17 entrepreneurs in hardtech and sustainability conclude mPOWER program
mHUB has officially wrapped the 2025 cycle of the mPOWER Program, a six-month accelerator designed to guide founders through the earliest and most critical stages of venture creation. This year, 17 startups completed the program across two tracks—HardTech and Energy & Sustainability—each bringing forward new solutions in manufacturing, climate resilience, health, and consumer technology.
Since joining the program in June, founders participated in a structured curriculum focused on customer discovery, technical feasibility, and early commercialization strategy. This year’s mPOWER Program combined two specialized focus areas—Energy & Sustainability, supported by Salesforce, and HardTech—into a single collaborative cohort. This structure enabled cross-disciplinary learning while still providing founders with industry-specific resources.
Throughout the program, the cohort engaged with mHUB’s technical infrastructure—including prototyping labs, design resources, fabrication equipment, and engineering experts—allowing teams to rapidly iterate and test concepts. Advisory teams provided guidance on go-to-market strategy, pricing, IP protection, early operations, and investor readiness.
Across the cohort, 89% of founders reported feeling highly supported in reaching their desirability, feasibility, and viability milestones. Additionally, 67% cited peer relationships as a valuable component of their development—an outcome resulting directly from the program’s pod structure.
“mPOWER's multi-layered learning approach—combining workshops, advisor hours, and structured LMS content—gives founders both flexibility and clear direction. 89% of participants expressed feeling fully supported through their milestones,” reflected Amy Kamin, Founder Success Liaison.
To mark the completion of the program, mHUB hosted a final showcase where founders presented their technologies and added their logo tile to the mHUB Member Wall.
Progress of the cohort:
Aura Life Science - Aura Life Science is a biomanufacturing platform that turns CO₂ into valuable bioproducts while reducing production costs. Aura Life will be opening a pre-seed round in early 2026.
Biotics - Biotics is developing a prosthetic knee system that predicts a user’s intended knee angle through EMG signals, reducing overcompensation pain and enabling natural gait. They are raising $180,000 to complete development of our smart liner and prosthetic knee and bring both up to regulatory-ready standards.
Breakwater Labs - Breakwater Labs is creating Canal Finder, a modular alignment block that improves intraoperative imaging accuracy and drilling guidance during orthopedic procedures. They are seeking non-dilutive funding opportunities and connections to resources that can help support our journey.
CuraFitt - Curafitt is developing a smart knee wearable that provides real-time feedback to support at-home physical therapy and better exercise adherence. Curafitt is asking for $200,000 in funding and connections with angel investors, PTs and orthopedic doctors and surgeons.
EcoGrains - Ecograins produces sustainable aviation fuel from agricultural waste using patented microbial fermentation technology that reduces emissions by up to 80%. Ecograins is looking for introductions to Clean energy tech investors, Fuel distributors, OEMs, Corn & Ethanol producers, SAF certification experts, or ASTM D7566 regulatory advisors.
Floramigo - Floramigo is building an intelligent plant-care companion that uses advanced sensing, automated care features, and conversational AI to improve plant health. Their next step is raise $750,000 Pre-Seed Round to complete product development, finalize our hardware prototype, and prepare for our first small production run.
Friendly Cup - Friendly Cup is developing a compact, discreet hygiene solution for young children to use public restrooms safely and conveniently. They are looking for parents and caregivers to test the friendly cup and provide valuable feedback.
Gravity Farms - Gravity Farms is creating a scalable operating system and tissue-culture plant cloning platform to help growers source consistent, high-margin plant inventory. Gravity Farms is raising $450K in pre-seed funding to build their first full scale farm in Chicago, grow initial revenue, and prove product-market fit. They're also looking for unused office or commercial space that could be converted into a greenhouse.
Hyphae Composites - Hyphae Composites is currently developing an industrial circular manufacturing platform that converts plastic scrap into production-grade pellets for reuse. They are looking for partners to test and co-develop production pilots.
Legacy Biomass - Legacy Biomass provides modular waste-to-energy solutions that turn organic waste into accessible, cost-effective energy for commercial users. Legacy Biomass is looking for strategic introductions to potential pilot hosts in Chicago and leads on early funding sources.
Oxypendant - Oxypendant is developing a wearable device that extracts oxygen from ambient air to offer users portable access to concentrated oxygen without tanks or refills. They're seeking engineering partnerships, micro-compressor expertise, and early investor conversations tied to prototype milestones.
POMwear - POMwear is creating adaptive smart clothing that delivers personalized, algorithm-guided pain relief for individuals with severe menstrual pain. POMwear is looking for guidance on non-dilutive funding pathways and introductions to women’s health organizations, clinicians, researchers, and advocates who can support the company's validation, piloting, and distribution.
SAFe.TY.her - SAFe.TY.her is developing the first safety hard hat designed specifically around women’s anatomy to address widespread PPE fit and safety challenges. They are currently raising $500,000 in a pre-seed round to bring this product to the market. SAFe.TY,her welcomes connections to potential investors or other funding resources to help us accelerate our impact.
Stealthy Feet - Stealthy Feet is developing sensor-embedded compression socks that provide gait analysis and tailored exercise routines for injury recovery and strength training. Stealthy Feet is seeking $250,000 to support product development efforts, introductions to any Chicago based Physical Therapists. and to connect with Engineers and Designers passionate about public health and technology
Targeted Technology Solutions- developing TrackSure™, a BLE/NFC-enabled smart sticker that creates a reliable chain of custody for last-mile deliveries and flags potential fraud. To advance commericalization and Go-To-Market, Targeted Technology Solutions is seeking $250,000 in funding for product development and manufacturing partners for smart-label production and low-power communication hardware.
Treeify - Treeify offers a tree-growing kit and digital engagement platform enabling individuals and businesses to participate in carbon reduction with measurable impact. They're seeking introductions to partners, organizations, and advisors who can help shape and validate Treeify's MVP and early testing.
As the program concludes, these 17 startups will continue toward prototype refinement, pilot development, customer engagement, and pre-seed fundraising. Each venture leaves with a validated roadmap and a stronger foundation for scale.
Tiles & Toast: welcoming the cohort to the mHUB member wall
The mHUB Tiles & Toasts tradition provides a platform for founders to share insights, recap early learnings, and outline next steps as they advance toward investment and market readiness. During the event, each company installs a custom tile on the mHUB Member Wall, cheered on by staff, mentors, and members of the mHUB community.
Looking Ahead
The conclusion of the mPOWER Program marks an important milestone, but it represents only the starting point for these emerging companies. As alumni, founders will continue to receive support from mHUB’s community of mentors, engineers, program alumni, partners, and investors.
To learn more about how to get engaged with future mPOWER programs, visit the mPOWER Page.
