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Announcing the Tom Tom Innovation Showcase Presenters

  • 2 days ago
  • 5 min read

Updated: 4 hours ago


Virginia’s Builders, Founders, and Breakthroughs are taking center stage at the Innovation Summit


The Tom Tom Innovation Showcases at the Innovation Summit (April 23-24, 2026) spotlight the people and companies shaping the future of Virginia’s economy — from high-growth startups and emerging technologies to small businesses and community-driven innovation.

Each Showcase celebrates excellence, accelerates opportunity, and connects founders to investors, partners, customers, and champions across the Commonwealth. Together, they form a signature platform within the 14th Annual Tom Tom Festival, elevating innovation at every scale — from Main Street to moonshots.


Showcases:



THURSDAY, APRIL 23

Presented with Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC), these startups from across the Commonwealth are breaking new ground.

Healp - Elizabeth Tikoyan, Founder & CEO

Healp is an AI-powered diagnostic intelligence platform that matches a patient's symptoms and medical history with the real-world journeys of verified patients to identify likely conditions and provide actionable next steps for faster, more accurate diagnoses.


Index HealthTech - Steve Waddell, President / CEO and Principal Investigator

Index Health is a data-driven personalized medicine platform that combines advanced lab testing (including genetics and gut microbiome analysis) with clinical expertise to identify and treat the root causes of chronic conditions through functional medicine.


Side Nerd Apps - Emily Smith, Founder & Engineer

Side Nerd Apps is a software development company that builds AI-powered, text-based interfaces to replace complex apps and forms, allowing users to track data, update tasks, and access resources via simple SMS workflows.


MOVA Technologies, Inc - John Schott, CEO

MOVA Technologies is an AgTech and industrial filtration company developing patented, scalable air quality solutions that use advanced material science to extract and repurpose airborne contaminants, initially focusing on enhancing the efficiency and resilience of the poultry sector.


Liquet Medical - Derek Hall, Co-Founder & COO

Liquet is an early-stage medical device company developing innovative vascular drug delivery technologies designed to improve cardiovascular patient outcomes and promote long-term healthcare sustainability.



AI & Data | 2:00pm

The founders in this showcase are building the next generation of intelligent tools, platforms, and applications.

Ara Platforms - Mari Soonsoo Bae, Co-Founder and CEO

Ara Platforms is a structured workspace for data teams that turns analytical work into reusable insights and traceable, stakeholder-ready reports.


hidn.ai - Lisa Lewis, Co-Founder

hidn is an AI-driven people intelligence platform that reveals untapped employee skills and builds internal network maps to help organizations staff projects, match mentors, and improve talent retention.


UpBrains AI - Hamid Motahari, Founder and CEO

UpBrains AI provides a no-code automation platform that uses AI agents to streamline document-centric workflows and inbox management for customer operations and supply chain teams.


Words Liive - Sage Salvo, Founder and CEO

Words Liive is an education technology platform that improves student literacy by integrating popular music and culture into lesson plans to make reading more engaging.


P.S. - Greeting Cards - Ian Haddad, CEO & CTO

P.S. is an AI powered greeting card platform that allows users to fully personalize, print, and mail custom-designed physical cards with free shipping directly from an app.



Meet the talent building platforms and software to transform how businesses operate, scale, and compete.

PriceHive - Correne Friesen, Co-founder & CEO

PriceHive is a centralized pricing and product data platform that synchronizes information between suppliers and retailers to eliminate manual spreadsheet errors, reduce price disputes, and accelerate product launches.


Einra - Jamie Swann, Founder

Einra is a real-time risk signal platform for Medicaid home- and community-based services that enables caregivers to share health and safety observations with care teams to prevent avoidable medical crises.


Joy of Wine Company, Inc. - Christopher Anderson, CEO

Joy of Wine provides a comprehensive compliance and operations platform for the wine industry, offering automated tax reporting, real-time sales validation, and AI-powered


GoodFences - Michael Timmons, Founder & CEO

GoodFences is an AI-powered platform that automates homeowners association (HOA) operations to streamline approvals, reduce administrative costs, and improve communication between boards and homeowners.


