Carnegie Mellon University

September/October 2023

Charlie

Creating a platform similar to Airbnb, making it convenient for attorneys to find expert witnesses.


Nikhil Malik, Alumnus, Tepper School of Business

Deep Aware

Using deep learning to detect AI-generated content, like text written by ChatGPT and other large language models. Not just to detect AI involvement but also to explain its decision.


Yutian Chen, Undergraduate, School of Computer Science

Improve

Improve is a lifestyle wellness app for the workplace. The app helps employees improve their mental and physical health through periodic mindfulness updates/programs.


Shivum Pandove, Undergraduate, Mellon College of Science

NousQuest

Create an educational social media app that provides users with a way to expand their scientific knowledge while also allowing them to contribute to a larger informational hub and compete/collaborate with like-minded students.


Arul Rhik Mazumder, Undergraduate, School of Computer Science
Alex Chen, Team Member
Omar El Nesr, Team Member
Shreyan Ronit Mazumder, Team Member

Omeena

Omeena introduces a trust-establishing system tailored for secure data authentication and certification. Harnessing the power of zero-knowledge proofs, our platform ensures data integrity and processing across numerous sectors, addressing the demand for both trust and privacy.


Theodore Chapuis-Chkaiban, Graduate Student, School of Computer Science
Paul Lieutier, Team Member

SchoolSphere

SchoolSphere is the first workplace tool designed for secondary schools. We are mission-focused and social impact oriented with the goal to improve teaching and social/emotional outcomes for teachers, students, and staff — all who learn and work at schools.


Elizabeth Brooks, Alumna, College of Fine Arts

June 2023

AccountMed

AccountMed is a fully integrated accounting software for small private medical practices to save time and cut costs when doing their accounting. 


Halanna Yuh, Alumna, College of Engineering

Ace Robotics

Modular and flexible robotic automation solutions for complex manipulation processes in industries like warehouse automation and assembly.


Xianyi Cheng, Ph.D. candidate, College of Engineering

Advanced Visualizations

Advanced Visualizations aims to develop and bring to market novel, imagery-based technology and operations concepts which advance the deployment of all modes of autonomous vehicles.


Aaron Burns, Ph.D. candidate, College of Engineering

Baniya Robotics

We are working on building a robot that can clean the medium sized solar panel fields.

Rathin Shah, Masters student, School of Computer Science
Kaushik Balasundar, Alumnus, School of Computer Science
Charvi Gupta, Alumna, School of Computer Science

Crescente

Crescente is a sustainable and innovative design and manufacturing firm which turns textile waste into desirable new-generation materials and business opportunities. We partner with designers and textile manufacturers to ensure they meet ESG requirements while upholding sustainable impact.

Hannah Moon, Alumna, College of Engineering

FAMbots

Currently, we are developing a robot that reduces anxiety in people who have Alzheimer's Disease.

Tess Lojacono, Alumna, College of Fine Arts
Frank Lojacono

 

flumio logoFlumio

Flumio is a tech startup that uses machine learning and robotics to develop text-to-fabrication technology to provide affordable and easy-to-customize furniture options for customers.

Manuel Rodriguez Ladron de Guevara, Ph.D. candidate, School of Architecture
Ardavan Bidgoli, Alumnus, School of Architecture

Hon! Swimwear

Hon! Swimwear's mission is to unlock the doors of gender euphoria one body-affirming swimsuit at a time. Hon! makes swimsuits with customizable details in cut that enable them to be worn by anyone with any gender expression, any body with any anatomy.

Derek St. Pierre, Masters student, College of Fine Arts

SmartFlow

Intelligent assistant that help you to complete computer works by your natural language command. It monitors your daily work flows and propose alternative solutions that are better.

Shuyan Zhou, Ph.D. student, School of Computer Science

speak y'all logoSpeak Y'all

Speak Y'all is a public speaking and career coaching business that provides 1:1 personalized coaching sessions to corporate executives (C-suite, VPs, Senior Directors).

Sammie Walker Herrera, Alumna and Staff, Dietrich College

 

TechBridge

TechBridge aims to use the search fund model of entrepreneurship through acquisition to identify commercialization opportunities for university-developed technologies.

Jason Chan, MBA candidate, Tepper
Ross Randall, MBA candidate, Tepper

May 2023

CoCreate

Cocreate is an AI platform designed to maximize productivity and focus for enterprises. Our solution empowers product teams and individuals to work autonomously and efficiently, making the most of their time and attention.

