Do they hope to “put a dent in the universe” like Steve Jobs? Do they picture serving neglected consumers and applying groundbreaking models like Sam Walton? Are they consumed by the impulse to raise quality and reduce costs like Henry Ford?
Or, in the case of Hayden Earl, are they pulled by the love of a community – and a calling to protect it?
A senior at Cornell University’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration, Earl learned to sail when he was five-years-old on Cape Cod. Later on, he competed for the U.S. Olympic Development Sailing Team. Such experiences imbued a passion for the Massachusetts coast’s natural beauty – and the ecological balance needed to sustain it. The latter hit home when Earl visited his coastal hometown several years ago. The view was unforgettably eerie: fishing boats no longer dotted the harbor. The reason spurred him to action.
“I learned that overfishing from tourists – coupled with environmental degradation which had brought warmer waters to Cape Cod and driven the fish population north – had destroyed our fishing industry and the livelihoods of many,” he tells P&Q. Dwindling catches had led to dwindling incomes, and my town’s fisherman had been displaced. It was in this moment that I felt a deep responsibility to help uplift my community.”
In response, Earl launched his venture, BoatCape, in the summer of 2022. The venture provides guided tours where visitors can “explore Cape Cod’s natural beauty like a true local – and with one” in Earl’s words. Thus far, BoatCape has attracted over $80,000 in investment. Long-term, Earl hopes to build an “Uber for Boats,” where he envisions tourists using an app to reserve a boat and a captain for a tour. In the meantime, Earl points to his yacht charter service serving a dual purpose.
“[It] provides my community with a way to earn an income and stay connected to its coastal roots. BoatCape [also] aims to educate visitors about the importance of environmental stewardship, out on the water, where seeing is believing!”
Earl himself has long dabbled in entrepreneurship, with ventures ranging from shoveling snow to teaching sailing to selling sodas. Now earning a BS in Hotel Administration, Earl says the Nolan School has been “extremely supportive” of BoatCape. Not only has one of his professors, Tom Estad, guided him though launching and scaling his venture, but has even put his students to work on it.
“This fall, I am a teaching assistant for his Communication for Entrepreneurs class as well as helping develop curriculum for his Business Writing course for the second year in a row, where his younger students will pitch new side ventures for BoatCape,” Earl adds.
STUDENT FOUNDED STARTUPS BY UNDERGRADUATE BY BUSINESS MAJORS
BoatCape is one of the startups honored by Poets&Quants in its 4th annual ‘Most Disruptive Business School Startups of 2024.’ This fall, P&Q reached out to 33 of the highest-ranked business schools of 2024. Ultimately, P&Q received 29 submissions back from institutions ranging from the Wharton School to the University of California at Berkeley to IE Business School. Like previous years, P&Q sought startups, founded by business majors, with the potential to become game-changing forces in their respective industries. In many cases, they are evolved beyond dorm room concepts and laboratory protypes to highly-funded enterprises.
Take CR3 Markets, a commercial real estate fintech started by Jakub Drwal, Jack Wayman, and Andrew Vittiglio at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College. It has already raised over $800,000 in funding. Carnegie Mellon University’s Sitewiz, an AI-powered E-commerce solution, and Babson College’s BOND, a leadership and personal growth platform, have attracted $133,000 and $155,000 in funding respectively. At the Wharton School, Ace Kim and Julian Ward have raised $137,500 between angel investments, grants, and bootstrapping for SphereUs. This venture focuses on automating various process involved in brand ambassador programs, such as identifying and training ambassadors and measuring their performance.
“In recent years, marketing through macro-influencers and content creators has become more expensive and less effective,” Kim explains. “With the explosion of TikTok and short-form content, people are bombarded with sponsorship-after-sponsorship. This has led to “ad-blindness” where audiences increasingly ignore content creator product placements. In contrast, brand ambassadorship (marketing through micro-influencers) has gotten more effective, as consumers continuously rely more-and-more on their own social circles for product recommendations.”
