Opening, Closing, and Presentations of 13 Startups in the Crimson Founders 2025 Cohort in the UAE
Recordings of Crimson Elevate x DMCC
Recordings
Opening | 13 Presentations | Closing
About
On February 25th, 2025, as part of The Crimson Collective Week in the UAE, Crimson Founders, in partnership with DMCC AI Centre, hosted Crimson Elevate x DMCC—a premier showcase of 13 groundbreaking startups from the Crimson Founders 2025 Cohort. These ventures, founded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University students, graduates, professors, and researchers, took the stage to pitch to investors and industry leaders in Dubai hosted by DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre) and DMCC AI Centre, in partnership with AGCC.
Featured Guests
Dr. Manolis Kellis – Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, Head of MIT Computational Biology Group, Principal Investigator, MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), Associate Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard,
John Dagostino – Head of Strategy, Coinbase Institutional, Fellow, AIF Innovation Institute, and Research Affiliate, MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).
Opening Remarks by Anoosheh Kalantari, Founder and Managing Partner of Crimson Founders, on How Crimson Founders is Building a Global Network and Ecosystem for startups affiliated with MIT & Harvard: Connecting Founders to Investment, Market Access & Business Growth and why UAE is becoming a destination for top-tier founders.
Bridging Innovation & Opportunity
Crimson Founders was started by Anoosheh Kalantari, Cristina Dolan, and Sam Heuck in 2023. The mission was clear: to build a global network and venture platform that connects MIT and Harvard-affiliated founders with the right investors, strategic partnerships, and business development opportunities.
After an incredibly successful week of programs in the United Arab Emirates and a growing number of requests to replicate the model in other venture hubs such as Boston, New York, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE once again, Crimson Founders is now advancing its mission by developing an accelerator/venture studio model—offering an unparalleled supportive network and community to help its startups scale and succeed.
Introductions and Opening Remarks by Featured Speakers
John Dagostino, Head of Strategy, Coinbase Institutional | Research Fellow, MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), sharing insights on the UAE’s rapid acceleration in AI, blockchain, and emerging technologies and why more entrepreneurs are choosing Dubai to scale their companies.Dr. Manolis Kellis, Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, Head of MIT Computational Biology Group, Principal Investigator at MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), discussing the transformative power of AI, foundation models, and cognitive cartography, emphasizing how AI is reshaping innovation across industries and the incredible entrepreneurs emerging from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Opening Remarks by Belal Jassoma, Director of Ecosystems at DMCC, on How DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre) Empowers Startups with Cutting-Edge Ecosystems: Unlocking Opportunities in Dubai - Crimson Elevate x DMCC
Bilal Jassama from DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre) introduced Dubai as a prime global business destination, highlighting its strategic location, ease of doing business, economic competitiveness, and vibrant lifestyle. He emphasized Dubai's status as a leading hub for international business events and access to global opportunities.
Bilal explained that DMCC is a Dubai government authority established in 2002 to grow trade through Dubai. It now hosts over 25,000 companies across 87 towers, offering licensing, registration, and office space. Beyond basic setup, DMCC specializes in building sector-specific ecosystems, especially in commodities like gold, diamonds, agriculture, and energy.
Recognizing the transformative role of technology, DMCC launched the Crypto Center (2021), Gaming Center, and most recently, the AI Center. The AI Center focuses on supporting pragmatic AI by:
+ Providing startups access to co-working spaces, licenses, and visas.
+ Offering mentorship, acceleration, and POC (proof-of-concept) programs via AGCC.
+ Helping AI companies raise funding, as previously done in the crypto space.
+ Connecting the broader DMCC community to advanced technologies.
Bilal highlighted the UAE’s AI push, including major investments like the MGX fund ($30B in partnership with Microsoft and BlackRock, targeting $100B), and expected 40,000 AI jobs this year. The AI Center now hosts over 70 AI and robotics companies, growing monthly by 5–10 firms.