Rohic is an AI-powered orchestration platform for go-to-market teams that unifies data and brand voice to automate the creation of personalized, SEO-optimized sales and marketing content.


Otterwise - Aliyah Desautels, Founder & CEO

Otterwise is a recruitment platform that uses AI and behavioral science to match candidates with job opportunities based on cultural fit and soft skills rather than just traditional resume qualifications.


Timecoyl, Inc. - Samrat Dudhat, Founder

TimeCoyl is a calendar management platform that uses a patent-pending circular interface to help users visualize their availability and schedule events across multiple days with a single glance.



FRIDAY, APRIL 24


Presented in partnership with 434 Accelerator, this showcase highlights some of the area’s most exciting startups.

GoGood LLC - Malorie Black, Founder & CEO

GoGood is a mobile-first social platform for service that empowers nonprofits and universities to manage and scale volunteer engagement by leveraging community, gamification, and digital civic identities to inspire the rising generation to serve together.


Amphibian AI - Jack Deutsch, Co-Founder

Amphibian AI is a Charlottesville-based startup within the UVA ecosystem that develops a surgical AI retrieval system designed to analyze unstructured business data through deep code execution rather than shallow keyword matching, bringing the advanced reasoning of elite coding agents to enterprise file management.


Stride Robotics - Revanth Damerla, CEO

Stride Robotics is a medical technology company developing the first powered prosthetic knee that is lighter than the biological limb it replaces, utilizing advanced artificial muscle research to restore natural strength and mobility to people with limb loss.


MicroCatalyst - Graham Evans, Co-Founder & CEO

MicroCatalyst is a Charlottesville-based energy technology startup developing a novel Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) process that utilizes repurposed printed circuit boards as high-efficiency electrochemical flow reactors to secure critical mineral supply chains.


Suede Web Systems - Harry Dubke, Founder & CTO

Suede Web Systems is a Charlottesville-based technology firm and first-mover in AI policy monitoring, providing government and advocacy groups with specialized tools to track and analyze how AI models represent specific policy positions and political interests.



Life Sciences | 11:30am

These founders and researchers are working to redefine how we understand disease, deliver care, and improve quality of life.

EqualityMD - Justin Ayars, Founder & CEO

EqualityMD is a "pre-insurance" virtual care platform that provides inclusive, affordable telehealth services to reduce employer healthcare spending and eliminate out-of-pocket costs for employees.


Jericho Sciences LLC - Heidi Kay, CEO

Jericho Sciences is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel antiviral therapeutics and personalized diagnostic assays to improve the clinical management of chronic viral infections like HIV and Hepatitis B.


3D Orthobiologic Solutions (3DOS) - Prakash Kolli, CEO & Co-Founder 

3DOS is a medical technology company that develops customizable, 3D-printed biodegradable scaffolds designed to simplify bone grafting and accelerate bone regeneration in oral, maxillofacial, and orthopedic surgeries.


Helix Hydrogen, Inc. - Daniel Warren, Founder & CEO

Helix Hydrogen is a clean energy technology company developing next-generation electrolyzer systems designed to lower the cost of green hydrogen production and accelerate its economic viability for utilities and off-grid operators.


Mercurial AI Inc. - Dennis Trujillo, CEO

Mercurial AI is a medical technology company utilizing cutting edge artificial intelligence to provide physicians and patients with better information so they can make data driven decisions regarding their cancer treatment options.


Tralyte Health - Jay Atkinson, CEO

Tralyte Health is a medical technology company developing a portable, at-home electrolyte monitoring device designed to help patients with conditions like hypoparathyroidism manage rapid calcium fluctuations in real-time.



SPONSORS:




Contact us for information about supporting this showcase or bringing your team to the Innovation Summit.









 
 
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