SWAPPING OATS FOR CHICKPEAS
Izzy Gorton, ChiChi, Washington University (Olin)
At Washington University’s Olin School, Izzy Gorton and Chiara Munzi are disrupting the quick breakfast market – and have raised $234,000 to take their startup national. Rather than relying on oats – high in carbs and sugar – for hot cereal, the founders are using high protein chickpeas. It is a solution, Gorton says, that is appealing to consumers looking for more plant-based and dairy-free options. Their product, ChiChi, now sells across 34 grocery stores and St. Louis and Los Angeles, having sold 50,000 pouches by the beginning of fourth quarter. At the same time, ChiChi claimed first prize in the 60 Day Hustle, an accelerator competition sponsored by Amazon Prime.
For Gorton, ChiChi’s success has been a community effort. She credits Doug Villhard, Olin’s academic director for entrepreneurship, for teaching them to “innovate quickly, gain fast traction, and get consumer feedback right away.” Another professor, II Luscri, pushed the founders to enter competitions and allowed them to “stink up his space with cooking chickpeas.” They also leveraged the school’s Skandalaris Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to guide the launch of their venture. Even more, adds Gorton, they took advantage of their startup-friendly local ecosystem.
“Local St. Louis grocery stores gave us the opportunity to launch as a student startup, offering invaluable proof of concept that accelerated our growth and product innovation. St. Louis is a great place for entrepreneurship because of its supportive network, affordability, and strong sense of community. The city fosters innovation, particularly in the food industry, and is incredibly welcoming to new companies.”
CATERING TO THEIR PEERS
In some cases, student startups stemmed directly from their experience. Exhibit A: GradMeet, a mobile app launched by Jack Saltel, a 2024 graduate of Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. The app, he says, is designed to help recent graduates make friends and build networks in their new cities. He does this through “curated group experiences,” with like-minded members selected through “a personality quiz and value-based matching algorithm.” Last summer, Saltel executed the concept by hosting GradMeet’s MVP Chicago Launch Party, which drew 122 attendees on a shoestring budget. This was just the first step in a much larger vision.
“The long-term goal with GradMeet is to expand to major cities across the U.S. and beyond,” Saltel writes, “becoming the go-to application for new grads who are moving to a new city to start their career to combat the growing loneliness epidemic among young adults. By leveraging in-person group experiences, GradMeet aims to eliminate the awkward barriers of meeting new people and truly build authentic friendships. In the future, I aim to build strategic partnerships with local businesses, event venues, and large corporations that hire recent graduates. My vision is to redefine how new grads navigate the start of their post-college.”
Mohit Mirpuri lays out an equally ambitious vision for his venture. A senior at the Villanova University School of Business, he has launched College Couture. Matching high quality gems and striking designs with a lower price point, he plans to “disrupt” the school jewelry market, which includes college-specific graduation rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. In the process, Mirpuri adds, he hopes to make collegiate jewelry “smarter, more stylish and more meaningful.” Thus far, he has established sales partnerships with Villanova Athletics and Playfly, a leading sports marketing and technology firm. By the same token, he has earned the endorsement of Villanova’s Women’s Basketball Coach, Denise Dillon, who wears a Villanova pendant from College Couture.
In the coming months, he plans to add new schools through Playfly too. “My long-term goal is to expand College Couture to over 250 schools across the Northeast and Southeast, with plans to eventually target colleges in the Northwest and Southwest,” Mirpuri explains. “I envision three primary product lines focusing on graduation gifts, alumni gifts, and staff/faculty gifts. Through our partnership with Playfly, we’re positioned to achieve substantial market reach within the collegiate space, ultimately making College Couture the leading name in fine, customizable collegiate jewelry.”
Next Page: NASA-Funded Fire Reduction System, Caregiver Support, and More.
Page 3: In-Depth Profiles of 29 Student Startups
Anastacia Yefimenko, Elcove, Babson College
PURSUING THE GREATER GOOD
In some cases, business students launched ventures to pursue the greater good. At Babson College, Anastacia Yefimenko started Elcove. Here, consumers can mix ingredients with water to create non-toxic home care products like soap. The solution also comes with reusable glass bottles to reduce landfill waste. The venture arose from Yefimenko’s allergies, which were tied to traditional cleaning and hygiene products.
