RALEIGH – RIoT is excited to announce RAP X – the Winter 2022 cohort of the RIoT Accelerator Program (RAP).  RAP X will take place at the Gig East Exchange in Wilson, NC.

The RAP X cohort represents a variety of industries and backgrounds hailing across regions of North Carolina, New York, and Atlanta.  The startups are working on technology solutions in healthcare, wireless connectivity, social media analytics, marketing, and portable hand drying machines.  Founders will leverage the diversity of the cohort to learn and grow together over the 12-week intensive program starting February 16th, 2022.  Learn more about the startups of RAP X below.

CareYaya

CareYaya was built upon the realization that almost 80% of families don’t utilize the formal in-home elder care agencies due to high cost & time commitments. These families are turning to the informal or grey market for care options. CareYaya is an online marketplace platform that connects families & senior citizens in need of in-home elder care help, with caregivers who can provide it. The caregivers are students from local North Carolina universities who are in pre-health professions and value the relevant work experience toward their future medical careers. Founder, Neal Shah, created the company based on real world experiences with his own family. The name CareYaya pays homage to his grandmother.

CliniSpan Health

Minorities are vastly under-represented in clinical trials. CliniSpan Health was created out of a desire to solve this problem. Their solution is a SaaS platform that diversifies clinical trial recruitment. CliniSpan Health is one of the few clinical trials recruiting People of Color to ensure that they are equally represented. CliniSpan Health works with diverse community leaders to be the digital health influencers. These digital health influencers share educational and actionable content related to clinical research opportunities via their social media networks.

TSV Analytics 

TSV Analytics is a predictive analytics tool used by social media and marketing managers to predict and capitalize on viral social media trends. Recent NCSU Alumnus and Founders, Aidan McCarthy and Trevor Ferree created TSV Analytics to offer tailored insights into areas of interest, including brands, products, industries, and competitors. These tailored insights inspire the TSV Analytics name as they utilize multiple artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to conduct Topic, Sentiment, and Virality analyses to generate a user’s TSV Analytics dashboard.

Warnes Wireless

Gregory Warnes, Founder & CTO,  is committed to bringing high speed Internet to the 100+ million Americans in underserved and rural areas where it isn’t yet available. Fast broadband internet access is now a necessary requirement for education, employment, economic activity, and recreation. Through Warnes Wireless Innovation’s patented “inoui”  technology that is set to dramatically improve performance of wireless communications systems all across the country.

RDU Girl

The Raleigh-Durham Girl is a hyper-local media company and helpful guide that makes it easy for entrepreneurs, young professionals, and families to connect. The digital news and entertainment content RDU Girl provides is geared to millennial women in the Triangle. Founder & CEO, Roxy Garrity is an award winning and Emmy nominated digital media creative professional who spent a decade of her career as a local and national television news reporter. Upon relocation from New York, she had the desire to connect with the locals. When she wasn’t able to find any platforms to do so, she saw the opportunity to create one.

HAND GYN

HAND GYN is a portable hand dryer created to prevent germ transmission and  eliminate the need for paper towels therefore helping with the issue of deforestation. Founder & CEO, Pa Samba Ceesay has observed the home healthcare industry and determined that the options for these specialists are limited compared to traditional offices. He has not only witnessed  how easy it was for germs to spread via hand wiping techniques but also the amount of paper towels that are regularly used. He jumped at the opportunity to create HAND GYN, a portable hand drying machine.

WeRent Rentals

WeRent Rentals is a hyper-local rental car agency aimed at providing services to individuals who typically have inadequate and inaccessible transportation means. WeRent Rentals provides increased accessibility to transportation for customers who may not have their own insurance or  access to public transportation for day to day travel. Car insurance is a large hurdle and an expensive recurring payment that can be limiting, especially to rural communities. WeRent Rentals creates a better solution for smaller communities to enable daily transportation (ie; to work) for residents, which benefits local business employers.

Luuup

Luuup was created for businesses who struggle to make community members aware of local events. Luuup is an early-stage technology startup that simplifies the marketing process for business owners and allows community members to easily find information about all local events in one location. Founder & CEO, Grace Rains is a recent ECU graduate who studied entrepreneurship and a participant of RIoT’s Foundations Program.

Interested in supporting these startups?  Reach out to Maddie Hornsby (maddie@riot.org) to learn more.