Catalyst launched in 2025, and in our first year, 11 projects earned over 18,000 GitHub stars, and four Catalyst alumni became founders of OCV companies. Catalyst exists to find great open-source projects before they break out, help them build strong communities, and, after Catalyst, potentially start an open core company around the project.
This year, Catalyst is operating in formalized batches with multiple projects at once. This will allow OCV to support more projects in Catalyst than before, while also creating a stronger sense of community among Catalyst batches that we anticipate will take them further than before.
Catalyst v1 casts a wide net, featuring projects that span HealthTech, smart buildings, and AI infrastructure. Meet the first Catalyst cohort of 2026.
- AVA: https://github.com/hkjarral/AVA-AI-Voice-Agent-for-Asterisk
- StenoAI: https://github.com/ruzin/stenoai
- OpenScribe: https://github.com/sammargolis/OpenScribe
- Contextrie: https://github.com/feuersteiner/contextrie
- Open-FDD: https://github.com/bbartling/open-fdd
AVA (AI-Voice-Agent)
AVA is a self-hosted AI voice agent that can integrate into any traditional phone system. While most solutions require expensive migrations to cloud-only providers, AVA provides a path to connect AI agents to phone systems while ensuring data privacy and lowering operational costs.
StenoAI
StenoAI is a privacy-focused AI-meeting notetaker trusted by users at companies like AWS. StenoAI keeps AI bots from joining your calls and has no meeting limits, all while making sure your data never leaves your device.
OpenScribe
OpenScribe is an AI scribe that records patient encounters and generates structured clinical notes automatically. You keep full control over data, workflows, and patient privacy with no vendor lock-in.
Contextrie
AI agents lose accuracy and reasoning ability as they accumulate irrelevant context over long-running tasks. Contextrie dynamically curates what each agent sees, keeping it sharp from task one to task one thousand.
Open-FDD
OpenFDD is a knowledge graph for your building; a fault detection platform for HVAC systems that helps facilities optimize their energy uses and cost savings because it runs on prem facilities. Never worry about a vendor hiking prices, going dark, or walking away with their data.
This is just the first batch of the year. While we’ve been working hard with Catalyst v1, we’ve already started reviewing applications for the next batch. If you’re building something early and ambitious in the open, apply to Catalyst v2.