“I found that the products meant to keep homes clean were compromising my health. When I dug deeper, I was shocked to learn that 2.5 billion plastic cleaning product bottles are discarded annually in the U.S. alone, contributing to an escalating environmental crisis. After looking for alternatives that were safe for both my health and the planet and not being able to find any, I decided to create my own solution.”
In the same vein, Rachel Domb, a December graduate of Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business, started Rooted Living. Her solution involves pairing plant-based granola in “100% compostable packaging.” The product was so popular that it earned the Women Who Empower Innovator Award (along with $27,000 in funding). At the University of San Francisco, Owen Sordillo is a co-founder of Silvaye. His solution combines sensors and data analytics to measure how fires burn so authorities can mitigate their risk. Not only has Silvaye received $100,000 in funding from NASA, but the founders completed a rotation in a NASA-operated incubator and presented their solution at the NASA Earth Science Technology Forum.
Dhiya Krupashankar and Erin Donnelly were inspired to pursue entrepreneurship after completing a global health project in Ghana for the University of Michigan. Here, they were exposed to the prevalence of neonatal hypothermia, which contributes heavily to infant mortality. The situation galvanized Krupashankar and Donnelly to develop an incubator to be used in hospitals to reduce mortality rates. Designed for “low resource” facilities, Krupashankar describes NeoNest as a non-electric device that is “simple, accessible, and affordable.” Established as a non-profit, NeoNest has generated $75,000 in funding, along with being a finalist at the 2024 Johns Hopkins Healthcare Design Competition, which attracted 286 proposals.
For Krupashankar, the Ross School of Business has played an integral role in the growth of NeoNest, with the founders able to work on the venture in various startup classes and competing in various competitions to hone their pitches and strategy.
“Academically, I have completed two capstone projects sponsored by NeoNest, one focused on prototype iteration and the second focused on identifying market opportunities,” Krupashankar adds. “To secure funding, we have participated in numerous grant opportunities through the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, the Center for Entrepreneurship, and optiMize. We are also clients of the Zell Legal Clinic, where we have received support in drafting our bylaws, assessing patent potential, and preparing our 501(c)(3) application.”
Aakriti Kamal, Cura, University of Texas (McCombs)
SUPPORTING CAREGIVERS…LIKE HER MOTHER
Growing up in India, Aakriti Kamal witnessed her grandmother descend into Schizophrenia. Although her mother became her primary caregiver, she knew little about how to care for the mentally ill – and the responsibilities took a toll on her. “It’s a role that’s consumed her life, affecting her health both physically and mentally, and showing the intense, and overwhelming amounts of stress and anxiety caregivers face on a daily basis,” Kamal explains.
Coming to the University of Texas’ McCombs School, Kamal wanted to connect her passions for psychology and business. Experiencing first-hand the limited resources available to mental health caregivers in India, she decided to launch a venture to help the millions who made the same sacrifices as her mother.
“Cura is an AI-powered app designed to support informal and family caregivers of mentally-ill patients,” Kamal tells P&Q. “Family caregivers experience immense burden of caregiving, which has been proven to take a severe toll on their health. We make it easier for caregivers to manage their daily tasks, improve their loved one’s recovery, and access useful resources. Cura also generates detailed reports on patient progress, ensuring smooth handoffs to doctors. This leads to better patient outcomes and increases efficiency in care delivery for hospitals.”
SOLUTIONS FOR VULNERABLE POPULATIONS
Krish Bajaj, Roam, New York University (Stern)
Like Cura, many undergraduate disruptive startups are centered around platforms or apps driven by data analytics and artificial intelligence. Take CreditCliq, a FinTech that originated out of Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business. Started by Eve Idusuyi, Angel Idusuyi, and Eniola Osabiya, the firm focuses on helping internationals who’ve relocated to North America to share their credit histories with financial institutions. That way, these consumers can more easily apply for credit cards and loans. Thus far, the firm has attracted over 100,00 users, while winning 1st place in the Silicon Valley Business Plan Competition and Princeton University’s Impact Challenge.
