Every Spring, the Columbia Venture Competition gives out $350,000 dollars in cash prizes to the next generation of Columbia entrepreneurs.
Alumni judges from Brooklyn to Bordeaux to Beijing evaluate and advise competitors until three winners are chosen for each challenge track, which this year includes: the BlocPower Columbia Climate Challenge; Columbia-CareOne Healthcare All-Stars Challenge; Brown Institute Innovation Challenge in Journalism, Media, and Technology; the StartupColumbia Challenge; the SIPA Dean’s Public Policy Challenge Grant; the Technology Challenge; and the Undergraduate Challenge.
Congratulations to the winners of the Columbia Venture Competition – Undergraduate Challenge, Sponsored by student group CORE!
First Place, $15,000
Ocular Diagnosis
Ocular Diagnosis has built an AI-based web software platform that helps clinicians and psychiatrists diagnose ADHD using eyes, specifically pupillometrics and eye gaze.
Founders: William Das ’25CC, Shubh Khanna ’25 Stanford
Second Place, $10,000 (tied)
Ours
Ours is an app that enables college students to coordinate travel – the cheaper, safer and more fun way of going places!
Founders: Madeline Park ’24SEAS, Adrianne Park ’26CC
Second Place, $10,000 (tied)
Chaser
Chaser empowers date-rape-drug victims by giving them a voice through an anonymous report, protects potential victims by providing insight into the most dangerous bars and nightclubs, and pressures establishments to take action firsthand by keeping them accountable.
Founders: Ioanna Zervaki ’24CC, Claire French ’24BC
Third Place, $5,000
Plantain
Plantain is a marketplace that connects creator-consultants with brands. Plantain helps create better content using automated tools.
Founders: Andrew Yan ’24CC, Jay Ram ’24CC, Bill Sun ’24SEAS
The Undergraduate Challenge is administered by the Columbia Organization for Rising Entrepreneurs (CORE) and is open to current Columbia College, Engineering, General Studies, and Barnard College undergraduates.
This Challenge aims to promote entrepreneurship across the greater Columbia undergraduate community by offering Columbia founders the opportunity to develop their pitches, create a minimum viable product, and present to early-stage investors.