DMCC also supports innovation through competitions, such as:
+ The Global AI Challenge ($100K in prizes to top 3 finalists).
+ The Web3 Challenge ($160K awarded to top 5 winners).
He concluded by showcasing DMCC's continuous engagement in workshops, AI forums, and exhibitions like AI Everything, further emphasizing DMCC’s role as a leading tech and business enabler in the region.
Opening Remarks by Dr. Manolis Kellis, Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, Head of MIT Computational Biology Group, Principal Investigator at MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), Associate Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, on Artificial Intelligence’s Transformative Power and the Next Wave of Innovation - Dr. Manolis Kellis set the stage for an extraordinary day of innovation, describing the presenting startups in the Crimson Founders 2025 Cohort as the cream of the crop—pioneers pushing the boundaries of technology and impact.
AI as a New Frontier
AI is no longer just about solving predefined tasks—it’s about unlocking insights never before possible. Dr. Manolis Kellis highlighted how foundation models are reshaping industries, from biology to cognitive mapping, and why today’s startups are at the forefront of this revolution.
Collaboration Between Academia & Startups
With 30 years at MIT’s AI Lab, Dr. Manolis Kellis emphasized how breakthrough research and entrepreneurial vision come together to drive global change. He sees immense potential for these startups to work alongside academia, leveraging cutting-edge AI tools to redefine industries.
Looking Ahead
As AI transforms how we understand data, biology, and the world itself, this event showcases the next generation of founders bringing these possibilities to life.Opening Remarks by John Dagostino, Head of Strategy, Coinbase Institutional, Research Affiliate, and MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), on Why the UAE is Becoming a Global Hub for AI, Blockchain & Innovation and on the UAE’s rise as a global hub for innovation and entrepreneurship.
UAE: A Place to Build
John shares how Dubai and the UAE is no longer just a place to visit—it’s a place to build. A Rapidly Accelerating Tech Ecosystem: Over the last five years, Dubai has seen a massive surge in AI, blockchain, and deep tech adoption, with startups, investors, and policymakers aligning to drive innovation. UAE is a New Destination for Founders: More young entrepreneurs and global talent are now choosing Dubai not just as a business hub—but as a place to build and scale their companies."
Bridging MIT & the UAE
Years ago, John helped bring 50 MIT students and professors to Dubai, introducing them to the region’s entrepreneurial and technological potential.
What if heavy industry operated as intelligently and efficiently as your smartphone? Making Machines Talk: AI That Listens Before Equipment Fails. Introducing Amplified Industries, Inc.: "Predictive AI for Industrial Equipment Health." Amplified Industries, Inc. was one of the finalists to present on stage for the Crimson Founders Demo Session at the Ministry Of Economy, UAE Future 100 Forum at Investopia 2025.
That’s what Amplified Industries, Inc. is building — a transformative AI-powered platform for real-time control and optimization of oil and gas machinery, already deployed across 2,000+ systems in the U.S. At Crimson Founders Elevate x DMCC AI Centre, co-founder and CEO Sebastien Mannai (PhD, MIT) unveiled how Amplified Industries, Inc.
+ Connects to wells, tanks, compressors & industrial assets via custom edge devices
+ Processes massive machine data using signal processing, ML, and LLMs
+ Optimizes performance, prevents spills, and boosts production in real-time
+ Reduced over 10 million liters of spills in one year — 20% the volume of Exxon Valdez
+ Improved oil field production by 8% on average while reducing costsAmplified Industries, Inc. reshapes heavy industry with real-time machine diagnostics powered by sound. Their platform uses AI-driven acoustic sensing to detect and prevent equipment failures before they happen—cutting downtime, reducing maintenance costs, and increasing safety.
By unlocking the hidden signals in industrial sound data, Amplified enables teams to take predictive action, not just reactive fixes. This is deeptech meeting deep value, and it’s already catching the attention of industry leaders.
Dr. Manolis Kellis, Professor at MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, asked,
“Could local AI on the devices compress or interpret the data before transmission — minimizing bandwidth needs while preserving accuracy?”
