NY-MORGAN-STANLEY
6.9.2022 17:42:37 CEST | Business Wire | Press release
Morgan Stanley today announced the eighth cohort of the Multicultural Innovation Lab. The in-house accelerator program for technology and technology-enabled startups in the post-seed to Series A funding round stage targets companies with multicultural or women founders, co-founders, CTOs or other C-suite members who are developing innovative solutions across sectors. Now in its sixth year and with 69 total participating companies to date, the program is expanding globally for the first time, with participating companies in both the US and in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
From September 2022 to February 2023, the founders—the majority of whom are women and ethnically diverse—and their companies will participate in a customized accelerator program designed to enhance their growth and development. Chosen from over 2,500 applications, these leaders will benefit from the close support of Morgan Stanley’s global ecosystem of internal and external partners, which will provide a variety of mentorship opportunities and business-growth resources. Through MCIL, Morgan Stanley also makes investments in these early-stage, high-growth startups.
“We are particularly excited to welcome our first global cohort, representing multicultural and women-led innovation in business around the world,” said Selma Bueno, Managing Director and Head of the Multicultural Client Strategy Group. “This new stage in MCIL’s development represents our continued efforts to create a more equitable investment landscape for women- and diverse-led startups and ensure that more overlooked entrepreneurs—and their communities—have the opportunity to succeed.”
The companies that have been selected for the Fall 2022 cohort include the following:
- Advocat is a legal software platform developed to streamline the process of creating and operationalizing legal documents.
- AMAKA Studio is a digital media platform connecting a global community of women sharing Pan-African stories.
- AuditMate is a provider of SaaS-driven vertical transportation maintenance and contract management services. The solution helps property managers with contract analysis, maintenance completion reporting, compliance management and more.
- Gentreo is a software solution helping families and caregivers affordably and easily prepare, plan and protect all they love with next generation estate planning.
- Here Here Market is an online marketplace for food enthusiasts to discover and buy specialty products from ‘chef-prenuers’ and small-batch artisans.
- imagi is an education tech company leveraging proprietary coding education tools to equip girls with essential technology skills and confidence.
- Kami is an AI-powered family support platform providing personalized access to a wide range of wellness consultants, as well as an expertly curated and comprehensive range of guides, articles and tips.
- Perse is a single data technology platform leveraging energy and carbon data from all meters in Britain to report and optimize the energy and carbon footprint for individuals, households and businesses.
- Physician 360 transforms community pharmacies into healthcare clinics by empowering them with access to a virtual care platform.
- Wearisma is a global enterprise SaaS influencer analytics platform helping large-scale companies to optimize marketing spend and to achieve communication objectives.
The Fall cohort will operate in a hybrid environment, using a combination of online video platforms and in-person events to facilitate the curriculum, enhance connectivity and foster community. The program will culminate in the eighth Multicultural Innovation Lab Showcase and Demo Day, when the 10 participating companies will present to potential investors, business partners and customers.
For the last two years, MCIL has been named one of the World’s Best Innovation Labs by Global Finance Magazine. The Lab continues to successfully increase access to capital for diverse entrepreneurs, as evidenced by resulting company acquisitions and additional funding rounds following participation in the program. Some notable examples include:
- Relationship intelligence platform Stimulus raised a $2.5 million seed round to grow partnerships and expand the team with engineering, data science and sales talent.
- Lillii RNB, an AI-powered fraud prevention and investigation SaaS solution for retailers, raised a $3 million seed round from co-leads Serena Ventures and Aperture Venture Capital to capitalize on sales opportunities and grow its partnership network.
- Event management software platform Five to Nine raised a $4.25 million seed round to expand its engineering capability, accelerate product development and grow the team.
About the Multicultural Innovation Lab
The Multicultural Innovation Lab (MCIL) is an intensive five-month in-house accelerator designed to help further develop and scale startups, culminating in a showcase presentation and Demo Day to the investor community. Morgan Stanley launched MCIL in 2017 in order to address inequities in funding of ethnically diverse- and women-led startups, which our research shows equals over four trillion dollars in unrealized returns.
The team is led by New York-based Selma Bueno, Managing Director and Global Head of the Multicultural Client Strategy Group, and London-based Sanghamitra Karra, Managing Director and EMEA Head of the Multicultural Client Strategy Group. Together, they have over 35 years of investment banking and risk management experience.
Listen to the Access & Opportunity with Carla Harris podcast on your platform of choice to learn about the players driving change among diverse entrepreneurs, the investor community and the world.
About Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in 41 countries, the Firm’s employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit https://www.morganstanley.com/.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220906005822/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Dryad Networks Reaches XPRIZE Wildfire Finals Milestone, Demonstrating Autonomous Detection and Suppression of Wildfires in Alaska8.7.2026 17:00:00 CEST | Press release
Dryad Networks, the leader in ultra-early wildfire detection technology, today announced a major achievement in the finals of the Autonomous Wildfire Response track of XPRIZE Wildfire, a four-year, $11 million global competition accelerating new solutions to end destructive wildfires. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260707802818/en/ The Silvaguard Suppression Drone can deliver a 100 liter liquid suppressant to autonomously suppress small wildfires detected by Silvanet Competing against just two other finalists selected from an original field of nearly 300 teams worldwide, Dryad successfully demonstrated the integrated capabilities of its Silvanet wildfire detection network and Silvaguard autonomous firefighting drone system during final testing in remote Alaska. The XPRIZE Wildfire finals challenged teams to autonomously detect and suppress a wildfire without any human intervention across a vast 1,000 square k
Rigaku Opens "Rigaku Solutions Center Osaka" to Strengthen Global Semiconductor Metrology Service Capabilities8.7.2026 17:00:00 CEST | Press release
- Centralizing and Expanding Practical Training to Strengthen Global Service Capabilities - Rigaku Corporation, a global solution partner in X-ray analytical systems and a group company of Rigaku Holdings Corporation (headquarters: Akishima, Tokyo; CEO: Jun Kawakami; “Rigaku”), has opened the Rigaku Solutions Center Osaka (RSC-Osaka) at its Osaka Plant. The new facility centralizes and expands practical training for field service engineers supporting semiconductor metrology systems, strengthening Rigaku's global service capabilities. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260708402770/en/ Photo: Hands-on training using the TXRF-V310 at RSC-Osaka As semiconductor manufacturing processes continue to advance toward finer geometries, higher layer counts, and more complex three-dimensional structures, semiconductor metrology systems require ever greater precision and operational stability. X-ray analytical technologies pl
Cardiac Dimensions® Announces Three Major Publications Demonstrating Long-Term Durability, Real-World Performance, and Broad Patient Benefit of the Carillon Mitral Contour System®8.7.2026 16:05:00 CEST | Press release
New data highlight multi-center 5-year durability, 10-year survival, and the largest single-center experience across both HFrEF and HFpEF patients with functional mitral regurgitation Cardiac Dimensions, a leader in transcatheter therapies for heart failure, today announced the publication of three major manuscripts that together form the most comprehensive evidence base ever assembled for transcatheter indirect mitral annuloplasty. These publications span a five-year multi-center commercial registry, the largest single-center experience across both preserved and reduced ejection fraction, and long-term survival results through ten years. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260707656796/en/ Carillon Mitral Contour System® The Carillon Mitral Contour System is the only commercially available indirect mitral annuloplasty device, designed to treat a broad and expanding population of patients living with functional mi
First Randomized Controlled Trial Shows Promise of a Ketogenic Diet in Psychotic Disorders8.7.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Trial reports correlations between ketone levels and cognitive and psychiatric symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum and bipolar-1 disorders Published today in Schizophrenia Bulletin, a first-of-its-kind randomized controlled trial (RCT) from researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and funded in part by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), adds to growing literature on the potential benefit of a ketogenic diet for treating psychotic disorders. The study, which enrolled participants with schizophrenia-spectrum or bipolar-1 disorders, demonstrated rapid metabolic improvements with a ketogenic diet compared to diet-as-usual during an initial one-month RCT open-label phase. Furthermore, those who continued with the optional four-month single-arm ketogenic diet extension saw meaningful gains across metabolic, psychiatric, and cognitive measures. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.co
Teamily AI Publicly Launches Human+AI Social Platform to Make Building and Growing a Company Easy for Every Team8.7.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Teamily AI (https://Teamily.ai), together with its Agentic AI Infra platform TensorOpera AI (https://TensorOpera.ai), today announced the public launch of its Human+AI social platform, a product stack that has already served more than 5 million users around the world. Starting today in Palo Alto and rolling out simultaneously across dozens of countries, this first public launch opens the full stack to everyone with a single mission: to make building and growing a company easy for every person and every team. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260708584390/en/ "This is the moment we open our doors to the world," said co-founders Dr. Aiden Chaoyang He and Professor Salman Avestimehr. "We want every person and every team to be able to move from idea to product, from product to market, and from market to growth and investment, with an AI-native team by their side." At its core, Teamily AI enables humans and AI agents
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom