NEC X unveils latest cohort amid rising startup investments

NEC X, the Silicon Valley venture studio backed by NEC’s advanced technologies and global businesses, announced the six visionary startups selected for Batch 13 of its Elev X! Ignite programme – a cohort that reflects surging demand for innovation in agriculture, healthcare, compliance, financial services and enterprise tech.

Elev X! continues to experience record-breaking growth, with applications jumping 64% year over year and increasing 37% since the last cohort, highlighting the programme’s growing influence and ability to attract high-potential startups from around the world.

“Elev X! provides a collaborative environment where bold ideas become impactful solutions. Our record-breaking growth shows that startup founders and investors alike recognise the unmatched value NEC X delivers,” said Shintaro Matsumoto, President and CEO of NEC X. “We’re helping bold innovators accelerate faster, and the startups in Batch 13 are poised to make a meaningful impact – whether it’s transforming wine production, automating debt collection, streamlining biotech compliance or enhancing enterprise decision-making with conversational AI.”

Introducing the Elev X! Ignite Batch 13 startups:

  • Bazzuka AI – AI agent for debt collections to save costs and boost recovery for collection teams
  • EnterpriseChai – the insight engine that thinks & acts for your GTM teams
  • Lokatial – AI-powered compliance platform streamlines regulatory workflows for pharma and life sciences companies, reducing compliance costs by up to 60%
  • Otani – AI-driven assistant enhances VC investment decisions with data-driven evaluations, improving efficiency in early-stage deal assessments
  • Vigneron.AI – AI platform helps wine growers analyse data for proactive vineyard management, enhancing agricultural efficiency and wine quality
  • Yadag – an AI-powered seasonal staffing platform that helps farms hire, onboard and manage workers through WhatsApp – automating paperwork, visa processing and compliance. Over 30K workers sign-ups and growing

Each startup benefits from NEC X’s extensive support ecosystem, including access to NEC’s global network of 45,000 patents, curated workshops, investor readiness training, expert advisors and connections across 55+ international markets.

Graduates of Elev X! programmes have gone on to raise funding, gain early traction and bring transformative solutions to market. Recent alumni include Chekable, Clikr, GPx, Multitude Insights, Qualitative Intelligence, Reveleum, Verdi and more.

Applications for the upcoming cohort, Batch 14, will open in May 2025.

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