Roam is another startup geared towards simplifying the transition for newcomers to the United States, says co-founder Krish Bajaj, who’ll be graduating from New York University’s Stern School this spring.
“We help them get set up with everything, from the basics like a bank account and credit card to the more complex tasks like choosing an insurance plan and procuring an H-1B visa without the lottery – all while saving them thousands of dollars, a ton of stress, and loads of time along the way.”
Since launching last summer, Roam has built a community of 25,000 international students across a variety of digital channels. Even more, the firm has launched what it calls “the world’s first AI-powered F-1 visa interview coach,” which has already been used by 5,000 students. Long-term, Bajaj says, he wants Roam to become the world’s largest student housing platform. At Notre Dame’s Mendoza College, Michelle Arandia Beltran is part of the founding team for Blink Mexico. Recognizing that half of Mexico’s 18-70-year-old demographic has limited access to banking, the team borrowed an idea from Indonesia to better connect Mexico’s cash-based system with easy-to-use digital tools. To accelerate this evolution, Blink is starting with a familiar first adopter population, says Arandia Beltran.
“Blink targets financially active students in Mexico City, offering a convenient way to manage expenses and make on-campus purchases. The platform promotes financial inclusion and aims to empower local businesses by increasing sales and providing better data insights.”
SUCCESS MEANS COMING BACK FOR MORE
At Southern Methodist University’s Cox School, Ephraim Sun has co-developed a solution that he describes as a “virtual Scrum Master.” Known as FuseLink AI, the platform streamlines Agile workflows and automates “routine project management tasks.” The inspiration, Sun says, came from team members’ internships at Amazon and Wells Fargo, where the tools often lagged behind the demands.
“During my time at Amazon, I observed firsthand how even the most advanced teams could be bogged down by repetitive, administrative aspects of Agile workflows. Despite access to cutting-edge tools, project managers and engineers were often overwhelmed by tasks like status updates, prioritization, and follow-ups, which detracted from actual innovation and slowed project velocity. This experience highlighted the need for a smarter, more automated solution that could handle these repetitive tasks while keeping teams aligned with business goals.”
While most student startups are still suffering growing pains, several are showing promise. IE Business School’s Alga.E, which curbs ecological risk by “transforming sargassum into a sustainable resource,” earned a spot in the Greentech Europe 2024 accelerator program. Custom Crumb, a cookie maker founded by twin sisters at Georgia Tech, sold 2,000 cookies in its first month. At Cornell University, The Outdoor Wholesaler, which provides a platform for clothing and recreation brands to connect with local shops, had signed up nearly two dozen marketers before fourth quarter. According to Chloe Lauren Samah, co-founder of Babson College’s BOND, the venture’s biggest milestone has been learning how to bounce back from failures.
“We’ve won over $150k in equity-free funding through grants and pitch competitions, but we’ve also lost out on over $3M in potential funding. The real accomplishment has been learning to embrace those losses—taking every “no” as a chance to get better. Each rejection has taught us how to refine our pitch, sharpen our product, and come back even stronger. It’s this resilience that has kept us moving forward, helping us build BOND step by step into something truly impactful.”
THE VALUE OF BUSINESS CURRICULUM TO STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS
Claire Lee, Selleb, Georgetown University (McDonough)
Samah also credits her business major for her startup success. Working with diverse classmates in team projects prepared her to collaborate, motivate, and navigate. Alga.E co-founder Maria Elena Escribano absorbed applicable fundamentals, such as building financial models and identifying revenue streams, that she could apply directly to her efforts. In his freshman year, Roam’s Krish Bajaj completed a design sprint, which required him to interview over 50 strangers in Brooklyn to gain insights on their concept. Hesitant at first, Bajaj grew comfortable interacting with prospective customers – and gained an unforgettable insight in the process.
“It’s all about people. If you can understand people well, you can build world-changing businesses,” Bajaj explains. “Today, I follow the same mantra. Whenever we build a new product or sign a new partnership, the only question I ask myself is, “Who is the person behind this, and what can I learn about them that will help me serve them better?”
