Batch 24 has officially kicked off in San Francisco, and we’re so excited to welcome these new companies into our 500 family. From personal jets to AR glasses to period underwear, the collection of companies we’ve invested in this batch are as unique and innovative as the founders that built them.

By the numbers:

This batch has 21 companies. 40% of Batch 24 companies have a female founder. 50% have a Black, Mixed, or Latinx founder. 31% have a company based outside of the US.

The Batch 24 companies are headquartered amongst 8 countries: Chile, France, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Singapore, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Out of the Batch 24 companies, 27% of will be on our blockchain track, 18% are hardware, and 13% are focused on healthcare. We also have companies in fintech, aerospace, ecommerce, SaaS, agriculture, VR, transportation, and recruiting.

The 500 accelerator program kicked off with Hell Week, a five day bootcamp focused on sharpening the companies’ marketing and sales skills. The four months that follow will be filled with an abundance of workshops, talks, and office hours with investors, partners, and our extensive mentor network. Along the way we’ll coach the companies through crafting the perfect pitch for investors, which will lead us up to the big finale—on February 28th we’ll host Demo Day and give Batch 24 a chance to show the world what they’re made of.

We couldn’t be more thrilled to champion these brilliant founders and join them on their journey to build tomorrow’s legendary companies. So without further ado, meet the stars of Batch 24:

Savion is building personal jets powered by clean, abundant natural gas.

Pilleve is building a smart pill bottle to prevent opioid abuse and addiction.

Kura is building custom, compact augmented reality glasses.

PantyProp is creating affordable garments with a built-in femcare solution.

HAMAMA is inventing a way for anyone, anywhere to grow microgreens at home year-round.

Svastia is using AI genetic screening to personalize cancer therapy and improve treatment outcomes.

TripAfrique is making travel and transportation throughout Africa easier and more accessible.

Memoir Health is working to solve mental health and addiction care by creating a network of virtual and in-home care teams.

Snapshyft’s on-demand labor marketplace is solving staffing shortages in the food and beverage industry.

UTRUST is the first cryptocurrency payment provider to offer buyer protection and instant transactions.

Ovation is empowering local businesses to grow and retain customers by turning fans into a digital marketing force.

Message Cube is building an integration for people to discuss and purchase shared experiences over chat.

Alba is connecting families with trusted caregivers in emerging markets.

IOTW is using blockchain to securely connect all of your internet-of-things devices.

Celer Network is bringing the speed, trust, and privacy required to deploy blockchain applications at internet-scale.

Zeuss is is developing next generation blockchain technology for cash intensive industries.

BlockVigil is building an API gateway to help developers build on blockchain with just a few lines of code.

Crowdz is developing the invoice auction exchange for trade finance.

BackOffice is automating bookkeeping & accounting for small businesses.

Assemble is enabling companies to build their own creative agency on-demand.

The final company is in stealth mode.