Many companies thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic, with employees adjusting well to remote work — in some cases, even improving their productivity. Nevertheless, even in the nimblest of organizations, there was an inevitable loss in momentum as teams pivoted to meet an entirely new external environment.
The good news: it appears tech businesses are preparing to regain some of that energy. According to a recent NBC News article, as of March 2021, job listings in the sector have risen well beyond pre-pandemic levels.
Six local Boston teams are among those gearing up for expansion. From billion-dollar acquisitions to autonomous flight systems, their reach spans multiple industries — and the job listings are abundant.
What they do: MatrixSpace operates an “autonomous flight factory,” pairing specific customer needs with sophisticated AI to develop autonomous flight systems capable of situational awareness, distributed decision making, and digital and physical actions across numerous machines.
Invited to innovate: As one of the 12 companies selected to participate in the 2021 NSIN Propel program, MatrixSpace will engage directly with the Air Force Research Laboratory and the broader defense community to develop solutions to national security challenges.
Research-based: Their offices are located in the Northeastern University campus, at the Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security. Surrounded by researchers across government agencies, corporate industries and academia, the MatrixSpace team is part of an innovation epicenter.
What they do: eClinical Solutions has developed one unified platform to deliver self-service access to clinical data, from acquisition through analytics. From risk-based monitoring to clinical trial management, eClinical is working to accelerate medical research and access to life-changing therapies.
Real-world results: eClinical Solutions’ products have helped research companies like Sarepta Therapeutics standardize trial designs and streamline data collection strategy. For Sarepta, the partnership made 95% of clinical forms reusable, greatly improving efficiency and reducing the time spent in launching important trials.
Comprehensive benefits: As an organization driven to improve healthcare, it comes as no surprise that eClinical takes care of its employees. Their numerous perks include fitness subsidies, a home office stipend and tuition reimbursement.
What they do: Founded in 1914, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston is part of the nation’s central bank. They drive numerous wide-reaching initiatives, including deploying national financial policies, managing cybersecurity risks and modernizing payment systems.
On the horizon: The pandemic illuminated just how critical timely payments can be for businesses. One of their current projects — targeting a release date of 2023 — is developing the FedNow Service, which will offer instant payment services to financial institutions of all sizes and in every community across the United States.
Pillars of support: In the words of Kristina Mise, cyber risk manager for the FedNow program: “I’m empowered by the support I get through our policies and benefits to take care of my family and myself. I can also voice issues, concerns or creative ideas and know that I will be listened to. Support ranges from a variety of employee resource groups, mentorship programs and an anonymous hotline, as well as an avenue to submit and work on innovation project ideas.”
What they do: As the only web-based software platform designed specifically for English language learners (ELL) and their educators, Ellevation Education offers solutions like data and instructional planning, teaching resources, and support for learning mathematics in the context of the English language.
National reach: From the Napa Valley Unified School District in California to Hillsborough County public schools in Florida, Ellevation has driven the success of thousands of future polyglots in their English learning pursuits.
Intentional evolution: In scaling his team, Vice President of Engineering Sanjeev Banerji keeps individual growth roadmaps clearly in focus. To help employees reach their full potential, “[d]evelop a career ladder that lays out the different roles and how a person can progress into higher-impact roles over time. It can highlight the pathways for professional growth,” he said.
What they do: Delivering libations in more than 1,500 cities across North America, Drizly keeps customers stocked with on-demand beer, wine and spirits. They don’t stop there. Time is of the essence when dealing with a liquor cabinet inventory shortage, and Drizly deliveries are made in under 60 minutes.
Billion-dollar horizons: In February of this year, Uber announced that it plans to purchase Drizly for $1.1 billion in stock and cash. With job openings across numerous departments — including engineering, finance, product and HR — their team is expanding to meet the growth ahead.
Built to beat bottlenecks: In Dennis Hume’s experience as a data engineer at Drizly, their data stack strategy ensures that engineers and workflows avoid bottlenecks. “Within our data stack, we have a lot of shared spaces (dbt, Snowflake, etc.) and we want to make sure that everything is flexible enough for the range of jobs on the team, but also that there are enough guardrails that no single process can prevent other people from doing their job,” he said.
What they do: Mainstay was created with the vision of making college access more equitable through technology. Their flagship platform connects students with behaviorally intelligent chatbots to help guide them through the college admissions process. That platform soon evolved to support students while in college, offering conversational guidance throughout their entire higher educational journey.
How it works: Mainstay’s chatbot, Oli, operates 24/7 via text and Facebook messenger to answer general inquiries from students, ranging from admissions exams to financial aid and tuition. As more students submit questions and responses to Oli, the system updates its central knowledge base. The goal: improve student retention rates, and craft proactive support campaigns for those that need support.
By the numbers: In a study conducted over the 2018-2019 academic year, and in partnership with Mainstay’s resources, Georgia State University found that the use of a behaviorally intelligent, text-based chatbot boosted rates of FAFSA filing and registration for the subsequent fall semester by 3 percentage points.
