Mike Asem

Meto is a nonprofit that works to increase access to higher education for talented international students all over the world. Named after the Latin word for "gather,"​ Meto uses educational data to provide higher education institutions with an unprecedented opportunity to gather worthy international students to their campuses. [The Problem] For students around the world, access to higher education is limited. Further, higher education institutions around the world often find that their efforts to recruit international students are not as effective as they would like. Both sides are left wanting more. [The Cause] Currently, students bear the burden of navigating a complex, expensive, and culturally-foreign application process. These challenges prevent students from finding tertiary-study opportunities that already exist. [The Solution] Meto reverses the application process so that students are no longer solely responsible for finding higher education opportunities; institutions now have the opportunity to contact and recruit students who never would have applied on their own. To facilitate this, Meto builds a database of end-of-secondary-school exam results, combines it with students’ contact and financial information, and presents it to institutions to use as a recruiting tool. Institutions can then sort, search, and evaluate students through the database and reach out to those who might be a good fit at their institution. With the impetus on the institutions to make contact with students (rather than the other way around), we believe that far more matches will be made.

No one plans for a Traumatic Injury, that shouldnt mean you have to figure it out on your own. TandemStride is building a resilient survivor community by connecting individuals with shared, lived-experience in Trauma to improve outcomes and quality of life for survivors. The launch of TandemStride heralds a new era in trauma recovery, emphasizing the importance of survivorship and community in the healing process. Join us and make a difference in someones life today!

Chipp helps create actual value with AI. Create private, secure ChatGPTs based on your knowledge and files. Customize them to your business. You can brand, embed, use for lead generation, and sell. Easily move from AI idea to AI product, even without code. Use Chipp to build, brand, share, and sell your ideas with AI.

🚧 Empowering the Construction Industry with Automated Data Solutions 🛠️ At Pavewise, we’re transforming how the horizontal construction industry manages projects, weather risks, and compliance. Our mission is simple: help contractors work smarter, not harder. Born from nearly two decades of real-world paving and construction experience, Pavewise was built to solve the biggest challenges facing contractors today—miscommunication, inefficiencies, and weather disruptions. After managing over 2,900 miles of asphalt paving across 33 states and 27 international airports, our team knew there had to be a better way. That’s why we created Pavewise, an intelligent construction management platform designed specifically for the asphalt paving industry. Pavewise combines real-time data tracking, predictive analytics, and AI-driven automation to keep projects on schedule, on budget, and running at peak efficiency. Today, Pavewise is protecting over $20 billion in construction projects nationwide, empowering teams to make smarter decisions and deliver higher-quality results.

Waldo is a platform that facilitates the movement of timber from the forest to the mill. Post your load on the Waldo board and truckers in the area will apply to haul it. Foresters can see in real-time the current status of their job. Mills can see which loads are coming and who is bringing them. All on Waldo!

Warp World is a software developer focused on building interactive tools to enhance Video Game and Livestreaming experiences. We are a company for and by streamers, and we use our experience on digital content creation and game development to find missing pieces that we can fill in with code. Warp World is the mind behind Crowd Control, the renowned interactive gaming application. Crowd Control is an app for livestreamers that allows their viewers to interact with the games they play in real time. Crowd Control supports 100+ games, both retro and modern; has been installed by over 80,000 streamers and has helped them take home over $2.5MM USD in extra revenue. Our team is working daily on creating unique gaming experiences that you cant find on current platforms and we are excited to work along side creative minds in the Video Game industry to bring our experiences to their products.

The Cumin Club is bringing the new India to tables around the world. We deliver authentic, regionally inspired Indian meals (made in India by Indian chefs!) and freeze-dried for freshness, convenience, and clean-label simplicity. Just add hot water and enjoy in minutes. ❌ No preservatives. ❌ No seed oils. ❌ No shortcuts. What started as care packages from a mom in India to her son in the U.S. has grown into a fast-growing brand that’s served over 3 million meals globally. We’re rooted in tradition but built for today’s pace- proudly preserving the flavor, culture, and comfort of home-cooked Indian food. We believe food is more than just fuel. It’s identity. It’s memory. It’s joy. 🌍 Based in the U.S. and India 📦 Available online at thecuminclub.com + Amazon 🚀 Backed by Listen Ventures, M25, and a growing community of fans Interested in exploring a partnership? We’re always open to partnerships that celebrate food, culture, and community! Drop us a note or visit thecuminclub.com to connect.

Alkeme is a mental health platform that simplifies access to Black therapists and culturally aligned resources. Our platform also features a library of mental wellness resources developed by respected clinical experts. Headquartered in Chicago, IL— Alkeme aims to create generational health for the Black community, one step at a time. For more information, please visit. www.alkemehealth.com

Plural helps public policy teams build AI directly into your public policy and regulatory work with specialized AI for bill tracking, regulatory compliance, and legislative analysis. Our customers include Google, Comcast, NBC Universal, The Associated Press, Common Cause, The University of Minnesota, Rockefeller Foundation, and other leading advocacy, policy research, and corporate government relations teams around the world. Plural is backed by leading names in venture capital including S3, Anthos, Menlo, M25, Bread & Butter, and Techstars. | Get started today: pluralpolicy.com

Pear is the retail ecommerce platform that connects CPGs to retailers, converting shoppable tools into actionable insights that fuel performance marketing.   For CPG Companies: Pear brings your digital marketing to life by adding a call to action. Consumers can purchase a product or claim an offer right from the ad, and Pear provides the shoppability for a local retailer who can fulfill the transaction. Pear collects your consumer’s information, so you’ll know your customers and their purchasing behavior better, while driving more sales for your products. For Retailers: Pear brings consumers to your online ordering. When a consumer interacts with a CPG advertisement, we pair the transaction with a retailer and create a new account in their online ordering system. Pear brings you high-intent audiences looking to purchase, and partners with CPG companies to bring you more business. Pear provides a supplement to CPC marketing to bring you more accounts at a fraction of the cost.

