The biggest market opportunities sometimes come from the most overlooked corners of the world, rife with inefficient processes and outdated systems that hold people back. Doctors and patients wrestling with data scattered across a siloed system to get a better picture of one's health. Teachers overwhelmed by tedious work that gets in the way of helping students. Workers juggling manual, time-consuming reporting just to start their shifts.
We obsess over these because technology is a lever. Applied to hard problems, it democratizes access, rewrites incentives, and changes lives.
But only if it gets built.
So, we're opening our market research. These are specific, high-value problems validated by end users, founders, and experts in the field. If you're ready to build but not sure where to focus, start here.
Builder Prompt 001: The Hands-Free Interface
The Gap
When we picture the “Future of Work,” we see software engineers with three monitors. Yet 70% of the global workforce (over 100 million people in the U.S.) are deskless. Construction foremen, nurses, line cooks, mechanics. They run the physical world on paper clipboards and time cards, contributing $4 trillion to the U.S. economy.
While modern software such as Slack, Notion, or Excel are powerful, they are built for office knowledge workers. They don’t translate to the fast, physical, hands-on nature of jobs on the construction site, warehouse, or shop floor. Workers who deal with high turnover and chronic understaffing.
Your Opportunity
Build mobile-first, voice, and vision interfaces that let frontliners interact with AI naturally, and enable better workflow. Three areas to explore:
Verticalized Productivity Tools
Tools tailored to industry-specific needs that seamlessly integrate into frontline routines. These tools enhance, rather than disrupt, productivity by leveraging voice and video. For instance, Fresco allows construction superintendents to take notes 10x faster by recording videos during site walks.On-the-Job AI Co-pilots
AI can guide workers on best practices, safety, and compliance, effectively scaling a manager’s coaching capacity. Examples include Emilia, which uses AI vision to augment servers in restaurants, and SelfEval, a co-pilot that provides real-time feedback to manufacturing line operators.Agentic Sidekicks
Agents that handle repetitive, unstructured tasks, allowing frontline workers to focus on higher-value activities. Dexter, for example, automates field operations (claims, in-person appointments, and tracking hours for field workers) and facilitates task hand-offs between the back office, in-field workers, and AI agents.
We’d love to see what you build! Share your project: Email [email protected] with your name, school, and project. Prototype, MVP, or live product, we review it all. The best ones are shared with our investment team.
Want the full frontline report? Read AI Is Unlocking the Future of Frontline Work.
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Internship Opportunities
NationGraph | Applied Machine Learning Engineer Intern
Build the real-world knowledge graph. Make procurement and public sector selling more transparent.
Handshake | AI Research Intern (Summer 2026)
Deadline: December 15, 2025
Democratize access to opportunity for 15+ million students building careers.
Empower the next billion software creators with AI-powered infrastructure that makes coding accessible to everyone — including the frontline.
Until the next push,
Valentina on behalf of Reach Capital
Reach Capital invests in early-stage founders redefining how we learn, live, and work. Our portfolio of 130+ startups includes tools you might’ve used in school (ClassDojo, Desmos, Brilliant) and next-gen, AI-native disruptors shaping how future generations build, work, and thrive (like Replit and GPTZero).
These teams are constantly on the lookout for talented builders. Share what you’re studying, building, or exploring, and we’ll intro you to projects, people, and paid opportunities for you to build upon.