Lair East Labs Announces 2022 Startup Accelerator Cohort

NEW YORK (October 12, 2022) –(BUSINESS WIRE)– Lair East Labs today announced the kickoff of its 2022 startup accelerator program. Nine diverse startups have received investments of up to $150,000 through collaboration with Lair East Labs’ capital partner, Sunstone Management, and will receive operational support or advisory in legal, financial, tax, product, sales, hiring, and marketing matters, as well as market entry and international opportunities from the program.

Lair East Labs is focused on building international communities, and the participating founders for the 2022 program originate from France, China, Turkey, Switzerland, New Zealand, Argentina, and Lebanon, in addition to the United States.

“The cohort of nine startups participating in our 2022 program demonstrate creativity, innovation, and global reach, and we could not be more excited to support them in their growth over the next three months and beyond,” said Jie Li, Director of Operations and Partnership at Lair East Labs. “Through the program, we look forward to seeing our founders leverage acceleration, investment, and our international community as they build their ventures.”

“Sunstone believes in diversified, founder-focused economic development and Lair East Labs is unique in its pursuit of that ideal,” added Sunstone CEO and Managing Partner John Keisler. “We are thrilled to assist the startups in LEL’s 2022 program and can’t wait to see the results from their insights and support they will gain.”

The 2022 cohort includes products in the fields of AI, SaaS, FinTech, HR Tech, logistics, marketplace, eCommerce, semiconductor, and InsurTech.

The startups participating in the 2022 program are:

• LocalAway, a first-of-its-kind digital social shopping platform that utilizes cutting-edge video technology and a worldwide network of influencers to a list of clothes that shoppers can buy and wear to adhere to local fashion trends.
• SINC, is a simple-to-use SaaS product that simplifies managing a mobile workforce by taking care of timesheets, location tracking, staff scheduling, and job tracking.
• BallBox, a platform that brands use to sample and sell products in kiosk environments across the United States. BallBox is the only kiosk that can be used for package management as well as product discovery, sampling, rentals, and purchases.
• Equal Time helps companies reduce wasted time and increase engagement in virtual meetings by providing data analytics and an AI-Coach.
• Rene Health, a unique health & safety tool that provides 360 degrees of protection for any domestic or international trip. Using a proprietary algorithm, Rene finds the perfect travel health insurance plan and gives the user access to medical services and safety information around the world.
• Clearing Bank is a banking solution tailored for Short Term Rental operators to automate bookkeeping and access unit-level cash flow.
• anthym is pioneering the Connection category in the workplace and beyond, helping organizations inspire their people to bring their whole selves to work. anthym leverages the power of personal storytelling, aided by music and other inspirational media, to help the members of a team reflect on and catalog some of the more meaningful and important memories from their lives, which is then brought to life through personal storytelling and memory-sharing experiences.
• Design with FRANK is a design platform with building material and home goods databases. Their AI design technology empowers everyone to create a beautiful home for themselves and shop for materials to build it.
• NeuronSpike is developing brain-inspired AI processor IP blocks and software APIs to deliver highly cost-effective and reliable machine learning for AI-driven companies.

The program builds to Demo Day, scheduled for the week of December 5. Founders will demonstrate their products and pitch to a select, invite-only audience of angel, seed, and venture capital investors.

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About Sunstone Management: A Financial Times (FT) Americas’ Fastest Growing Company

Sunstone Management is a diversified private capital firm located in Southern California that invests in diverse early-stage technology entrepreneurs who seek to build great companies. We believe in the aspirational power of the American economy to attract and inspire investors and entrepreneurs from throughout the world. We deliver new and exciting opportunities for economic growth through the creation of innovative public-private partnerships, and our unique experience across government, education, and private sectors.

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About Lair East Labs:

Lair East Labs is a startup accelerator based in New York that empowers founders to expand internationally. In the first five years of operation, our portfolio companies have raised over $40 million in funding after completing the accelerator. Our program combines the best of two worlds – learn from alumni founders of top Silicon Valley-style accelerators and gain access to a network of mentors and investors with extensive experience navigating the U.S. and Asian markets. In 2019, Lair East Labs was recognized as one of the “Top 100 Accelerators Worldwide” by Crunchbase.