Sebastian responded that Amplified already deploys AI-powered compression and interpretation directly on edge devices, with additional models in the cloud to handle field-wide optimization. The system balances edge vs. cloud AI based on the reactivity, safety, and geographic scale of each use case — optimizing from a single machine to entire networks.
AI That Works: The World’s Most Boring AI Company Doing the Most Exciting Things. Introducing AppliedAI: The World's Most Boring AI Company.
At Crimson Founders Elevate x DMCC AI Centre, Arya H. Bolurfrushan, Founder and CEO of AppliedAI showcased how they are redefining AI-driven enterprise productivity. With their Knowledge Work AI Platform—Opus (Opus.com), they streamline high-stakes back-office operations across healthcare, insurance, financial services, life sciences, and government sectors. AppliedAI was one of the finalists that presented Crimson Founders Demo Session at the Ministry of Economy, UAE Future 100 Forum at Investopia 2025.
With over $55 Million raised from G42, Bessemer Venture Partners, Plug and Play Tech Center, ARM Holdings, LP, McKinsey & Company, Palantir Technologies, and others, AppliedAI is pioneering the AI + Human Expert model—where AI workflows are seamlessly combined with human verification to ensure accuracy in mission-critical environments. Their vision? Transforming the traditional BPO industry into a decentralized gig economy of knowledge workers. 💡 Curious about how AI is reshaping enterprise decision-making? Connect with Applied AI Corporation and explore the future of AI-driven productivity.Dr. Manolis Kellis, Professor at MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, asked Arya about
what truly differentiates AppliedAI approach, how their system aligns with company-specific knowledge, and how it provides valuable insights to large enterprises. He also inquired whether the extracted knowledge can be exported as a knowledge graph, how transparent and explainable the model is, and how users can visualize and understand what the system has learned.
From Surveys to Seconds: The AI That Talks to Your Customers So You Don’t Have To. Introducing Bolt Insight Limited: AI-Automated Research.
At Crimson Founders Elevate x DMCC AI Centre, Bolt Insight wowed the audience with BoltChatAI—a powerful AI moderator and researcher capable of running the entire consumer research process end-to-end. From targeted recruitment and live conversations to insight generation and trend forecasting, Bolt Insight is redefining how the world’s top brands understand and serve their customers.
Say goodbye to outdated surveys and hello to voice-to-voice research, predictive analytics, text-to-visual generation, and social listening—all powered by AI. What once took months now takes days. Trusted by giants like Unilever, Danone, and L'Oreal, Bolt Insight delivers fast, agile, and consumer-centric innovation at scale.Dr. Manolis Kellis, Professor at MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, asked,
“You’re gathering data and producing one report at a time — but imagine going beyond. What if you could unlock cross-cutting knowledge across surveys? And shift from rigid yes/no questions to natural, open-ended dialogue using AI?”
Oz Silahtar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumnus who presented on behalf of Bolt Insight, responded by sharing how Bolt Insight is already developing adaptive persona-based AI interfaces and exploring generative UX tools to visualize and interact with insights — signaling a future where consumer research becomes as fluid as human conversation.
Bookkeeping Without the Bookkeeper: Finance Made Effortless. Introducing Cashflowy.ai: Bookkeeping but BETTER.
At Crimson Founders Elevate x DMCC AI Centre, Niraj Kumar, Co-Founder & CTO of Cashflowy.ai revealed a game-changing solution for the millions of solopreneurs and small service-based businesses who are tired of wrestling with clunky financial tools or paying for expensive accountants.
Powered by AI, Cashflowy.ai simplifies bookkeeping, invoicing, tax prep, and cash flow management—all in one elegant platform built specifically for coaches, consultants, freelancers, therapists, influencers, and practitioners. With its natural language AI assistant, users can ask questions and generate accurate financial reports instantly—saving time, money, and frustration. No more spreadsheets, no more complexity—just clarity, speed, and control.John Dagostino, Head of Strategy at Coinbase Institutional, asked,
if Niraj Kumar was concerned about the Big Four entering the small business market with AI tools. He also mentioned a friend rolling up mom-and-pop accounting firms in the U.S. Niraj replied confidently, saying he built similar tools himself and sees those firms as potential customers—not competitors.
