Laate joined Jim Barrood’s panel discussion (featuring Justin Kosmides + Laate Olukatun + Ela Jaworski) to discuss the Innovation Ecosystem at Princeton Public Library.
We discussed a few things including the state of hard tech accelerators and the startup environment.
Panelists included:
Ela Jaworski, cofounder and CEO of XN Health, a HAX-backed venture (Newark).
Laate Olukotun, cofounder/Chief of Product & Experience Design, InnerStill (NextFab, Philly)
Justin Kosmides, cofounder and CEO of Vela Bikes, a tenant of Newlab (Brooklyn).
Ela is passionate about bringing novel, promising new technologies to the market where she has over 9 years of experience researching and developing novel laboratory techniques and medical treatments. She is currently the co-founder and CEO of XN Health, a medical device startup developing a novel therapy intended to facilitate the weaning of mechanically ventilated patients by preventing and combating the progression of diaphragmatic atrophy. Prior to this venture, she helped develop a simple and affordable Next-Generation Sequencing library synthesis technology called ClickSeq and subsequently founded ClickSeq Technologies.
Laate has designed and developed websites, apps, physical products, spaces, and experiences for a range of organizations including Steelcase, NextFab Foundation, and Mayo Clinic. He holds a BA in Economics from Yale University and a Master of Design from the Institute of Design at IIT. He runs the design agency Lollygig. He is also the Chief of Product & Experience Design and Co-Founder of Innerstill – a minority-owned, women-led enterprise launching wearable electroceutical products for restoring a sense of calm and increased feelings of wellbeing and inner fitness.
Justin decided to pursue his passion for biking after a decade in the investment banking industry and tap into the changing world of mobility and electrical vehicles. Starting and scaling a brand during covid brought a long list of challenges but all of those have resulted in a resilient brand.