The Engine Team 3/20/26 The Engine Team 3/20/26

Startup News Digest 03/20/26

Lawmakers join refrain for permanent duty-free digital trade

Mitchell Winter 3/20/26 Mitchell Winter 3/20/26

#StartupsEverywhere: New York, n.y.

Ben Hills is a lifelong entrepreneur seeking to improve the procurement process without compromising the bedrock of standards and regulations that make public works projects reliable and trustworthy. His startup, Iris, provides an AI agent that converts the days and months of request for proposals (RFPs) applications and reviews of those applications into hours of work. We sat down with Ben to talk about his experience hiring talent in the startup ecosystem, the future of the human workforce, and more.

The Engine Team 3/17/26 The Engine Team 3/17/26

Engine statement regarding “The Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act”

Engine statement regarding The Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act.

The Engine Team 3/17/26 The Engine Team 3/17/26

Engine statement regarding the ‘‘Small AI Innovators Empowerment Act’’

The Engine Team 3/13/26 The Engine Team 3/13/26

Startup News Digest 03/13/26

Anthropic supply-chain risk label could chill AI innovation

The Engine Team 3/12/26 The Engine Team 3/12/26

Startups need foundational digital trade policy made permanent

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.

Nathan Lindfors 3/9/26 Nathan Lindfors 3/9/26

#StartupsEverywhere: New York, n.y.

From an investor at an acquired startup to the Senior Director of Engineering at Snap Inc., Chad DePue has spent his career working throughout the tech ecosystem. Now, Chad is bringing his experience to his own startup–Sitch–an AI-powered dating app that plays the role of matchmaker for its users. We sat down with Chad to talk about Section 230, the state of AI regulation, and more.

The Engine Team 3/6/26 The Engine Team 3/6/26

Response of Engine Advocacy regarding DHS Docket No. USCIS

Engine submitted a letter to a key congressional committee outlining startup priorities in the tax package

The Engine Team 3/6/26 The Engine Team 3/6/26

Startup News Digest 03/06/26

Senate advances long-awaited SBIR reauthorization

Mitchell Winter 3/6/26 Mitchell Winter 3/6/26

#StartupsEverywhere: Oxford, Neb.

When Sally Bunnell saw the sun setting on traditional music content production, she pivoted to user-generated content in the travel industry. Her app, NaviSavi, gives its users the opportunity to share and plan destination vacations based on the video content they and others share. We sat down with Sally to talk about her company, her approach to content moderation, and her experience building a company in Nebraska.

The Engine Team 3/3/26 The Engine Team 3/3/26

Implications for startups of House online safety package

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.

The Engine Team 3/2/26 The Engine Team 3/2/26

AI policy impacts startup competitiveness

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.

The Engine Team 2/27/26 The Engine Team 2/27/26

Startup News Digest 02/27/26

Trump pivots to new tariffs after Supreme Court loss

Jade Smith 2/27/26 Jade Smith 2/27/26

#StartupsEverywhere: Durham N.C.

Based in Durham, North Carolina, Ver Coaching utilizes virtual reality to help athletes refine their visual skills and enhance their mental performance. We sat down with founder Michael Halpert and discussed grants that helped launch the platform, patents, accessibility and educational barriers, and the future of Ver Coaching.

The Engine Team 2/13/26 The Engine Team 2/13/26

Startup News Digest 02/13/26

Startups need trade certainty to compete globally

Jade Smith 2/13/26 Jade Smith 2/13/26

#StartupsEverywhere: Chicago, Ill.

Co-founded by Aniirudh "Ani" Ramesh and Joshua Waite, asters specializes in next-generation AI-based simulation products. We sat down with Ani and Joshua to discuss what led them to found asters, the work they do, the impacts of the closing federally funded projects and programs, hurdles related to federal and state funding, and what the future of asters will entail.

The Engine Team 2/6/26 The Engine Team 2/6/26

Startup News Digest 02/06/26

30 years of Section 230 supporting user expression online, despite continued scrutiny

Sabrina Burns 2/6/26 Sabrina Burns 2/6/26

#StartupsEverywhere: New York, N.Y.

Despite decades of technological innovation, filing an insurance claim today remains as unnerving, unclear, and unpleasant for the policyholder as it was 30 years ago. Regina Jaslow saw this stagnation and founded Innocuous AI to improve the insurance claims process for all stakeholders involved – from the policyholder to the insurance carrier and everyone along the way that is involved in the claims process. We recently had the opportunity to chat with Regina about her company, her product, and why it’s important to engage with regulators about the realities of AI in the insurance sector.