Fertility is a critical concern for both humans and the animals we share our world with. Whether addressing the rising rates of human infertility, finding ways to feed the global population more efficiently, or working to save endangered species, Dr. Cara Wells is tackling it all. Through her company, EMGenisys, Dr. Wells is advancing the science of embryonics for the 21st century. We sat down with her to discuss her product, patents, and access to capital.
Engine Statement regarding Small Business Investment Act of 2025
With a background in economic development and a startup itch, Lauren McCullough co-founded Tromml, helping the automotive industry understand sales dates. We sat down with her to discuss her company, the role of open source in AI, navigating intellectual property rights, and more.
Founded in 2022, Flamel.ai helps multi-location and franchise brands stay true to their brand guide while delivering content at scale. With a background in venture capital, co-founder Paul Ehlinger is a seasoned expert on issues facing startups today. We sat with Paul to discuss AI, open source, and more.
Navigating the fine print of commerce as a consumer is, at best, tedious and obscure. Kamal Nahas, co-founder and CEO of pap!, is using AI to cut through the tangled web of laws and policies and get consumers money back on their purchases. We sat down with him to discuss his company, the privacy policy landscape, and the American visa process.
Based in the Motor City, Alerje is a health management startup focused on improving the lives of people living with food allergies. We spoke with Javier Evelyn, the Founder and CEO of Alerje, to learn more about his startup’s efforts to help people coping with food allergies, his experiences as a Black founder, and his thoughts on what makes Detroit such a unique city in which to launch a startup.
TLDR: The federal government recently solicited public input about a national strategy for building more diverse and inclusive innovation ecosystems. While startup communities across the country comprise individuals of every race, gender, ethnicity, and culture, more needs to be done to empower underrepresented entrepreneurs and dismantle the unjust barriers they routinely face. As the U.S. continues to address systemic inequalities, many startups, entrepreneurs, and support organizations are calling on the government to use this opportunity to support entrepreneurship for all.
“Last week’s introduction of comprehensive immigration reform legislation shows that the Biden administration is committed to positively reforming the country’s outdated immigration system. The White House and Congress now have the opportunity to pursue an immigration agenda that boosts immigrant entrepreneurship and provides startups and technology companies with greater access to the talented workers they need to grow and thrive.”
The Big Story: Congress, FCC take steps to narrow the “digital divide” amid pandemic. As millions of Americans continue to depend upon reliable Internet services to work, learn, and connect amid the ongoing pandemic, policymakers are moving to address gaps in high-speed connectivity and broadband infrastructure across the United States. The issue of broadband access was in the spotlight this week as the Federal Communications Commission and a top House panel both took steps to improve connectivity and identify areas of the country where access is still lagging.
With Georgia becoming a global destination for film and television production, an Atlanta-based startup named Productions.com (formerly known as Film Connx) is working to promote diversity and simplify the hiring process within the production industry—in the Peach State and beyond—by connecting stakeholders with local and vetted production professionals. We recently spoke with Carolyn Pitt, the CEO and Founder of Productions.com, to learn more about her startup’s role as a job marketplace for productions, the challenges she’s experienced as a Black founder, and the steps that policymakers should take to support more equitable investments in early-stage companies.
TLDR: As the Biden administration prepares to unveil an immigration reform bill this week that would provide millions of undocumented immigrants with a pathway to citizenship, policymakers need to remain mindful of the valuable skills and talents that foreign-born workers bring to the United States. In order to support entrepreneurs—particularly those economically disadvantaged by the pandemic—policymakers must improve access to high-skilled talent in any immigration reform efforts in order to bolster U.S. innovation.
The Big Story: Net neutrality back in the spotlight as DOJ drops California suit. The U.S. Department of Justice this week dropped its challenge to California’s 2018 net neutrality law, removing one of the major roadblocks to its implementation. The law—which would have reinstated the net neutrality protections in the state of California—was signed by then-Governor Jerry Brown after the Federal Communications Commission repealed the net neutrality protections at the end of 2017. In a statement following DOJ’s announcement, FCC Acting Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said “[b]y taking this step, Washington is listening to the American people, who overwhelmingly support an open Internet, and is charting a course to once again make net neutrality the law of the land.”
SampleServe is a startup that’s helping field technicians, laboratories, and consultants streamline the collection and testing of environmental samples by using a digital chain of custody process to quickly turn testing data into reports. We recently spoke with Russell Schindler, the Founder and CEO of SampleServe, to learn more about his startup’s work, his thoughts on crowdfunding, and his plans for branching out into new markets.
