Moxie or ZW? What Startup Advances to the Tweener Madness Championship?

Who’s Advancing from the Fabulous Four - Moxie or ZW?

Welcome back to Triangle Tweener Madness, where four startups remain in the race for a $25K investment from the Triangle Tweener Fund!

In this week’s matchup, we’ve got two very different companies: one’s building AI to protect the integrity of academic research, and the other’s helping manufacturers optimize glass and ceramics production with deep tech. The stakes are higher than ever—only one will move on to the championship round.

The Contenders

🔹 Moxie (Jessica Parker) – An AI-powered research writing platform designed for PhD students, faculty, and academic researchers. Moxie helps streamline the writing and review process while preserving intellectual integrity and preventing misuse of generative AI. It’s a closed system, workflow-oriented, and focused on fluency and complexity—going far beyond what tools like Grammarly can do.
🔗 Learn more about Moxie

🔹 ZW (Robert Fu) – A precision AI platform for the materials science industry. ZW’s suite of tools helps manufacturers of glass and ceramics reduce R&D time, cut costs, and lower emissions by optimizing material formulas and manufacturing parameters. With traction in enterprise settings and deep subject-matter expertise, ZW is turning AI into ROI for an overlooked vertical.
🔗 Learn more about ZW

Key Highlights

🎤 Jessica’s Q&A (Moxie)

• Moxie focuses on research fluency and complexity, not just grammatical accuracy.
• Sees usage across the research workflow—writing, reviewing, and iteration tracking.
• YouTube channel and SEO are key drivers of user acquisition.
• Challenges: Pricing accessibility for international students and educating users on AI trust and data privacy.
• Long-term vision: Create a full-stack research platform beyond just writing tools.

🎤 Robert’s Q&A (ZW)

• ZW’s AI reduces energy and costs for manufacturers by optimizing material formulas and operational settings.
• Tailors its models to each customer using proprietary data—ensuring privacy and precision.
• Already saving enterprise clients millions in throughput and energy.
• Challenges: Limited sales/marketing bandwidth, need to scale outside of founder networks.
• Long-term vision: Expand from glass and ceramics into polymers, advanced materials, and beyond.

Selection Committee Insights

💡 Mahati Sridhar saw opportunity for both platforms to scale but emphasized the importance of refining go-to-market and self-service onboarding. She noted ZW’s long-term expansion potential into other verticals.

💡 Jan Davis appreciated Moxie’s collaborative model and grassroots traction via content marketing, while noting ZW’s deeper tech and need for pricing adjustments. She voiced concern about whether ZW can scale without heavy customization.

💡 David Gardner leaned toward ZW’s B2B focus and high-value contracts, noting the risk of Moxie being overtaken by generic LLM tools if defensibility isn’t strengthened.

Who Will Move On? 🏆

After a close and thoughtful debate, the selection committee made their call. Which of these future-forward startups will compete for the $25K prize in the championship round? You’ll have to listen to find out.

Today's Selection Committee:

• Mahati Sridhar (Revolution's Rise of the Rest) – LinkedIn
• Jan Davis (Investor & Entrepreneur) – LinkedIn
• David Gardner (Cofounders Capital) –