Unreasonable at Sea to set sail with a new class of startups

Eleven startups are about to go on the adventure of a lifetime. In January they will set sail with Unreasonable at Sea, an accelerator program on a boat.

Unreasonable at Sea is a unique collaboration between the Unreasonable Institute and Semester at Sea, a shipboard study program. The 106-day journey begins in San Diego. From there they’ll make 14 stops at ports all over the world.

The startups will live with 600 undergraduates who will also be studying aboard the MV Explorer. They’ll go through an intensive accelerator led by Daniel Epstein, the founder of the Unreasonable Institute, and George Kembel, the co-founder & Executive Director of Stanford’s d.school. At each stop on their journey, the companies will pitch to local government officials, venture capitalists and serial entrepreneurs.

But that’s not all.

They also have a pretty impressive group of advisors on board, including South African activist and Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu (!). Other notable names: Megan Smith (VP of business development at Google); Matt Mullenweg (founder of WordPress); and Phil McKinney (VP and CTO at Hewlett-Packard). (Click here for the full list).

The startups chosen for the first class come from 10 different countries. The entrepreneurs have a wide range of experience, including: astrophysics, artificial intelligence, biology, mechanics, software, medical and electrical engineering, graphic and industrial design.

Here’s a rundown of the inaugural class:

• aquaphytex: Provides clean water to 300,000 people without chemicals or energy (just plants)
• damascus fortune: Technology that transforms carbon emissions into carbon nano-structures
• innoz: Brings the internet to your phone through SMS
• Vital Beans: Educates and empowers teachers through a “gamified” platform
• IOWEYOU: Radically shifting the supply chain for apparel companies through prosperity
• SORAL EAR: World’s 1st digitally programmable and rechargeable hearing aids
• Protei: Wind powered, shape shifting, open source sailing drones that clean oceans
• EVOTECH: Creates radically affordable medical technology and products
• Artificial Vision for the Blind: Built an artificial intelligence that is a non-invasive cure for blindness
• sasa: SMS based marketplace facilitating direct trade & empowering women
• Prakti: Feeding 250,000 people daily with ultra-affordable and fuel efficient stoves

For more information on Unreasonable at Sea, go to: http://unreasonableatsea.com/