Summer Accelerator Team Spotlight on RoundTable

Pivoting is fundamentally changing the direction of a business when the current products or services are not meeting the needs of the market. Often, many young companies find pivoting a frightening prospect. However, please do not count the brave co-founders of RoundTable among them. This team of undergraduate engineers and economists has embraced the pivot this year in the eLab Summer Accelerator Program. 

When they applied to the program last winter, they were developing an innovative platform to maximize users' time when waiting in line. Then, in early June, when COVID-19 restrictions were lifting, and the eLab Accelerator program was beginning, they realized the market just wouldn't support their pandemic inspired app; enter pivot number one.  

Drastically shifting their focus, the team began to build a cryptocurrency finance exchange service. In building the service, the teammates realized there was a key element missing from their work, creating societal impact; enter pivot number two.

Now seven weeks into the program, they have settled into developing a platform that helps bring transparency and democracy to decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).  

"We are all passionate about prioritizing equality and access, especially in spaces where accessibility is not prioritized. With that in mind, we decided that the best course of action was to pursue a business that aligned with both our skillsets and our values," said co-founder Suchita Mistry '21.

But what exactly are DAO's, you ask? They are simply any group of members who come together to make a decision. RoundTable incorporates blockchain technology in the voting process, allowing anonymity and transparency, functions currently unavailable to DAO's on other platforms.

The team is now committed and focused on preparing for the end-of-program Demo Day on August 11th. "Through the many pivots we have made over the last few months, we have learned an immeasurable amount about how to form a business, and we intend to continue forging ahead, growing our business, and most importantly, keeping an open mind," said Mistry.

Listen to the Decelerator podcast and get the inside scoop on all the eLab Summer Accelerator teams.