NEC X Selects Nine Startups From 650+ Applicants for Batch 16 of Elev X! Ignite

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 5, 2026--

NEC X, the Silicon Valley venture studio backed by NEC’s advanced technologies and global businesses, today announced the nine startups selected for Batch 16 of its Elev X! Ignite program, a 12-month accelerator designed to help early-stage founders transform innovative ideas into seed-ready companies.

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Batch 16 attracted 650+ eligible applications, the largest applicant pool in the program’s history. Across the applicant pool, NEC X saw strong momentum in edge AI and semiconductors, healthcare, supply chain and industrial operations, and Physical AI. Many of these proposals focused on places where AI has to work under real-world constraints — from computing and energy efficiency to complex workflows in manufacturing, logistics and healthcare. NEC X also saw more solutions addressing the practical requirements that come with deploying AI in production, including auditability, access control and oversight. Together, these trends point to AI moving deeper into day-to-day operations and infrastructure.

Batch 16 founders will work closely with NEC X’s venture studio team, engineers, advisors and business mentors to accelerate product development, validate market fit and prepare for their next round of investment.

“ What stood out in Batch 16 was how specific the problems were, ” said Shintaro Matsumoto, President and CEO of NEC X. “ The strongest founders know exactly who has the problem, where it shows up in day-to-day work and what changes when they solve it. That’s what we see across this cohort, from compliance and medication management to warehouse operations, engineering, and AI infrastructure. We’re excited to help these teams move faster and build companies that can scale.”

Batch 16 companies are:

Each startup benefits from NEC X’s comprehensive support network, gaining access to NEC’s 45,000 patents, world-class researchers, expert-led workshops, product development resources and specialized investor readiness training. Startups can also leverage NEC’s global reach across more than 55 international markets and its $8 billion annual R&D ecosystem.

Together, these resources equip founders with the tools and connections needed to accelerate growth, scale globally and bring transformative solutions to market. Graduates of Elev X! programs successfully raise funding, gain early traction and scale operations. Recent alumni include Manifest Space, Cosmos AI, Metapyxl, Verdi, Metabob, and more.

Applications for the upcoming cohort, Batch 17, will open in mid-October 2026. For more information about Elev X! Programs, click here.

About NEC X

NEC X is an innovation powerhouse and curator of disruptive startups backed by the global technology leadership of NEC. Leveraging 125 years of IT and network technologies expertise, NEC X’s startup-focused approach transforms visionary ideas into commercial successes that revolutionize how we work and live. Since its inception in 2018, NEC X has helped launch and grow more than 250 startups.

Their Silicon Valley program – Elev X! – equip early-stage startup founders with the tools to fast-track their tech development and adoption. Elev X! fuels startup success from inception to launch, connecting innovators with NEC’s 45,000 patents; a global network of partners, mentors and advisors; reaching 55+ international markets; and $8 billion R&D ecosystem.

For more information, visit NEC XElev X! and NEC.

NEC X Selects Nine Startups From 650+ Applicants for Batch 16 of Elev X! Ignite

NEW YORK (AP) — Former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has found her next chapter: She is heading to Fox News.

Leavitt will serve as an on-air contributor beginning Nov. 1, the network said Monday.

“Karoline’s firsthand experience in the White House and on the presidential campaign trail gives her a distinct understanding of today’s political landscape,” said the network’s CEO, Suzanne Scott.

For her part, Leavitt, in the same statement, said she looked forward “to bringing my unique perspective from my experience as White House Press Secretary, along with the same energy and candor that defined my tenure, to Fox’s millions of viewers across their many platforms.”

Leavitt, now 29, was the youngest person to hold the role of press secretary. When she left at the end of August, President Donald Trump described her as one of his “most trusted aides.” At the time she said she wanted to spend more time with her two children. Her second child, Viviana, was born in May, and she has a two-year-old son.

Leavitt is not the first of Trump's press secretaries to join Fox. Kayleigh McEnany joined in 2021 and remains at the network. And Dana Perino, former press secretary for President George W. Bush, is a political commentator at the network.

Trump, meanwhile, has hired several Fox News personalities to key jobs in his own administration, chief among them Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Trump has an increasingly thorny relationship with the network, whose key commentators have long given him favorable coverage. He has expressed frustration with Fox coverage choices as recently as Sunday when he bemoaned what he said was the network's lack of coverage of his rallies.

“Sad to see that Fox & Friends (Sunday) is not covering our packed house and incredibly enthusiastic (beyond!) Rally that took place in Ohio last night, or the ones in Alabama, Texas, or Oklahoma over the past two days,” he posted on his Truth Social platform. “They were all sold out, with thousands of people trying to get in, and are absolutely phenomenal, better than ever!”

"Remember, Fox tried this act once before, and almost went out of business (and always right before an election!). That can happen again!" Trump wrote. He also criticized the recent firing of longtime Fox financial journalist Maria Bartiromo.

The comments came as Trump is embroiled in an increasingly bitter standoff with news outlets whose coverage displeases him, capped by his recent efforts to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House grounds and also to keep CNN out of broadcast pool assignments. A judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the ban, and a hearing is scheduled for Thursday as the news outlets seek relief pending a final resolution of the case.

Before becoming White House press secretary, Leavitt served as press secretary for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

She also, at age 25, made an unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2022 from her home state of New Hampshire.

FILE - The then White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks at the daily briefing at the White House in Washington Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)