With CoCreate, each person has the flexibility to respond in the moment, taking autonomous actions that align with organizational and team goals. By minimizing the need for constant direction, our AI technology enables teams to achieve more while maintaining a clear strategic focus.


Angelina Thomas, Alumna, School of Computer Science

DreamReal Solutions, Inc.

We are using cutting-edge augmented reality to enhance the apartment touring experience, turning empty rooms into professionally furnished properties that engage renters and makes more money for property managers.


Elliot Watson, Alumnus, School of Engineering
Alex Hertz, co-founder

 

hiretree logohiretree.ai

Recruiting automation for startups to find candidates using information from LinkedIn and other sources. Then, we rank them based off attributes specified in unstructured text by the user.


Ram Potham, Undergraduate Student, School of Computer Science
Parth Iyer, Undergraduate Student, School of Computer Science
Alex Lyons, Undergraduate Student, School of Computer Science

Krzegy

AI/ML and advanced analytical techniques in Smart Manufacturing. Helping Manufacturing industries make smarter decisions that will enable better long-term strategies.


Tanmay Raj, Alumnus, School of Engineering

Prêter

Prêter is an online peer-to-peer luxury fashion short-term rental marketplace designed to connect women who purchase luxury goods to those in their area who want to rent these goods. We empower owners of luxury goods to capitalize on their assets, instead of letting their investments sit in their closet. Unlike competitors, Prêter does not limit the goods available and items can be picked up on the same day.


Tara Lakdawala, Undergraduate Student, School of Computer Science

Relational

Relational is a personal CRM application that leverages AI to promote proactive relationship building.


Deniz Birlikci, Undergraduate Student, School of Computer Science

February 2023

AACT logoAdvocacy Analytics Collective Technologies (AACT)

AACT is developing an AI strategy tool to support the research, data analytics, and strategy needs of political advocacy organizations. Using Natural Language Processing technology, AACT provides stakeholder groups with a searchable database of historic advocacy data, relevant political history, and an ai chatbot automated consulting resource to support strategy development and strategic decision-making. Our team also provides direct political strategy advising for clients on an as-needed basis.

Alisar Mustafa, Alumna, Heinz College
Jamila Jordan, Alumna, Heinz College
Danielle Platt
Anna Butuzova

 

Cittadino Italia

Cittadino Italia builds technology to automate and assist the process of obtaining dual Italian citizenship for current U.S. citizens. The process of becoming a dual U.S. / Italian citizen is complicated, time-consuming, and very manual. Customers can use Cittadino Italia to do things like determine if they are eligible for Italian citizenship, automate booking appointments at the Italian Consulate, and find documents required for approval.

Mike Ferraco, Alumnus, Dietrich College

Ethics coach logoEthics Coach

From one on one coaching to multi-stakeholder programs, Ethics Coach helps purpose-driven business leaders gain clarity on the path ahead, be more effective in the ways that matter to them, and deepen buy-in from peers and stakeholders.

We support executives in aligning their leadership with the change they want to see, and creating the conditions and permission to meaningfully engage colleagues and partners.

We help ethics officers (CSR, Social Impact, etc.) avoid burnout and develop practical paths for buy-in and participation from stakeholders, internal and external.

We empower entrepreneurs to build their company on an ethical foundation, practices, and organizational habits from the start (Ethics MVP).

Dror Yaron, Founder

LockDown

Language Model Solutions for Legal, Security and Intelligence companies

Ana Elvira Alfaro Pizana, Graduate Student, Heinz College

Metaphor3D

For 3D artists, game developers, and content creators, we lower skill barriers and time required to create 3D assets with AI-assisted 3D model generation.

Zhizhuo Zhou, Graduate Student, Robotics Institute

moss robotics, Inc.

moss robotics, Inc. is a company focused on developing small-sized robots specialized in weed control for tree nurseries. Starting with a highly autonomous herbicide-spraying robot, we aim to help farms perform affordable, sustainable practices with the most reliable small-sized farm robots.

Yudan Hu, Graduate Student, Robotics Institute
Shrijit Singh, Graduate Student, Robotics Institute
Vrushali Patil, Graduate Student, Robotics Institute

 

Routree

Routree is a social platform where high school students can connect and begin conversations with college and university admission counselors regarding the schools they're interested in. Routree's unique approach enables students to gather information and develop relationships with higher education institutions before the application process begins, thereby taking the guesswork out of a student applying for college, not knowing if it's a good fit socially or if they meet the necessary academic criteria.
Routree is LinkedIn for high school students.