Claire Lee is a 2024 Georgetown University graduate whose Selleb startup uses receipts to bring transparency to product endorsements. She echoes Bajaj’s lesson from her own experience. “Your users have all the answers. All the theories, all the shiny concepts—they dissolve the second you hear real users talk about their needs, frustrations, and wishes.”
Lee says this point was hammered home in her Startup Studio course. While seasoned entrepreneurs may hype experience, this year’s class of disruptive student founders are equally bullish on classroom learning. BOND’s Chloe Lauren Samah points out that an idea from her Opportunities in AI course saved her 10 hours of work per customer. In her Business Model Design and Innovation course, Rachel Domb learned that a great product goes hand-in-hand with a great model – you can’t have one without the other. At the Wharton School, Ace Kim found his negotiations course to be particularly relevant to his venture.
“[The] class has informed the way I now lead conversations with clients and potential investors. I learned to separate positions (the outcomes people want) from interests (the reasons they want those outcomes) from options (all the possibilities in which people might agree) in order to form value-creating agreements.”
In his capstone course at NYU, Krish Bajaj was required to give a weekly presentation on the progress of his venture and the lessons he’d gained since the previous class. It was a structure – reflecting, communicating, and acting – that he has implemented in his own venture.
“We host bi-weekly stand-ups every Monday and Thursday where everyone shares what they’re working on that day, what they’re learning, what they need to do for the rest of the week, and what they need help with. This practice helps increase visibility into what every individual is doing, how far we’ve come, and where we’re headed. The inability to see a clear path ahead can be daunting; this practice helps our team reorient ourselves in the present and take baby steps toward the future.”
Next Page: In-Depth Profiles of 29 Student Startups
Pariyat Aggarwal, Omnipher, University of Illinois (Gies)
INSPIRING ROLE MODELS
As valuable as the coursework was, founders point to faculty members as the true difference-makers. At the University of Illinois’ Gies College, Pariyat Aggarwal co-founded Omnipher, which she describes as a “credit card sized lip balm container.” She compliments Elias Kourpas for teaching her one of the pillars of starting a business: sell the problem, not just the product. At Wharton, Ace Kim remembers how Jeffrey Babin framed entrepreneurship as a “never-ending series of existential problems.” To make it through, Babin asserts, a founder needs grit and a positive attitude. In the Spine Sweat Experience taught by Regan Stevenson, Jack Saltel gained a mindset that has sustained his efforts.
“[He taught me] to lean into uncertainty, tackle challenges head-on and to constantly switch between different facets of the business. I felt confident being open to failure, learning from my mistakes, iterating, and trying it again in a different way. He taught how you can fail fast and fail cheaply, meaning you must find ways in which you can test your idea that requires little capital and lots of time. I learned how to be open to change and allow my vision to grow with each lesson. You have to trust that uncertainty is part of the process, and it’s where the best opportunities are found.”
Alongside faculty, student entrepreneurs also found encouragement in past founders. Aakriti Kamal admires Nike’s Phil Knight for driving health and happiness as much as hawking shoes. Jack Saltel praises his entrepreneur father, Doug Saltel, for tutoring him on the best practices: “Take risks, dream big, and rapidly test and iterate ideas.” In the case of Claire Lee, inspiration came less from a person and more from the entrepreneurial spirit that tugged at her.
“I was just motivated by the relentless need for independence—the freedom to build on my terms, report to no one, chase an idea as far as it would go, and create something that did not yet exist. The real motivators are the nagging questions, the what-ifs, the little moments when you realize you cannot not do this.”
If you’re hounded by this entrepreneurial impulse, adds Claire Lee, there’s no better way to boost your odds of success than jumping into it at business school.
“If you’ve got an internet connection, there’s no excuse not to dive in head first. As long as you’re willing to ask questions and stay curious about getting to the bottom, there’s help and inspiration everywhere. You just have to spend a lot of time alone burrowing down the rabbit hole. My college campus provided fertile ground for me to test out my ideas through several entrepreneurship initiatives and I am forever grateful for that.”