Build your strategic plan, increase visibility, and drive engagement leveraging Elate’s Dynamic Strategic Planning platform. Connect long-term vision, annual goals, and quarterly objectives with ease in Elate. Strategy & Operations leaders of high growth companies have been ignored for far too long. It’s time we change that. Let’s tackle strategic planning together, and give your strategy the focus it deserves. Request a demo to see Elate in action.

Venture capital is more than funding—it’s a catalyst for economic opportunity. At BLCK VC, we equip Black investors with the expertise, networks, and capital they need to lead the next wave of innovation. By broadening who gets to participate in VC, we unlock new pathways to prosperity, cultivate tomorrow’s leaders, and fortify communities nationwide. BLCK VC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that equips Black investors with the access, education, and community they need to accelerate their careers in venture capital. Venture firms in the United States invest over $130 billion annually, however, Black investors have systematically been excluded from mobilizing this capital. Today, only 3% of venture capital investors are Black; additionally, only 2% of partners–individuals that make investment decisions–at venture firms are Black. In recent years, venture capital has only scratched the surface of its potential. BLCK VC is on a mission to turn it into a true engine of generational wealth and innovation—cultivating new leaders, unlocking capital for untapped talent, and expanding access to the networks and resources that drive tomorrow’s breakthroughs.

ScriptDrop is the only healthcare IT company specializing in medication access that serves patients in all 50 states. Since 2016, ScriptDrop has worked alongside their healthcare partners to deliver medication access opportunities to patients from coast to coast through technology, empathy, and healthcare expertise. Through a robust platform, long-term data storage, multiple service levels, and first-class customer service, ScriptDrop is driving down rates of hospital readmission and improving drug adherence. ScriptDrop has helped pharmacies reduce return to stock rates by 88% and has helped health systems increase their same-day delivery volume by 73% after just two months of partnership.

PicDiversity, Inc. is a nonprofit that exists to provide teachers with photos that mirror the diversity of their students. America’s classrooms are a mix of races, nationalities, genders and disabilities. Photos used as visual aides to demonstrate appropriate school behaviors or subject objectives, should reflect this diversity.

Meto is a nonprofit that works to increase access to higher education for talented international students all over the world. Named after the Latin word for "gather,"​ Meto uses educational data to provide higher education institutions with an unprecedented opportunity to gather worthy international students to their campuses. [The Problem] For students around the world, access to higher education is limited. Further, higher education institutions around the world often find that their efforts to recruit international students are not as effective as they would like. Both sides are left wanting more. [The Cause] Currently, students bear the burden of navigating a complex, expensive, and culturally-foreign application process. These challenges prevent students from finding tertiary-study opportunities that already exist. [The Solution] Meto reverses the application process so that students are no longer solely responsible for finding higher education opportunities; institutions now have the opportunity to contact and recruit students who never would have applied on their own. To facilitate this, Meto builds a database of end-of-secondary-school exam results, combines it with students’ contact and financial information, and presents it to institutions to use as a recruiting tool. Institutions can then sort, search, and evaluate students through the database and reach out to those who might be a good fit at their institution. With the impetus on the institutions to make contact with students (rather than the other way around), we believe that far more matches will be made.

No one plans for a Traumatic Injury, that shouldnt mean you have to figure it out on your own. TandemStride is building a resilient survivor community by connecting individuals with shared, lived-experience in Trauma to improve outcomes and quality of life for survivors. The launch of TandemStride heralds a new era in trauma recovery, emphasizing the importance of survivorship and community in the healing process. Join us and make a difference in someones life today!

Chipp helps create actual value with AI. Create private, secure ChatGPTs based on your knowledge and files. Customize them to your business. You can brand, embed, use for lead generation, and sell. Easily move from AI idea to AI product, even without code. Use Chipp to build, brand, share, and sell your ideas with AI.

🚧 Empowering the Construction Industry with Automated Data Solutions 🛠️ At Pavewise, we’re transforming how the horizontal construction industry manages projects, weather risks, and compliance. Our mission is simple: help contractors work smarter, not harder. Born from nearly two decades of real-world paving and construction experience, Pavewise was built to solve the biggest challenges facing contractors today—miscommunication, inefficiencies, and weather disruptions. After managing over 2,900 miles of asphalt paving across 33 states and 27 international airports, our team knew there had to be a better way. That’s why we created Pavewise, an intelligent construction management platform designed specifically for the asphalt paving industry. Pavewise combines real-time data tracking, predictive analytics, and AI-driven automation to keep projects on schedule, on budget, and running at peak efficiency. Today, Pavewise is protecting over $20 billion in construction projects nationwide, empowering teams to make smarter decisions and deliver higher-quality results.

Waldo is a platform that facilitates the movement of timber from the forest to the mill. Post your load on the Waldo board and truckers in the area will apply to haul it. Foresters can see in real-time the current status of their job. Mills can see which loads are coming and who is bringing them. All on Waldo!