At the Make It in Brooklyn AI Tech for Good Pitch Contest, Libbie Health founder Colette Ellis stole the show with her pitch to support the mental health of BIPOC women. In a steep competition, Ellis showcased an innovative use of AI technology for good, impressing the judges to win the $5,000 cash prize and in-kind legal services provided by Brooklyn Law School.
It was a close competition, and Libbie Health competed against four other AI-based startups, including InterviewMaster, an app to help college students build interview and professional skills, founded by Alhouseny Camara and Roneil Boodie; Azul Bio, which creates probiotic treatments from nature that mitigate human impact on ocean life, founded by Aleksandr Rikhterman; Pajama Cats Media, an AI-powered reading co-pilot that develops early language skills, founded by Homer Quan; and Tilosia, founded by Dr. Matthew Campisi, introducing a new device, Tremcare, that improves care and treatments for Parkinson’s disease using self-assessments to track motor and cognitive functions in patients.
Tap with Libbie, Libbie Health’s AI-based mental health companion, assists with workplace mental health challenges and improves mental health outcomes through increased access to culturally competent digital care. Tap with Libbie uses on-demand access to the EFT-Tapping method to reduce anxiety, depression, and stress for BIPOC women. This progressive technology allows users to share their feelings and receive personalized feedback and tapping methods to release anxiety. Users record feelings in the app and AI-technology tracks patterns in times of stress to identify correlating triggers. Additionally, Libbie can save employers $2-$4 for every dollar they invest in prevention and early intervention of mental health conditions through their application, as compared to businesses who invest in traditional care.
Hosted at Gotham Market at the Ashland, attendees came out to see these impressive contestants pitch to five expert judges. With only three minutes to present, the finalist pitches were supported by extensive data and research. The judges panel featured a range of experts from successful startups, city agencies, and institutions: Jimmy Chen, Founder of Propel; Martha Norrick, Chief Technology Officer at NYC Office of Data Analytics; Craig Wilson, Managing Director at NYU Tandon Urban Future Labs; and Etay Zwick, Design Manager at NewLab. Showcasing many areas of expertise, the competition gave a firsthand look into the potential for the rapidly evolving AI tech sector.
Make It in Brooklyn is DBP’s initiative to supports entrepreneurship and strengthens Brooklyn’s innovation ecosystem through a series of pitch contests, meet-ups, and panels. These events have brought together hundreds of entrepreneurs and provided over $125K in seed money, as well as valuable pro-bono professional services. Learn more about Make It in Brooklyn events, and sign up for the Make It in Brooklyn newsletter to stay up-to-date with our news and programs.
Thanks to our event sponsor, Con Edison for their ongoing support, and our partners at Brooklyn Law Incubator and Policy Clinic (BLIP) at Brooklyn Law School and The Gotham Organization.
