This past Friday, the Semi-Finals of the 2026 NYU Entrepreneurs Challenge turned NYU Stern into a hub of fast-paced pitching and bold ideas, as student founders presented ventures spanning AI, digital platforms, healthcare innovation, and consumer solutions.
With a legacy spanning more than 25 years, the Entrepreneurs Challenge continues to be one of the country’s premier university startup accelerators, with more than $225K in prize funding on the line. This year’s competition brought together over 100 teams from NYU’s 19 schools, with only 25 advancing to the Semi-Finals across three tracks: the New Venture Competition, Digital Tech Venture Competition, and Healthcare Venture Competition.
Each team presented for nine minutes, followed by a 20-minute Q&A that pushed founders to defend their assumptions, validate their markets, and demonstrate scalability. After a full day of pitches and deliberation, 12 teams advanced to the Final Pitch-Off.
And the Finalists Are…
For the Digital Tech Venture Competition, the teams continuing to the Finals are:
- Concordare Trials: Zach Sawaged (Graduate School of Arts & Science ‘20), Nathan Maher
- Diagrm: Javier Navarro-Machuca (Stern ‘27), Corinne Camay (Stern ‘27), Joshua Glasman
- Mobile Defender: Mo Satt (Tandon ‘28), Sarah Krueger, Maitry Dave (Tandon ‘26)
- Spendcodes: Michael Curry (CAS ‘05)
- STARDUST: Kevin Johan Wong (CAS ‘10), Huan Nguyen
For the Healthcare Venture Competition, the teams continuing to the Finals are:
- Jointly Medical: Ameen Bardien (Tandon PhD ’26), Lara Pinar (Tandon PhD ’27)
- Symptolab: Tamar Zelovich-Hod (CAS ’22), Alon Zelovich
- Systema Med: Julio La Torre, Garman Xu (Tandon ’27)
For the New Venture Competition, the teams continuing to the Finals are:
- ChopChop Eats: Aaron Shen (Tandon ’24), Ice Yu
- DEFI Snacks: Tatyana Jones (Stern M.B.A. ’15)
- pupil: Dario Anaya (Gallatin ‘26)
- VenueHopper: Stonny Liu (Tandon ‘23), Sharon Melzer (SPS ‘27)
The evening wrapped with a reception that brought together founders, mentors, and judges, creating space for conversation, feedback, and community-building beyond the competition itself.
The Finalists will return to the stage on Friday, May 1, for the Final Pitch-Off, where they will compete for more than $225,000 in cash and pro-bono services! Register for your spot here!
Interested in learning more about the teams? Explore the Finalist Directory for a closer look at the ventures and the founders behind them.