Christophe Johnson, Graduate Student, Tepper School of Business

Skim

Autonomous or remotely operated robot swarms for red algae blooms cleanup in waterways.

TJ Thomas, Graduate Student, College of Engineering

Customer Discovery Kickstart Teams 2022

November 2022

Astoria

Astoria will provide an all-in-one carbon management & accounting platform (CMAP) that improves climate disclosure in both the industrial and financial sector. Customers can leverage Astoria's platform to automate the process of carbon accounting, simplify data integration from all emission data sources, and enable effortless and accurate carbon calculations, without the need for prior knowledge or experience with carbon accounting.

Team Members:
Zhaobang Wu, Masters Student, College of Engineering

Auntie.ai

Auntie AI is going to be a resource for mothers and their partners after childbirth to help guide and support them during an isolating time with personalized, unbiased, and real-time medical information and practical advice.

Team Members:
Ashleigh Riehl, MBA Candidate, Tepper School of Business
Ellen Lee, MBA Candidate, Tepper School of Business
Shilpa Jais-Stewart, MBA Candidate, Tepper School of Business

BuildTech.ai

BuildTech uses AI to automate the validation and distribution of construction information, improving project quality and streamlining delivery. The initial product is a conversational AI that communicates project specifications (written project requirements) to the construction team, eliminating the need to manually search through physical or digital documents.

Team Members:
Nicholas Ross, Alumnus, College of Engineering

Certably

Helping Multi-Family Unit (MFU) Owners realize their Gross Potential Income.

Team Members:
Krish Visht, Undergraduate Student, Dietrich
Jeremy Ryu, Masters Student, College of Engineering
Rushabh Bhansali, Undergraduate Student, Dietrich

Charlie

An App (Charlie) that allows you to give voice commands to snip audio while listening to audio content, stores the snipped audio content, and allows you to access & reference these notes to review later for exam/quizzes/work, etc. The gist is that this application saves you (students) time by helping you multitask while the App takes notes for you. We charge universities and educational organizations a monthly subscription license, so students can download and use this product.

Team Members:
Nikhil Malik, MBA Candidate, Tepper School of Businesss

Compela

Compela helps early-stage startups increase their valuation through corporate enterprise account partnerships which include paid pilot and accelerator programs. By validating startup's market offering through corporate account development, Compela reinforces each company's value proposition as they expand their sales efforts and raise additional funding.

Team Members:
Brian Feldman, MBA Candidate, Tepper School of Businesss

Conduit

Our business concept is a recruiting platform which will allow small businesses and franchises to equitably hire low wage and shift/contractor labor. We envision anonymized profiles, quick swipe-based recruiter-to-employee matching, and chat gamification to produce a streamlined recruiting process with high engagement and conversion.

Team Members:
Ani Kapuria, MBA Candidate, Tepper School of Business
Maxwell Holmes, MBA Candidate, Tepper School of Business

Kinbase

72% of professionals are subconsciously deterred from connecting with alumni and former acquaintances for discomfort with uncertainty. Unlike networking events, Kinbase creates an event series with both familiar and new faces--not a one-off event with strangers--creating quality time that builds fewer but stronger and higher quality bonds.

Team Members:
Thomas Your, MBA Candidate, Tepper School of Business
Max Wiemer, MBA Candidate, Tepper School of Business

Mito.ai

AI controlled robotics system for automatic cell biomanufacturing.

Team Members:
Xinyu Wang, Masters Student, School of Computer Science

ParkOr

On demand parking creating a marketplace which enables firms/individuals (who do have excess parking at certain times) to rent parking spaces out to customers looking for a spot.

Team Members:
Adam Knapp, Masters Student, Heinz College
Simon Knapp, Masters Student, School of Computer Science

PreferDesign

AI-generated software optimizes commercial graphic designs for business and individual designers by providing color and composition measurement, customer studies, and conversion rate forecasts. The software transforms customer journeys by analyzing public advertising design data to generate design recommendations that could better align with business/marketing strategies.

Team Members:
Anita Yu Chen, Masters Student, Heinz College

SpecAnalytics

An algorithm that searches through vast databases of mass spectrometry 100X faster than state of the art (submitting to Nature methods in one month). 