Cybersecurity, Unified: The AI Platform Keeping Digital Systems Resilient and Compliant. Cybersecurity is no longer just about protection — it’s about visibility. Introducing Cytex Inc: AI Driven Cyber Risk, Compliance, and GRC Unified Platform.
At Crimson Founders Elevate x DMCC AI Centre, founded by MIT Sloan School of Management Alumni, Andrew Surwilo and Taimur Aslam, Cytex Inc unveiled its AI-powered, full-spectrum cybersecurity platform—designed to streamline everything from network operations and third-party risk to automated compliance and threat remediation.
With tools like Leo, the AI Security Copilot, and their LLM Firewall, Cytex Inc empowers security teams across six enterprise roles while also preventing data leakage and adversarial attacks in an LLM-driven world. Their Digital Twin tech creates real-time models of enterprise environments for predictive risk analysis and forensics—making cybersecurity proactive, not reactive.
They’ve already secured patents (including for digital twin technology), partnered with key players like Marsh and the DoD’s Cyber Fusion Innovation Center, and deployed to complex clients — including a 12-location hospital in just 35 minutes. Whether it’s IT, OT, IoT, or third-party networks—Cytex Inc ensures continuous protection and compliance across the board.
Dr. Manolis Kellis, Professor at MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, asked,
“You’re doing so much — what’s your secret sauce, and why isn’t everyone else doing this?”
Andrew explained that Cytex Inc's first-mover advantage, patented integration methods, and flexible deployment model give it a strong moat. Unlike competitors consolidating piecemeal tools, SciTex offers a modular or full-stack approach, adjusting to client needs while reducing friction and cost.
A $1 Test That Could Save a Child’s Life. Introducing E62 Bio: Protecting children from Leukemia with just $1.
At Crimson Founders Elevate x DMCC AI Centre, E62 Bio unveiled its rapid diagnostic platform focused on emerging markets, designed to meet the massive testing demands of emerging markets with fast, scalable, and highly accurate solutions. Their mission? To make life-saving diagnostics affordable, accessible, and impactful—starting with childhood leukemia detection for just $1. Their tests work without electricity, lab access, or infrastructure, delivering results in under 10 minutes for less than $1.
The company already has a patented rapid test for HTLV, a virus linked to leukemia in newborns and now a mandatory screening in Brazil for pregnant women. E62Bio is scaling up to meet this demand and expanding its pipeline with multi-disease tests (e.g., distinguishing dengue, Zika, and chikungunya). With potential applications across healthcare, life sciences, and pharmaceutical sectors, and a sharp focus on global health equity, E62 Bio is helping rewrite the future of diagnostics for the world’s most vulnerable populations.Dr. Manolis Kellis, Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, asked Cristiano,
Dr. Manolis Kellis asked whether each disease requires a separate rapid test device, or if E62Bio can offer multi-disease tests bundled into a single kit. He was curious about the practicality and scalability of their platform for broader health screening in different contexts.
What if hospitals could recover hundreds of millions lost to denied insurance claims — without drowning in paperwork? Introducing Encore Health: Decoding Healthcare.
At Crimson Founders Elevate x DMCC AI Centre, Encore Health led by MIT Sloan School of Management Alumni, Tabish Sangrar, Zain Patrawala, and Dr. Christine Palermo, MD MBA, FACP CPC unveiled DeCodeX: the first vertical AI agent designed for revenue cycle management (RCM) in healthcare. With outdated systems draining hospital resources and slowing billing, Encore Health is building an AI-powered platform to streamline billing, follow-ups, and utilization management, improving the financial well-being of providers.
