VentureBridge Fellows
The VentureBridge Fellows program is a selective track for a small number of high-potential CMU founders and researchers. VentureBridge Fellows are student and alumni founders building startups, while VentureBridge Research Fellows are faculty members, PhD students, and researchers pursuing commercialization opportunities.
While Fellows do not receive an initial investment, they are fully integrated into VentureBridge and participate alongside funded teams throughout the program.
Fellows receive access to VentureBridge programming, 1:1 mentorship, investor exposure, founder community, and travel support for key in-person events across the Bay Area, Pittsburgh, and New York City.
Meet the inaugural VentureBridge Fellows and Research Fellows Class of 2026.
2026 VentureBridge Research Fellows
Aayush Bansal
PhD, Robotics, School of Computer Science
Aayush is working on an idea in stealth.
Kevin Dai
PhD, Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
Kevin is creating biocompatible 3D printing technologies for medtech prototyping with Mimetic Ink.
Laszlo Jeni
CMU faculty, Robotics, School of Computer Science
Laszlo is developing AI-optimized biorefineries that convert food waste into protein, fertilizers, and carbon credits with Tlaloc Blue.
Michael Rudow
PhD, School of Computer Science
Michael is developing resilient real-time data delivery systems for robots and drones operating in contested or interference-prone environments with Treseder AI.
Rajdeep (Ron) Sarma2026 VentureBridge Fellows
Apoorv Singh
Robotics, School of Computer Science
Apoorv is building an AI-first software platform that helps home inspectors streamline report generation and automate administrative tasks with Synapse Mobility.
David Hershenson
Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
David is developing a wearable sensor platform providing swing analysis and coaching insights for tennis and pickleball players with ServeSense.
Eshan Chordia
School of Computer Science
Eshan is creating an autonomous machine-learning engineer that converts business problems into production-ready models and APIs in under an hour with Impulse AI.
Grant Wilkinson
College of Engineering
Grant is developing drone-based intelligence to precisely manage weeds and invasive pieces in any terrain with Hermes Vision.
Shiv Panjwani
Tepper School of Business
Shiv is building an engineering project management platform for leaders in healthtech & robotics companies to make faster, data-backed decisions on scheduling, feature prioritization, and innovation management.
Shyam Sai
School of Computer Science
Shyam is using AI to help K-12 teachers grade and analyze handwritten math assignments, transforming student work into actionable insights and formative feedback with Frizzle.
Siddhartha Vanjari
Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
Siddhartha is building an AI incident response engine for regulated industries with CollAI.
Stephen Wu
School of Computer Science
Stephen is building an AI-driven hedge fund using machine learning for equity signal generation and portfolio optimization with Carthage Capital.
Taranveer SinghThank you to our Swartz Center Patrons