Team Members:
Mihir Mongia, Ph.D. Candidate, School of Computer Science

VNote

 A note taking app optimized around visuals like slides and videos.

Team Members:
Kelton Zhang, Undergraduate Student, College of Engineering

September 2022

AAIVRY

AAIVRY leverages natural language processing and reinforcement learning to provide quick answers to simple ad-hoc analytic needs written in plain English. The ultimate tool for data democratization.

Team Members:
Nicholas Swaminathan, Masters Student, Tepper School of Business

Effect Analytics

EffectAnalytics is a candidate evaluation tool which leverages artificial intelligence to unearth latent characteristics and provide improved analytical insights of a candidate's profile and provides automation solutions as a part of the recruitment and talent acquisition process.

Team Members:
Pranav Dinesh Bhat, Masters Student, Heinz College

Mailverse

The basic idea of this product is to reimagine how individuals and businesses engage with emails. We want to create a more immersive experience that boosts user engagement with brands and other important content through their email. Also we are aiming for the product to eventually be adopted for use in the Metaverse.

Team Members:
Ramon Williams Sobers, Alumnus, CIT
Danny Suarez

 

Metaverse School

The product is a full-time school in metaverse for 4-8 graders with a curriculum backed by research in cognitive learning to create an impactful VR experience

Team Members:
Sarat Krishna Vakkalanka, Masters Student, Heinz College

OnePageMe

The product will help people hunting for jobs online personalize their resume (possibly cover letter too) for a particular job description.

Team Members:
Sanjan Das, Masters Student, School of Computer Science

Taproot Drums

Percussion instrument manufacturing using eco-friendly/sustainable materials.

Team Members:
Sean Andres, Masters Student, School of Fine Arts

Trace

Trace allows conscious consumers to look up an article of clothing/brand and be able to identify the true environmental and social impact of production throughout the entire supply chain, allowing for transparency. Using blockchain technology and analytics, consumers can determine where the clothes/products were sourced from - ranging from Raw Materials, Fabric Manufacturer, Garment Assembly, Distribution and Sales, to the Retailer and Waste.

Team Members:
Kruppa Raghuraman, Masters Student, Information Security

Trashify

We are currently working on developing:
1. Trash Detection tech - A complete waste analysis and segregation solution with scalable, affordable hardware and intelligent software.
2.The Trashify Can - An automated waste bin that segregates the trash at the source


Team Members:
Nikita Bhagwat, Alumnus, School of Architecture

Vita

Driving personal growth via cross-category card rewards.


Team Members:
Yusheng Chen, Masters Student, Heinz College

Summer 2022

Agni

AI-driven Contract Review designed for Law Firms to make the risk analysis and review process more efficient and standardized.

Team Members:
Manish Agnihotri, Masters Student, Institute for Politics and Strategy

BeyondCanvas

Beyond Canvas is an image sharing and critiquing platform for art students in the form of mobile application.

Team Members:
Won Woo Nam, Undergraduate Student, School of Computer Science
Christy Zo, Undergraduate Student,  School of Design
Andrew Park, Undergraduate Student, School of Computer Science

Blue Earth Tech

We are a renewable energy startup with an in-pipe renewable energy product. Our product is to lower the consumers electric bill while reducing their carbon footprint.

Team Members:
Kyle Snyder, Masters Student, Integrated Innovation Institute

Care2Beat

Early detection of Prediabetes through remote health monitoring.

Team Members:
Karan Bhadri, Masters Student, Integrated Innovation Institute and Mechanical Engineering

 

Eidar

Automating Supermarkets/Grocery Stores by retrofitting low cost robotic solutions. These solutions include smart autonomous carts (fast checkouts, autonomous re-balancing), improved security and cost efficient inventory management.

Team Members:
Naman Gupta, Masters Student, Information Networking Institute
Xinyi Xiang, Undergraduate Student, Dietrich College Interdisciplinary and Human-Computer Interaction
Mang Yin Mo, Masters Student, Computational Biology

Element Robotics

Our vision is to be the company that builds and operates space robots as a service for extra terrestrial exploration and human base development.
We want to start by building a space qualified micro-rover platform that will have mobility, solar power and autonomous navigation as out-of-the-box features. This platform will be able to house payloads of pre-defined dimensions.

Team Members:
Saksham Khurana, Masters Student, Electrical & Computer Engineering and Integrated Innovation Institute
Tenzin Crouch, Visiting Fellow, ISR: Institute for Software Research

Piximo Robotics

Gig economy robot teleoperation over the web for food delivery.