Here’s the problem: U.S. hospitals lose $336B annually to denied claims. The appeals process is manual, slow, and resource-heavy, often requiring dozens of billers that hospitals don’t have. Patients suffer the fallout, with many going bankrupt over unpaid medical bills.
Encore Health’s solution: A clinical AI platform that analyzes medical records, lab reports, EHRs, and doctor notes to resolve the most complex claim denials. The platform uses proprietary clinical NLP models to generate confidence scores that guide insurance adjudication, now reinforced by 2024 federal regulations on evidence-based care.
Early results? Denials down to single digits. Bad debt is near zero. And they’re already revenue-positive with top U.S. hospitals on board. Billions are lost every year due to inefficiencies in RCM—Encore Health is making sure hospitals get paid faster, more accurately, and with less friction.
Dr. Manolis Kellis, Professor at MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, asked,
“Can the AI not only resolve claims but also steer patients to more efficient care options based on their symptoms and coverage?”
Tabish explained that Encore Health already dives deep into patient-specific medical data — enabling highly tailored, evidence-based adjudication. Hospitals win. Patients win. Healthcare gets one step closer to working like it should.
Reversing Aging: The Future of Longevity is Here. Introducing HexemBio: Reversing Aging With Advanced Stem Cell Therapy. HexemBio won the Crimson Founders Most Innovative Tech Award at the Ministry of Economy, UAE Future 100 Forum at Investopia 2025 in Abu Dhabi.
At Crimson Founders Elevate x DMCC AI Centre, Gabriel Levesque Tremblay, co-founder and CEO of HexemBio showcased its groundbreaking rejuvenated hematopoietic stem cell therapy, the world’s first synthetic biology-based approach to reversing aging in blood stem cells. Their innovation enhances immune function, extends healthy lifespans, and does so without genetic modification—a game-changer in the fight against age-related decline.
Backed by Draper Associates, SOSV, Venture Science, and Schox Patent Group, and recognized in Nature Magazine, Nasdaq, and The New York Times, HexemBio has completed preclinical animal studies and secured Orphan Designation for its first IND. Co-founder Samira Kiani was recently honored with the U.S. Presidential Award for her pioneering work.
afely, securely, and efficiently.Dr. Manolis Kellis, Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, asked Gabriel about
the economics and logistics of their approach, the invasiveness of the procedure, whether patients need to be immunocompromised, how the process affects the immune repertoire, and how they are addressing existing shortcomings. He also inquired about the relationship between blood rejuvenation and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, particularly regarding amyloid plaques, mitochondrial damage, and oxidative stress in the brain.
Water Treatment That Bends to the Power Source, Not the Other Way Around. Introducing Kira: "Adaptive Water Treatment with Any Energy Source.
At Crimson Founders Elevate x DMCC AI Centre, Jonathan Bessette, Co-Founder of Kira introduced a breakthrough in desalination and water treatment technology: a system that adapts to variable power sources, from solar and wind to intermittent grids and fluctuating prices.
For decades, water treatment systems were limited by the need for steady power. Kira’s innovative energy management and control strategy breaks that barrier—unlocking clean water access in remote, off-grid, and hard-to-serve environments.
Applications range from treating drinking water in remote communities to desalinating brackish water for agriculture, concentrating produced water at decentralized oil & gas sites, and even decarbonizing industrial and municipal plants. By integrating electrochemical systems with advanced modeling, optimization, and control theory, Kira is reimagining the future of sustainable water treatment for a resource-constrained world.John Dagostino, Head of Strategy at Coinbase Institutional, asked,
Jonathan about Kira’s energy source and grid integration. Jonathan shared how the system’s dynamic response capability even allows balancing microgrids, opening a path toward flexible energy-water systems in the field.
Where Wall Street Meets Web3: Precision Portfolios for Digital Asset Investors. Introducing ML Tech: Building the Future of Financial Services. ML Tech was one of the finalists who presented at the Crimson Founders Demo Session at the Ministry of Economy, UAE Future 100 Forum at Investopia 2025.
