-playing chatbot. It provides instant coaching focused on empathetic communication, covering topics from relationships to politics, enhancing users' effectiveness in real-world interactions.

• Light Links is revolutionizing wireless technology with their pioneering Light Communication (LC) system, the Wi-OW. Following the IEEE’s endorsement of the 802.11bb standard, they're enhancing internet connectivity by merging Wi-Fi with LC. Their ongoing developments aim to refine and scale this innovative solution.

• Ryze AI accelerates biotech and advanced manufacturing compliance, easing market entry and resource allocation, allowing focus on innovation.

• Tallyrus is an AI-powered web application that revolutionizes essay grading by automating the process using advanced natural language processing. Tallyrus ensures uniform grading standards, minimizes bias, and offers comprehensive feedback to help students improve. Continuously refined to understand context and nuances, it enhances learning outcomes by delivering timely and constructive feedback.

• TerraNova Bio, an innovative startup formed by UC Santa Cruz undergraduates, alumni, and staff, has engineered a groundbreaking method to recycle polyurethane (PUR)—a significant environmental pollutant. Utilizing fungi native to the Santa Cruz coastal range, the team has developed a sustainable solution that transforms PUR waste into reusable material within just 2-3 weeks, a stark contrast to the hundreds or even thousands of years it would otherwise persist in the environment. This rapid, eco-friendly process represents a major advancement in efforts to tackle plastic pollution.

• Treeswax is revolutionizing surf wax by offering an eco-friendly, high-performance alternative at a competitive price. Crafted from natural ingredients like pine resin and olive oil, their 100% petroleum-free wax embodies respect, honesty, and integrity. Driven by a surfer team, Treeswax is committed to conscious consumption and a sustainable future.

• Xraise offers an AI-driven platform that streamlines access to growth resources for startups and small businesses. It automates finding and applying for grants and loans, matches opportunities to business profiles, generates drafts, and submits applications directly, enhancing funding chances with a continuously improving system.

Sponsors

Backed by the two leading venture firms in the Monterey Bay Area, Santa Cruz Ventures and HawkTower, the managing partners had this to say after completing the selection rounds:

Santa Cruz Accelerates is also sponsored by SBDC. New sponsors and partners will be announced next week. If your business would like to participate, see Partners. Additionally, over 40 local professionals have signed up to be mentors.

Next Steps

All of the applicants have been notified. Those who have been selected will start program on July 30, 2024. Those who complete the curriculum will be invited to our annual pitch competition / Demo Day where VCs will decide which startups have the opportunity to receive $50,000 to $100,000 of seed funding. Those who did not make the final selection round will be offered free 30 day access to the Innovation Within AI-powered market validation platform.

About Santa Cruz Accelerates

Santa Cruz Accelerates is an accelerator program located in Santa Cruz, California, designed to support early-stage entrepreneurs along the Central California Coast. The hybrid online/in person program empowers founders to challenge the status quo and to use their products and solutions drive positive societal and environmental change. Participants get access to mentorship from experienced professionals, networking opportunities, workshops on relevant topics, as well as access to key discounts on software and startup tools. Marking the conclusion of the program is a pitch contest with seed funding for top winning teams. Santa Cruz Accelerates has hosted 52 startups across five cohorts. Of these, 27 have successfully achieved financial exits after completing the accelerator program. View a partial list of these startups HERE.