IU, IUPUI tech and startups to be highlighted at The Combine conference in Bloomington

Indiana University and IUPUI faculty, students and alumni will be in the spotlight at a Bloomington event for entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, developers, community leaders, creatives and techies.

The Combine is an annual conference that connects innovators across the Midwest. More than 1,500 people have attended the conference, which was established in 2010. The 2018 conference will be April 6-7 at the Monroe Convention Center, 302 S. College Ave. Tickets are available online.

Two startups and a technology with IU or IUPUI connections will be featured during The Combine’s Friday-night Happy Hour event:

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  Braille Tech technology. IUPUI graduate student Madhura Mhatre created an app that turns letters into digital Braille on the screen. It is used in conjunction with a glove featuring color-coded sensors and tactile feedback that gives the user sensations similar to reading raised dots, as in Braille. The technology won first place at IUPUI’s annual JagStart elevator pitch competition March 3.

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  CareBand Inc. The Chicago-based startup was founded by IU alumnus Adam Sobol. The company produces wearable technology specifically designed for seniors living with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease in assisted living and skilled nursing communities. CareBand won $100,000 in the 2015-16 Building Entrepreneurs in Software and Technology, or BEST, Competition at IU. It also won the inaugural Shark Tank Competition hosted by AMDA — The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine — in March. Sobol spoke on “Inside Indiana Business with Gerry Dick” about a pilot study happening in Bloomington.

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  Care Revolution. Dr. Kathleen T. Unroe of the IU School of Medicine has developed this technology-enabled clinical decision support tool for long-term nursing care facilities. It is the commercialized product resulting from a successful federally funded demonstration project called OPTIMISTIC designed to reduce potentially avoidable hospitalizations.

Braille Tech, Care Revolution and CareBand are three examples of IU- and IUPUI-developed technologies and startups that aim to improve people’s lives around the world. Congratulations to them as they are highlighted at The Combine this Friday night.