RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – April 1, 2026 – We’re thrilled to announce the eleven companies accepted into the GRO Incubator’s 11th cohort — our most exciting and resource-rich program yet.
This cohort spans a dynamic range of sectors, from MedTech and Deep Tech to AI-powered SaaS and sustainability, reflecting the Triangle’s growing strength and diversity as an innovation hub.
The twelve-week program will culminate in a Demo Day on June 25, where founders will take the stage for a 5-minute pitch to the wider Triangle ecosystem. We’d like to extend a huge thank you to the Regions Bank Foundation for supporting this year’s GRO Programming – including their landmark $100,000 grant, the Foundation’s first-ever investment in the Triangle region. Thanks to this support, GRO is leveling up in a big way: for the first time ever, participating companies will compete for $50,000 in cash prizes, and every startup will receive an expanded suite of Google perks worth over $30,000 per company.
Companies were selected from a competitive pool of applicants through a rigorous screening process to ensure the strongest fit between founders and the program.
“The GRO Incubator has become a launchpad for bold ideas, giving founders the coaching, resources, and community to grow with confidence. Each company that takes off through GRO helps shape a stronger, more connected entrepreneurial ecosystem within the Triangle.” — Preet Mankad, Startup Programs Lead at CED
Here’s a look at the cohort:
EnviraCell – Bhavya Jain
What if your battery could biodegrade instead of pollute? Bhavya Jain is building EnviraCell, a green energy storage company redefining what a battery can be. EnviraCell’s flexible, stretchable design is biocompatible, biodegradable, and cost-effective — purpose-built for wearable health monitors, implantable sensors, smart textiles, IoT devices, food packaging, and agricultural applications. By eliminating the toxicity concerns of conventional batteries, EnviraCell is making sustainable power a reality across industries where safety and environmental health can’t be compromised.
Carolina Instruments – Ellora McTaggart
Eye tracking is powerful — but cameras are bulky, power-hungry, and raise serious privacy concerns. Ellora McTaggart is changing that with Carolina Instruments, which is building a camera-free eye tracking system for smart eyewear and XR headsets. The platform captures high-resolution pupil and gaze data at research-grade quality, without the battery drain or privacy tradeoffs. The result: more natural user interaction and real attention insights for the next generation of wearables.
Sensible – Juliet Wu
Menstrual health is a window into overall wellness — yet it’s been chronically underserved by technology. Juliet Wu is changing that with Sensible, a women’s wellness company building accessible tools that help people better understand and manage their menstrual health. By combining science-backed biomarkers, everyday products, and data insights, Sensible transforms cycle data into actionable, personalized health information — empowering proactive care on your own terms.
Levita Health – Kishen Mitra
Millions of Americans live with fatigue, dizziness, and circulation-related symptoms — and most compression products don’t actually help. Kishen Mitra is tackling this head-on with Levita Health’s flagship product, Uplift: a patent-pending adjustable compression solution that delivers significantly higher therapeutic pressure while staying comfortable enough for daily wear. It’s a smarter, more effective approach to a problem that’s been underserved for far too long.
Kinove Lab – Namita Lokare
Recovering from hand and upper extremity pain is frustrating, slow, and easy to abandon. Namita Lokare is making rehabilitation engaging and effective with Kinove Lab’s flagship product, ThumbCore — a gamified at-home device and mobile app that strengthens key muscles and stabilizes the joint through intelligent movement. By reducing cognitive load and meeting patients where they are, ThumbCore helps users move safely, recover faster, and stay independent long-term.
SonoVoice – Sandeep Bhatt
Voice disorders affect millions — yet most ENT clinics still rely on outdated, static assessment tools. Sandeep Bhatt is modernizing the field with SonoVoice, the first workflow-integrated aero-acoustic voice assessment platform built for ENT clinics. Combining purpose-built hardware, cloud software, and AI-assisted analytics, SonoVoice enables objective voice evaluations throughout a patient’s care journey — while helping clinics unlock reimbursement from an existing, underutilized CPT billing code.
Teela – David Baxter
Data shouldn’t require a data scientist to understand. David Baxter is building Teela, an AI platform that lets non-technical users query their data — whether it lives in Excel, Google Sheets, or a database — using plain natural language. Ask a question, get a secure answer in under a minute. No SQL, no IT ticket, no waiting.
InsightStack – Lee Jacobs
Product teams are drowning in customer feedback — and most of it never reaches the people who need it. Lee Jacobs is fixing that with InsightStack, an AI-powered platform that pulls signal from sales calls, support tickets, Slack messages, surveys, and more, and turns it into clear, actionable product insight. One place for all your customer feedback. Zero noise.
Insight Twin – Michael Schank
What if you could create a living digital replica of your entire organization? Michael Schank is building Insight Twin, an AI-native Digital Twin of an Organization (DTO) platform that captures processes, people, systems, and assets to power real-time visibility, predictive analytics, and actionable recommendations. Built on patent-pending technology and a proprietary framework featured in Digital Transformation Success (Apress, 2023), Insight Twin is bringing enterprise transformation into the AI era.
Ensembled – Page Conway
Getting dressed for a sorority event shouldn’t require scrolling through 47 GroupMe threads. Page Conway is streamlining the chaos with Ensembled, a social commerce app where sorority sisters coordinate outfits, and borrow, rent, or buy from each other — all in a private, chapter-only environment. Three UNC Chapel Hill chapters with 450–500 members have already committed to a beta launch, proving that when it comes to getting dressed together, there’s a much better way.
Console Innovations – Tucker Hawkinson
Building and maintaining large, complex systems typically takes big teams and even bigger budgets. Tucker Hawkinson is challenging that assumption with Console Innovations’ first product, Foundation — an AI-powered platform that gives small teams the power to create and maintain large-scale systems with only a handful of people. More leverage, less overhead.
Programming Details
GRO offers weekly classes delivered by expert speakers, 1:1 coaching from industry leaders and entrepreneurs, and hands-on assignments designed to help founders launch with confidence. The program wraps with Demo Day on June 25, where each company gets five minutes on stage to pitch in front of the Triangle’s broader entrepreneurial community — investors, operators, and innovators included.
About CED
The Center for Entrepreneurial Development was formed in 1984 by a group of business leaders committed to empowering entrepreneurial growth across North Carolina. Through high-touch support, education, access to capital, and crucial connections, CED brings founders together with the resources they need to turn bold ideas into success stories. Learn more at www.cednc.org.
For interview requests, company introductions, or questions about the GRO Program, media should contact Preet Mankad.
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