Avnet Innovation Lab Welcomes Fourth Cohort

In partnership with the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU), leading global technology solutions provider Avnet (Nasdaq: AVT) continues its commitment to guiding innovation and entrepreneurship with introduction of the fourth Avnet Innovation Lab cohort. From healthcare and agriculture to transportation and beyond, these entrepreneurial organizations create revolutionary technology to help improve the world. They will work with the Avnet Innovation Lab to accelerate their ideas and take their inventions to the next level.

Inaugurated in 2015, the Avnet Innovation Lab spurs economic growth in technology and enables aspiring entrepreneurs to advance their innovations. Additionally, Avnet and ASU provide mentorship, critical connections and dedicated lab space to help engineers bring their technologies to market.

"Innovation is driven by technology developers with an entrepreneurial spirit, and it is critical that entrepreneurs are offered the support necessary to navigate the complex development landscape," said Dayna Badhorn, global vice president, strategic planning and corporate marketing, Avnet. "Working alongside ASU's Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, our goal is to give today's developers the services and resources they might not otherwise have access to. We are excited to welcome the fourth round of participants to the Avnet Innovation Lab."

The five new participants represent healthcare, smart cities, agritech, autonomous machinery and edge computing:

• Bloomer Tech accelerates access and inclusivity in women's cardiovascular health by using ordinary clothing to collect extraordinary data. The female-led team tailors care for women via its patented, medical-grade bra and platform. They capture valuable physiological data to help people worldwide comfortably make informed medical decisions and better understand their own health. [www.bloomertech.com]

• Frost Control Systems aims to mitigate transportation risk and create safer roadways by building and deploying a dense network of IoT sensors that capture and send critical road weather data. Its IoT sensor hardware complements weather forecasting software that alerts city operators to worsening road conditions, helping municipalities prioritize safe routes for citizens. Additionally, the technology enables operational efficiencies for public works departments looking to determine how much de-icing material is needed, saving money and protecting the local infrastructure and environment. [www.frostcontrolsys.com]

• Haystack Ag is a regenerative agriculture developer that takes a system-first approach to reduce testing costs for farmers while still maintaining highly accurate measurements. Its scalable, high-accuracy soil organic carbon measurement system employs elements of spectroscopy, dry combustion, remote sensing and automation to help drive affordable regenerative farming practices that hold huge potential to build soil health, sequester carbon and reward growers for ecosystem services. [www.haystackag.com]

• Kyber Photonics is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) spinoff commercializing state-of-the-art light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors that allow autonomous machines to perceive and navigate the world. The patented technology, developed at MIT and MIT Lincoln Laboratory, leverages photonic integrated circuits to steer an optical beam with no moving parts. The design has the potential to meet the demands of cost, performance, reliability, and scalability. Kyber Photonics' lidar-on-a-chip technology was recently highlighted in IEEE Spectrum. Read here to find out more: [https://bit.ly/ieee-kyber-photonics]

• MATRIX Labs seeks to bring the same organization to the Intelligent Edge that modular microservices gave cloud servicers. Leveraging experience within building developer communities, the company addresses the pain points within edge compute in the FPGA space while capitalizing on hardware design capabilities to extend IP licensing. With ongoing support from Avnet, MATRIX Labs has already sold over 10,000 boards in more than 75 countries. [https://matrix.one/]

"Combining the drive of entrepreneurs with a technology leader like Avnet and an incredibly innovative university, ASU, we have been able to build a vibrant ecosystem," said Cody Friesen, founder and CEO, SOURCE Global, and Fulton Engineering Professor of Innovation. "Past participants have been highly successful, and this program has proven beneficial to everyone involved. We're especially excited about this cohort of amazing founders that are solving really important problems."

In addition to its continued support of the Avnet Innovation Lab, Avnet is a title sponsor of this year's ASU Innovation Open, a competition designed to challenge and support university student innovators. For more information visit http://asu.io.

About Avnet

Avnet is a global technology solutions provider with an extensive ecosystem delivering design, product, marketing and supply chain expertise for customers at every stage of the product lifecycle. We transform ideas into intelligent solutions, reducing the time, cost and complexities of bringing products to market. For nearly a century, Avnet has helped its customers and suppliers around the world realize the transformative possibilities of technology. Learn more about Avnet at www.avnet.com.