TLDR: Democrats are moving forward with President Joe Biden’s stimulus package that would provide billions of dollars in relief to small businesses and entrepreneurs affected by the pandemic. As policymakers finalize the proposal, they should work to ensure that economic relief earmarked for startups and other nascent companies truly provides long-term, targeted support for the U.S. entrepreneurial community.
It may sound like a cliched talking point, but it’s true—small businesses are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. And that includes the small businesses of the technology sector, the thousands of innovative, tech-enabled, high-growth companies across the country that make up the U.S. startup ecosystem.
The Board of Directors of Engine—a nonprofit that works with a community of thousands of high-tech, growth-oriented startups across the nation to support technology entrepreneurship—announced this week that it has appointed Kate Tummarello as the organization’s new Executive Director. Kate has been at Engine since 2017 and has served as Engine’s Policy Director since 2019, working on privacy, intermediary liability, and telecommunications issues.
The Big Story: States pushing social media laws based on unfounded bias claims. Republican state policymakers across the country are pushing for laws that would stop social media companies from engaging in content moderation, amplifying GOP politicians’ long-standing complaints about anti-conservative bias, which were refuted in a recent report. But while Republicans have directed their ire at large Internet companies and Section 230—a bedrock Internet law that allows companies of all sizes to host and moderate user content without being held liable for the content they moderate or for what their users post—their state-level efforts to ban moderation are legally problematic and would hurt small and new companies attempting to compete in the Internet ecosystem.
Journimap L3C is a social enterprise startup and cloud-based application that uses qualitative research methods and ethnography concepts to map out the experiences and journeys of patients, customers, service workers, and others. We spoke with the Founder and CEO of Journimap, John Corrigan, to learn more about his startup’s work, how the pandemic has affected his business, and why net neutrality and social business models are important.
TLDR: As we round out the second week of the Biden administration, the president is continuing to chart out the country’s long-term economic recovery from the pandemic. While President Joe Biden has already taken a number of positive early steps—including prioritizing vaccination efforts, rescinding harmful immigration orders issued by the previous administration, and advancing racial equity efforts—it is integral that the administration devote time during its first 100 days in office to support and strengthen America’s startup ecosystem across a range of policy areas.
The Big Story: Biden’s regulatory freeze is a mixed bag for startups. President Joe Biden’s decision to institute a 60-day regulatory freeze on new or pending rules from federal agencies and executive departments could significantly impact the U.S. startup community. As the Biden administration undertakes this assessment, which gives officials the opportunity to review proposed regulations from the previous administration, federal officials should take care to refrain from holding up any policies that would expand and enhance entrepreneurship, while taking a closer look at rules that would prove detrimental to innovation and competition.
Arrowhead Incubator is working to advance social and economic welfare through the empowerment of Native American entrepreneurs, small businesses, and industry. We recently spoke with Shiloh Slomsky, the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Arrowhead Incubator, to learn more about the organization’s work providing business ideation education, growing Native American entrepreneurship, and the policy challenges faced by Native American entrepreneurs.
In a new Medium post, Engine announced the launch of our Startup Agenda 2021, which outlines the policy priorities of the U.S. startup community. The Startup Agenda 2021 covers a range of policy issues that include capital access, connectivity, intellectual property, privacy, and more. As we explain in our post below, there are startups in every state and congressional district across the country, and their perspective is especially critical if policymakers hope to craft rules and regulations that boost innovation and competition.
The Big Story: Biden administration hits the ground running on immigration. The technology sector is already rallying behind President Joe Biden’s early immigration moves, which have included rolling back several of the previous administration’s harmful immigration policies and proposing legislation that would overhaul the nation’s immigration system. Now, entrepreneurs are hopeful that Biden will continue to undo the last administration’s policies, which have, among other things, limited tech companies’ access to high-skilled, foreign born talent.
As scientists and other researchers continue to raise concerns about the role of methane in global warming, startups like New York-based Bluefield Technologies are using satellites, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to better pinpoint methane emissions from space. We spoke with the Founder and CEO of Bluefield Technologies, Yotam Ariel, to learn more about his startup’s work, his experience as an immigrant entrepreneur, and how policymakers can support the growth of other innovative immigrant-founded startups across the country.
TLDR: As President Joe Biden’s transition team continues to vet and identify key federal officials, agencies that contribute to technology and small business policy—such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)—will likely see new leaders in the coming months. As the Biden team picks new federal officials, however, it should be guided by a commitment to supporting and enabling the nation’s innovation ecosystem.
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