2026 New Venture Competition Finalists

The Rotating Tank Harvester (RTH) is a scalable, chemical-free microalgae harvesting system that induces cell self-aggregation through gentle rotation, enabling low-energy, low-cost biomass recovery. RTH preserves cell integrity and supports food- and pharmaceutical-grade processing, enabling broader and more affordable access to essential nutrients such as omega-3s from algal source.

Zishuoguo Li CCAS '29 | Anisa Anjum SEAS '29 | David Fierli SEAS | Roberto Capanna SEAS

FreshStream AI empowers Central Asian agri-exporters to eliminate transit food spoilage. By fusing specialized IoT sensors with a biological Digital Twin, our platform predicts shelf-life degradation and autonomously optimizes complex multimodal routes along the Middle Corridor in real-time, thereby guaranteeing produce freshness, maximizing export revenues, and strengthening regional food security.

Shugyla Seidylda | Gulnar Imasheva | Maksat Turmakhan | Sandugash Abukhan | Yelena Shabanova

Satbayev University

Savor SNAP builds machine-learning tools to reduce food insecurity by cutting payment errors in America’s largest food assistance program. SNAP serves 42M people; with an 11% payment error rate, new federal laws shift $15B/year in costs to states starting in 2028. We flag mistakes early to keep food on tables.

Eamon Walsh GWSB '28 | Shalin Bhatia

BarterBrAIn is a trusted, AI-powered peer-to-peer trading platform exclusively for verified university students. We solve the $2.3 billion campus marketplace problem by combining .edu email verification, Google Gemini AI price suggestions with negotiations, and seamless Stripe payment integration - creating the safe, intelligent trading experience students deserve.

Prithvi Saran Sathyasaran SEAS '26 | Keerthirajan Senthilkumar SEAS '26 | Anaswara Raghuthaman SEAS '26

Nova is building a consumer-facing travel platform that connects conscious travelers directly with verified eco-lodges and community-run properties, reinvesting a portion of proceeds into an impact fund. By replacing traditional booking platforms with transparent impact verification and direct booking, Nova redirects tourism revenue to local communities and supports ethical, community-led economic development.

Chelsea Acheampong GWSB '27

WYNflair is an adaptive fashion brand designing stylish, affordable clothing for people with disabilities. Enabling independent dressing while maintaining everyday aesthetics, dignity, and comfort.

Elene Nikolava GWSB '27 | Giorgi Jalagonia

AssetReady is building an agentic AI decision-support platform that helps small- and mid-size commercial and industrial property owners reduce flood and wind hazards. Our solution identifies risks and mitigation actions and coordinates contractors, products, incentives, and insurers, replacing a fragmented process with a streamlined service.

Jay Dharmendra Parmar SEAS '28 | Nicholas Elger GWSB '23

CC’D is a frictionless marketplace that matches low-to-mid tier DTC brands with vetted, emerging creators through a proprietary Creator Health Score. We replace high-cost agency middlemen with a data-driven pipeline, enabling brands to secure authentic, relatable content while providing creators with sustainable, professional career pathways.

Margaret Pizzi CCAS '26

Kaizen replaces disconnected training logs, spreadsheets, and notebooks with an integrated performance analytics platform for track and field coaches. By consolidating workout planning, performance tracking, and results analysis, Kaizen enables coaches to spot improvement opportunities, adjust training dynamically, and consistently produce faster, stronger athletes.

Ozioma Scott GWSB '27 | Olujimi Scott

We are building the AirLock, a combination bike lock and air pump that saves consumers weight, money and time.

Teddy Jack CCAS '29 | Joe Edell GWLAW '09

Dear Curls is an AI-powered haircare app for people with curly and textured hair that delivers personalized, science-backed routines based on individual hair characteristics, product ingredients, and local climate. Acting as an on-demand hair coach, Dear Curls helps users achieve consistent results without relying on influencer-driven or paid advice.

Judy Marouf SEAS '26 | Riya Bundele GWSB '27 | Rand Attallah GWSB '26 | Fatimata Diagana GWSB '26

Simply Joined designs and crafts natural wood furniture using traditional joinery techniques. Our pieces assemble and disassemble without nails or adhesives, providing both durability and easy transport. By tackling common challenges—durability, assembly, shipping, and quality—we offer furniture that is timeless, practical, and sustainable.

LiSha Powell GWSB '26

ClinicFlow is a care coordination platform for inpatient teaching hospitals, purchased by attending physicians and hospital operations leaders. It solves breakdowns in rounding readiness, task ownership, and interdisciplinary follow-through by providing a real-time shared patient plan layered on top of the EHR workflow.

Dylan Gao SMHS '28 | Anna Lee SMHS '28 | Kason Kreis SMHS '28 | Kevin Rao SMHS '28 | Vincent Sinfuego SMHS '28

Medical schools and training programs struggle to teach ultrasonography due to limited number of teachers, patients and practice time. LucidSono augmented-reality manikin system automates the teaching of this valuable skill using real-time visual coaching. This accelerates skill acquisition, standardizes competency, and reduces training costs, while scaling hands-on ultrasound training for learners.

Molly Ruttenberg SMHS '27 | Nirmal Ravi SMHS | Aditya Loganathan GWSB '27

VAMP is a mobile-first blood donation platform designed for college students. We make donating simple, social, and rewarding by helping students find nearby drives, book quickly, track the lives they impact, and earn rewards from partners. Our goal is to boost donations now and encourage lifelong giving.

Tim Kardi CCAS '28 | Ahlay Hussain | Lizzy McGillen CCAS '28 | Stefanie Podolny CCAS '28 | Faysal Alameddine

We provide contract-based staffing for clinical trial sites conducting industry-sponsored studies. By deploying pre-trained research assistants on flexible contracts, we enable Principal Investigators to convert fixed staffing costs into variable expenses tied to enrollment periods, alleviating the financial burden of maintaining full-time staff during study gaps while ensuring immediate capacity during active trials.

Aditya Loganathan GWSB '27 | Daniel Shpigel SMHS | Andrew Meltzer SMHS | Randall Lee SMHS | Nicholas Melucci SMHS

$1,500
Explorer 1st Place Winner ($1,500)

Amid America’s growing caregiving crisis, CareCompass Health helps hospitals reduce avoidable readmissions and caregiver burnout by embedding dementia-specific navigation into Epic. By combining clinical coordination with hands-on navigator support, our platform streamlines transitions, improves outcomes, strengthens equity, and provides families with consistent guidance—turning systemic caregiving challenges into measurable hospital performance.

Riya Bagi GWSPH '26 | Sydney Hillman GWSPH '26

$500
Explorer 3rd Place Winner ($500)