WHEN STARTUPS SPEAK, POLICYMAKERS LISTEN.
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Offleash’d, a Los Angeles, CA area-based startup, is building a social ecosystem to bridge the gap between digital connection and physical community for pet parents. Since its launch in 2022, Offleash’d has rolled out its proprietary AI companion and added hyper-local features. We spoke with Terry James, CEO & Co-founder, about scaling responsible content moderation, introducing their AI agent “EVE,” the unique pet-parent demographic, and advocacy for policy changes to make pet parenthood more accessible.
New York-based startup Barnwell Bio is modernizing disease analysis in the poultry industry without compromising the efficiency and biosecurity that farmers depend on. Their metagenomic sequencing platform—analyzing all DNA present in a sample—converts traditional reactive disease testing into a proactive health management system. We sat down with CEO and co-founder, Michael Rhys, to discuss his transition from COVID-19 wastewater tracking to animal agriculture, the role of AI in characterizing the microbiome, and his experience navigating federal grants and research funding.
Austin-based startup EcoPulse uses AI to help large manufacturers manage complex supply chain risks related to Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), or “forever chemicals,” and compliance. We sat down with founder and CEO Jenny Yu to learn about her fundraising journey, the role of AI in environmental safety, and the regulatory challenges manufacturers face.
New York City-based startup ALCOVE designs productivity pods to help professionals find privacy and focus in high-traffic settings, such as hotels. We sat down with CEO and founder Helen Knight to discuss the complexities of scaling and multi-state hiring, the challenges of founder parenthood, and the need for accessible grant funding for diverse entrepreneurs.
Scale Social, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based startup, helps brands capture authentic user-generated content (UGC) by integrating technology into mobile apps or activating via on-site quick response (QR) codes, building a centralized library of real customer moments with full marketing rights. We sat down with Founder and CEO Runbin Dong to discuss his journey from IBM Watson and a family dumpling business to founding an AI-native startup, the challenges posed by the H-1B visa system, and how the R&D tax credit and Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) exemption can shape a tech startup's journey.
Based in New York, Brainify.AI is developing a brain data platform that combines portable Electroencephalography (EEG) hardware with AI to help create more effective treatments and diagnostics for neurological conditions. We sat down with Mariam Khayretdinova, founder and CEO, to discuss her experience navigating data privacy regulations, fundraising, and patents.
Marquette, Michigan-based startup Kall Morris Inc (KMI) provides a "tow truck" capability for space, designed to grab and secure unprepared, uncontrolled satellites or space debris. We sat down with CEO and co-founder Troy Morris to talk about KMI’s journey from Michigan to the International Space Station, the critical role of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and similar government grant programs, and the policy hurdles facing the next generation of aerospace innovators.
Kunal Chopra is no stranger to the world of innovation. He founded Certivo, a supply chain compliance assistant, after more than two decades in the tech sector and serving as CEO for three separate companies. We sat down with Kunal to discuss his company, the role of public-private partnerships in innovation, and how startups engage with vague laws around the world involving their operations.
If you’ve ever had the misfortune of working on filing paperwork for renovations, you know that seemingly obscure missing paperwork in a first submission can result in months of back and forth between you and your local government. Saf Rabah saw how this creates a bottleneck in the development of affordable housing and decided to use his previous experience to create Govstream.ai, a one-stop AI platform for builders and city planners to streamline the permitting process. We sat down with Saf to talk about his company, their unique public-private partnership with the city of Bellevue, Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS), and more.
BestFarewell is a Chicago-based AI-powered platform that helps families navigate the complex logistics of estate planning and bereavement. We sat down with founder Jay Wilburn to discuss the development of his proprietary SageLink AI, the administrative burden on remote startups, modernized bereavement treatment, and the regulatory hurdles surrounding electronic wills.
Retail workers have long shifts and often little time for feedback. Evan Smith is a Starbucks Vice President turned first-time entrepreneur, building Ethosphere, an AI-powered platform that uses personalized microphones to listen to sales conversations and provide retail associates with feedback on where they shine and could improve. We sat down with Evan to discuss his product, the importance of incubators, navigating the patchwork of state privacy laws, and more.
