Congratulations

VentureCat 2026 Semifinalists

We are excited to announce the 25 semifinalist teams that were selected to compete at VentureCat on May 27, 2026!

The teams were selected across five tracks - Business Products and Services; Consumer Products and Services; Energy and Sustainability; Life Sciences and Medical Innovation; and Social Impact.

Over the next four-weeks, the semifinalists will participate in the VentureCat Pitch Prep Program that provides access to pitch deck development services, pitch coaching and industry-specific advisors. Learn more about the teams selected to compete below.

Business Products and Services

CityVerse AI turns site photos into structured data, transforming operational data into project intelligence.

Graduate Team: Neal Agarwal, SPS ’27

CrowdListen is the context layer providing queryable user insights for human teams and AI agents.

Undergraduate Team: Terry Chen, Weinberg ’26; Forrest Chai, Weinberg ’29; Chelsey Tao, McCormick ’27; Jonathan Rho, Weinberg, ’28

HaptE is a computer vision system that reduces execution errors and optimizes the warehouse floor in real time.

 

 

Undergraduate Team: Trevor Abbott, McCormick ’26, Kellogg Certificate

Lastrada is the AI-native operating system for sample clearance, orchestrating the legal workflow behind every sampled song in hip-hop, pop, and electronic music.

Graduate Team: Benjamin Moelis, Kellogg ’26

Neuforce Neuforce helps companies move from AI experimentation to real operational adoption.

 

Graduate Team: Luis Aranguren, Kellogg ’26

Nyck AI is the AI Buyer that automates purchasing & drives profitability for midsize manufacturers & distributors.

 

Graduate Team: Marc Davis, Kellogg + McCormick ’26; Kevin Wang, McCormick ’27

Consumer Products and Services

ChickyDough makes gluten-free cookie mixes using 100% chickpea flour, other natural ingredients, and no refined starches.

Graduate Team: Julia Loverde, Kellogg ’27

DoseUp is an app that helps people on GLP-1 stay on track by tracking their shots and progress so they see real results.

Undergraduate Team:  Aryan Kalluvila, Weinberg ’27

Fracture Club: Broken bones, unbroken spirits. Adaptive apparel supports people who still show up.

Graduate Team: Grace Nie, Kellogg ’27; Jenny Fu, Medill ’26; Arpan Roy Kellogg ’27; Qianyu Li Medill ’26; Linxuan Gou, SOC ’26; Yahui Zhang ’26; Zifan Wang, Weinberg ’29

Plato AI gives every child a world-class personal tutor - one that teaches through an interactive avatar, uses multimodal lessons generated in under 15 seconds, adapts to their questions in real time, and grows more personalised with every lesson.

 

 

Graduate Team: Girinath Ravichandran, Kellogg + McCormick ’26

Restless is a better-for-you energy drink to attack the day without crashing.

Graduate Team: Daniel Medina, Kellogg ’27

Rootinable is a crunchy vegetable topper you add to whatever you're already eating - 15+ real vegetables, half your daily veggies, and 5g of balanced fiber in a format that sticks because it doesn't ask you to change your routine.

Graduate Team: Gabriel Magalhaes, Kellogg ’26; Elyse Ensor, Kellogg ’26

 

Energy and Sustainability 

AirNX turns carbon capture from centralized infrastructure into a manufacturable surface technology.

 

 

Undergraduate Team: Hanseo Kim, McCormick ’29; 

Sebastian Marini, McCormick ’30

Aura Life Science  - Just as the lightbulb allowed factories to work the night shift, we’ve bioengineered photosynthetic microbes to work around the clock, converting light and CO2 into high-value research enzymes.

Graduate Team: Jacob Bhoi, Feinberg + Weinberg ’26

EdgeLine automates construction design review by bridging otherwise incompatible data formats to detect conflicts between various project documents and engineering design files before construction begins.

Graduate Team: Sean Gibbons, Kellogg ’28

GridGate is an intelligence software that removes uncertainty around energy project development by predicting and highlighting the biggest risks.

Undergraduate Team: Kiran Moore, Weinberg ’26; 

Soren Moore, Weinberg ’27; Robert Ding, McCormick ’29; Jay Rao, Weinberg ’28

Soft Mattr is building the material intelligence layer for fashion, helping consumers understand, evaluate, and shop clothing based on what it is made of.

Graduate Team: Dylan McAfee, McCormick ’29

Life Sciences and Medical Innovation

Chemetrian is an AI co-pilot for chemists allowing them to find breakthroughs in less experiments.

Graduate Team: Simron Patel, McCormick ’26

FutureFlow is a novel, hands-free, standardized femoral hemostasis patch that frees RN time at a DRG-immaterial cost.

Graduate Team: Yifat Lerman, Kellogg ’26; 

Jahnavi Yelluta, McCormick ’27. Pranav Bajaj, Feinberg ’26; Bradley Leshem, Feinberg ’26

HydroFlo is a smart catheter technology to monitor shunt flow and detect shunt failure in hydrocephalus, a chronic neurological condition.

Undergraduate Team: Eva Poliakova, Weinberg ’27; 

Rishi Garg McCormick ’27; Viet Tong, McCormick ’27

LumaLift is a consumer wearable bodysuit aimed to help alleviate lumbopelvic pain in pregnant women by lifting and compressing the belly. We are a startup by women, for women, because we believe discomfort should not define pregnancy.

 

Graduate Team: Lucy Burton, Kellogg ’26; Tiffany Sorto, McCormick ’26; Fiona McKay, Kellogg ’27; London Wheeler, Kellogg ’27

Social Impact

Deadstock Swim is a female-led swimwear brand based in Los Angeles, CA, dedicated to building a circular fashion economy, reducing textile waste, and telling stories through sustainably made pieces.

Undergraduate Team: Madeline Sugimoto, McCormick ’29

Litia is the future of learning.

Graduate Team: Thomas Walsh, Pritzker ’28

Symbia grows carbon-neutral leather out of recycled Kombucha and Bacterial culture.

Undergraduate Team: Rayden Yap, McCormick ’29; Travis Kim, Weinberg ’29; Marco Hartono, McCormick ’29; Nicolas Angel-Ordonez, McCormick + Weinberg ’29; Nolan Jones, Kellogg ’27

Xpnse AI is the financial coordination layer for the millions of organizations running on volunteer treasurers and spreadsheets.

 

 

Graduate Team: Shannen Lawson, Kellogg ’27; Eden Growney, McCormick ’26