At Crimson Founders Elevate x DMCC AI Centre, Leo Mindyuk, Co-Founder of ML Tech showcased how it is reshaping digital asset investing for institutional investors. Their platform delivers optimized blended portfolios and bespoke investment products, offering access to a curated mix of delta-neutral, market-neutral, and beta strategies—the kind of rigor usually reserved for traditional finance.
ML Tech bridges the gap between institutional capital and alpha-generating opportunities in crypto markets, with a team of veterans from high-frequency and quantitative trading. Their edge? Decades of experience building high-performance trading strategies and seamless exchange connectivity—now applied to digital assets with precision.
In this session, co-founder Leo Mindyuk shared how ML Tech enables institutional clients to:
+ Allocate capital across vetted quantitative strategies
+ Maintain non-custodial control with full transparency
+ Receive custom AI-generated portfolios optimized for their unique risk-return profiles
+ Monitor portfolios 24/7 with live analytics, exposure breakdowns, and back-office integration
With over $100M+ in managed assets (based on average $5M+ per institutional client), ML Tech has already generated $5M+ in revenue and is expanding across regions — including the UAE.John Dagostino, Head of Strategy at Coinbase Institutional, asked,
How do you ensure the quality of the SMAs [separately managed accounts] you offer, given the risk of low-quality inputs affecting overall performance? Leo explained that ML Tech maintains a strict due diligence process to onboard professional trading teams and hedge funds — including partnerships with respected index providers like CoinDesk Data.
Inspect at the Speed of Commerce: The Future of Automated Security. Introducing Spectrohm: Inspect at the Speed of Commerce. Spectrohm won the Crimson Founders Most Relevant Tech to the UAE & the MENA Region Award at the Ministry of Economy, UAE Future 100 Forum at Investopia 2025 in Abu Dhabi.
At Crimson Founders Elevate x DMCC AI Centre, Tim Cargol, Founder and CEO of Spectrohm presented its cutting-edge high-speed internal inspection systems—transforming how small bags, packages, and personal property are screened.
Today, only 3% of the 400 billion packages moved annually are inspected, leading to $100 billion in losses from fraud, errors, hazards, and threats. Spectrohm was the winner of Crimson Founders Most Relevant Tech to the UAE & MENA Region Award at the Future 100 Forum at Investopia 2025 in Abu Dhabi.
Spectrohm’s patented technology enables automated, high-throughput inspections, identifying hidden contents within bags and boxes in real time. With over $5 million in U.S. government support, Spectrohm is driving a future where 100% of items are inspected safely, securely, and efficiently.John Dagostino, Head of Strategy at Coinbase Institutional, asked Tim,
how much of Spectrohm's current and future business relies on government contracts versus private sector customers.
Your Voice Knows More Than You Think: Predicting Fatigue Before Accidents Happen. Introducing Vocadian: Predictive Voice AI Empowering Workers’ Safety and Health.
At Crimson Founders Elevate x DMCC AI Centre, Vocadian introduced its powerful voice AI-powered SaaS platform that’s transforming how we protect frontline workers in safety-critical industries. By analyzing quick pre-shift speech tasks, Vocadian can predict fatigue levels—without the need for any additional hardware.
Unlike reactive or subjective methods, Vocadian offers a predictive, data-driven approach to workplace risk, identifying fatigue before it becomes dangerous. With plans to expand into alcohol and substance detection as well as occupational disease screening, Vocadian is on a mission to improve safety and wellness in industries like transportation, mining, logistics, construction, aviation, manufacturing, and insurance. Already operating across LATAM and the US, Vocadian is poised for global expansion, redefining how organizations manage safety and well-being for their most critical asset: their people.Dr. Manolis Kellis, Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, asked Yujie
whether Vokadien’s solution only assesses fatigue and advises workers to stop working, or if it also offers real-time interventions to help mitigate risk without disrupting workflows—such as alerting workers to obstacles or supporting task completion through augmentation.
WHY VOLASO
A Different Approach, Using a New Method of Manufacturing