After a career in corporate sustainability, Alison Rogers Cove founded USEFULL, based in Boston, Massachusetts, to tackle the plastic crisis at the source. USEFULL is a circular solution focused on college campuses that helps them eliminate single-use food packaging by replacing it with a returnable, plastic-free system. We sat down with Alison to discuss the challenges of fundraising as a founder, the impact of tariffs on sustainable businesses, higher education as a market, and the realities of navigating parenthood while running a startup.
Silicon Valley as an engine for innovation, wealth creation, and economic development is the envy of the world.
Engine Statement regarding Supreme Court Decision in Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment
Today, Engine published the 2026 Startup Policy Agenda, highlighting the policy issues coming up this year that will impact startups.
Today, Engine published the 2026 Startup Policy Playbook, highlighting the policy issues coming up this year that will impact startups.
Engine submitted comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office opposing proposed changes that would restrict access to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).
Engine weighed into the U.S. Trade Representative's review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement with comments highlighting how essential provisions in the Agreement's digital trade chapter are delivering for startups.
Engine submitted comments to the Federal Trade Commission outlining how overly broad noncompete agreements harm innovation by limiting worker mobility.
Engine submitted comments to the U.S. Trade Representative as the agency compiles the 2026 National Trade Estimate Report on foreign trade barriers.
Engine submitted comments to the Department of Homeland Security on its proposed rule to replace the H-1B lottery system with a wage weighted alternative
Startups need to be able to know that the AI tools they invest their limited time and resources in as they build their companies will remain available as they scale.
As policymakers return to the question of how best to support U.S. territories and their lagging economies, they should include a focus on a critical but often under-recognized engine for economic development: the local startup ecosystems.
As most state legislatures wrap up their work for the year, the focus on artificial intelligence across the country is unmistakable, creating new rules in several states for startups developing and deploying AI.
I’ve spent my career starting businesses, taking risks on new ideas, and building innovative technologies
Policymakers are looking at rewriting the rules around how companies get approval for mergers and acquisitions, which would impact the most common avenue for startups to exit.
For years, Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) has been one of the most important federal policies supporting startup growth and early-stage investment.
For more than a decade, startups have been asking Congress for a single, national rulebook on consumer privacy.
With a pending expiration in mid-April, lawmakers appear poised to reauthorize an Internet surveillance law that, without needed reforms, could drain the limited resources startup founders depend on, erode user trust online, and further complicate the already fractured digital trade landscape.
With states already putting forward over 1,600 AI-related proposals this year, startups are scrambling to understand which proposals might have legs and what they will mean for their companies.
At the end of this month, a critical digital trade policy relied upon by startups is set to expire unless policymakers act. March 26–29, the World Trade Organization's (WTO) 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) will convene in Yaoundé, Cameroon, where the WTO Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions will expire if it is not renewed.
This week, a key House committee will consider a trove of online safety proposals, marking movement on one of the many intractable tech policy issues Congress perennially debates but rarely advances to the president’s desk. The proposed legislation comes with potential for a big impact on how startups design customer experiences, deliver their services, and interact with their users—regardless of those users’ ages.
In every corner of the economy, there is a flourishing ecosystem of startups building AI, building with AI, and using AI to better everyday tasks. Some startups are building their own machine learning models to perform specific tasks. Most startups, though, are leveraging foundation models—either by licensing from market leaders or accessing open source—to fine-tune and build unique products.
STARTUP TRAIL: The game of startup survival
It’s hard to run a startup. Founders have to make tough choices about how to invest their limited time and resources against a policy backdrop—impacting business decisions, investment opportunities, compliance requirements, and more—that was often written without companies like theirs in mind. Play Startup Trail and see what it’s like to be a startup founder, including the difficult decisions you face and the role policy debates play in whether or not you can successfully bring your company to scale—or be forced to close up shop altogether.
We’ve worked with Copia and Leveraged Play to launch Moderator Mayhem, a video game that has players navigate the inherent tradeoffs around content moderation.
We hope Moderator Mayhem helps players understand these realities of content moderation and demonstrates what’s really at stake when policymakers propose legislation that would govern how Internet companies can host and moderate user content.