Team Members:
Amirardalan Tajbakhsh, Doctoral Student, Mechanical Engineering
Sean Wang, Doctoral Student, Mechanical Engineering

Restitch

ReStitch is a software-based platform that mediates connections between holders of used textiles, brands/retail/donation centers, and recycling facilities to create value out of otherwise landfilled material.

Team Members:
Guillermo Gutierrez, Masters Student, Civil & Environmental Engineering and Integrated Innovation Institute
Manish Mishra, Masters Student, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Shariki

We are a service that provides loans to entrepreneurs in Africa. Our model is unique in that it directly connects lenders in the U.S. with entrepreneurs in Africa similar to Kiva & Zidisha. However, unlike those platforms which offer zero interest loans, lenders on our platform are able to earn a return via interest.

Team Members:
Patrick Irwin, Masters Student, School of Public Policy & Management
Prangchai Piladit, Masters Student, Business Administration

Sonder

Our business concept is to deploy autonomous mobile manipulators at urban curb-side electric
vehicle (EV) charging stations that have the capability to navigate the site and plug/unplug
charger into/from EVs. Currently, charging stations tend to have limited usage since EV owners
are required to physically unplug their vehicle after 4-6 hours of charging so that other users can
access the station; by automating the physical charging procedure, user’s will have a more
convenient charging process and charge station usage can be optimized to maximize provider’s
revenue.

Team Members:
Bruce Kim, Masters Student, Robotics Institute
Sabrina Shen, Masters Student, Robotics Institute

Super Pass

In a world of premium passes, a website that lets you try all things premium for less.

Team Members:
Shivani Jakhmola, Masters Student, Integrated Innovation Institute

Travlr (formerly OnTheSpot)

Travel planning and booking platform that enables users to receive curated recommendations
and search for and share itineraries.

Team Members:
Nicholas Possi-Moses, Masters Student, Business Adminstration
Benjamin Oppenheim, Masters Student, Business Adminstration
Shivangee Sabharwal, Masters Student, Integrated Innovation Institute

UniVerse

A user friendly avatar construction platform for AR/VR applications

Team Members:
Shihong Liu, Masters Student, Information Systems

Verify NFT

Rapid credential verification using web3. We help organizations issue digital credentials as NFTs so that they are forever secure, verifiable and accessible on a public blockchain. We are currently focused on micro-credentials ( like online certificates from a Coursera or Udemy, hackathon participation and volunteer work ), but this concept also has great potential for academic degree issuance and work experience verification. 

Team Members:
Abhraneil Chandra, Masters Student, Information Systems
Seeulee Upadhyaya, Masters Student, Information Systems
Akshay Garg, Masters Student, Business Administration
Neha Chintamaneni, Undergraduate Student, Dietrich College

Pilot Program Spring 2022

1111

A security hardware/application tool for an enterprise environment that predicts/measures malice intent in real time. This tool will work as a precursor to help identify risk/loss before it happens.

Team Members:
Jennifer Kouragian,  Masters Student, Integrated Innovation Institute

Confidant

Confidant aims to help women identify, diagnose and manage PCOS through the course of their lives.

Team Members:
Ishita Shah, Masters Student, Integrated Innovation Institute

 

Experiskill

Experiskill aims to create a platform that allows those with a teachable skill or hobby to easily create an online presence and manage classes and also helps connect prospective students with these teachers to build meaningful relationships.

Team Members:
Akshaya Kumar, Masters Student, Integrated Innovation Institute
Amanda Quint, Masters Student, Integrated Innovation Institute
Kevin Kim, Masters Student, Integrated Innovation Institute

Nile

Nile empowers communities in the bottom billion, who live in unaddressed slum settlements but have experienced exponential smartphone penetration, with access to package deliveries. With sights on becoming the Uber of e-commerce deliveries, we connect these individuals with proxy delivery address providers within their neighbourhood, which allows them to access package deliveries. At Nile, my team and I have developed a lean, software-based alternative to e-locker systems, which are difficult to deploy in these markets due to high overheads, crime rates and vandalism.

Team Members:
Tejas Venkatesh, Undergraduate Student, Dietrich College Interdisciplinary
Martin Ackermann, Undergraduate Student, School of Computer Science
Brian Chien, Undergraduate Student, Mechanical Engineering