Lab Dispatches

Welcome to the 2025-2026 Cohort of the Columbia Startup Lab!

This year, we have 50 startups founded by alumni entrepreneurs who hail from 9 of Columbia’s undergraduate and graduate schools, including Barnard. 

Get to know the ventures below.

4Wall AI

​​Viswajit Nair, Engineering

Virtual worlds to hang out with friends and AI characters

 

Arata AI

Apoorv Agarwal, Engineering

 

Arth – Art of Health

Ritika Patni, CBS

Arth is the world’s first personalized longevity platform based on clinically validated plant bio-actives with over 5000 years of proven use.

 

Bucephalus

Nicholas DeGiacomo, Engineering

The Supply Chain OS for a Greener Future

 

Cadenova

Derrick Chien Huang, CBS

Cadenova uses data analytics to help fashion brands predict demand, optimize inventory, and reduce overproduction.

 

Chorrie

Chris Schlaepfer, CBS

AI Automation for Medical Coding Tasks

 

Coffee Elf

Helen Zhang, Engineering

At Coffee Elf, we use green chemistry technologies to upcycle spent coffee grounds into value-added biomaterials for the cosmetic and textile industry.

 

Crosstalk Connections

Chris Chin, Mailman School of Public Health

Crosstalk Connections is a patent-pending telephony platform combating the Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation.

 

Daps

Jake Klores, Columbia College

A social platform for professional and collegiate athletes to monetize exclusive content and experiences directly to fans.

 

DegoDego

Hemant Yadav, CBS

A unique AI-driven shopping platform that brings online and local SMB stores together to give best pricing, deals, real-time product availability and personalized notification to customers.

 

Deka

Hangqi Zheng, Engineering

 

Earnest RCM

Luke Xue, Columbia College | Rohan Kulkarni, Columbia College

Automated revenue cycle for health systems.

 

Gamsa Foods

Sarah Hwang, CBS

Gamsa is a Korean American food brand making instant, delicious, and savory oatmeal inspired by rice porridge (juk), designed for busy mornings.

 

Grove

Austin Fountain, CBS

Grove is a dating app that combines the scale and convenience of matching online with the authenticity of meeting in person, letting users meet up the same day through our unique “Meet Now” feature and strategic partnerships with F&B providers. 

 

Groverton

Dustin Martelo, SIPA

Financing and managing single family homes on behalf of nonprofits and low-income families.

 

IVY Engineering Group

Samira Ayati, Engineering  

IVY Engineering Group, a WBE, DBE, and SBE-certified firm in New York, specializes in construction management and engineering services for both private and government projects, delivering precision and excellence.

 

Kaari Design

Siddharth Singi, Engineering

Design and budget your interior design projects in minutes

 

KanduPay, Inc.

David Roosevelt, Engineering

KanduPay, Inc. is a start-up dynamic cryptocurrency exchange, e-Wallet, and remittance solution that facilitates and eases the exchange of fiat & digital currencies, financial transactions, and wallet services across market channels for its platform users

 

Kathedra

David Faes, General Studies

Revolutionizing furniture manufacturing with the first upholstery robot

 

Legislative Llama

Marielle Villar Martiney, SIPA

Legislative Llama is an AI-powered digital platform that activates Gen Z & Millennials’ political participation and advocacy for social & environmental justice.

 

LEMON JUICE

Rafat Nigar, Barnard College

LemonJuice is a review-powered platform that helps small businesses get discovered and grow through conversion-optimized profiles and video testimonials 

 

Local Civics

Beverly Leon, CBS

Local Civics streamlines civics, college, and career education for K-12 schools.

 

LogTrack

Hidayat Hamidov, CBS

AI COPILOT for Logistics

 

Lynk

Alfonso Velasco, Engineering | Sid Vijay, Engineering

A personalized and proactive shopping companion powered by community. 

 

Meadow

Ani Ammula, Columbia College | Alfredo Brillembourg, Columbia College | Jonathan Rich, Engineering

The first fintech platform for higher education.

 

Mushroom Packaging

Thomas van Haren, CBS

Mushroom Packaging is a compostable protective packaging made with mycelium and agricultural waste to replace EPS/styrofoam.

 

My Guided Space

Daniele Prevedello, GSAS

Consumer and small business supplier search engine

 

nMonica

Lewis Clements, CBS

A wearable device for perfect memory

 

OneRange

Steve Gilman, CBS | Houtan Fanisalek, Engineering

Range is a personalized lifelong learning technology platform

 

Onesto

Ben Silluzio, CBS

Innovative employee benefits platform focused on revolutionizing how employees access and use their Healthcare Savings Accounts.

 

PanImpact Ventures, Inc.

William Baek, CBS

Our startup is a mental health service that aims to facilitate access to culturally diverse therapists and resources for internationals and immigrants in the U.S., lowering barriers and providing guidance through the search process.

 

Pelican

Alexandra Bono, CBS

Pelican offers a digital platform designed to help your loved ones reach their savings goals.

 

Portfolio Agent

Victor Xiao, CBS

Portfolio Agent is an innovative, agent-based AI platform that aggregates real-time market data across multiple asset classes to deliver unified, actionable investment insights for both institutional and retail investors.

 

Prana Health

Kosha Rakholia, Mailman School of Public Health

AI-powered recommendation engine for clinicians to design well-being plans personalized for women. 

 

Product CoPilot

Angie Hanna-Bugueiro, CBS

ProductCopilot is your AI co-founder for product strategy—helping early-stage startups find product-market fit before they run out of runway.

 

Quaderer Media Group

Joseph Quaderer, Journalism

StorySavor is a biography writing services company.

 

Reason Technologies

Digvijay Makwana, CBS

AI-Powered Market Intelligence

 

Rockhopper

Sebastian Perez Lawrence, CBS

Rockhopper is an enterprise planning management cloud solution for collaborative business case modeling.

 

Rud-co

Sam Ruddock, CBS

Distribution aggregation and payment network. 

 

Shaker

Rafael Canario, CBS

MatchEd is a Lifelong Lifewide Learning Management System that links EdTechs in one platform.

 

Sharp Performance

Benjamin Curley, CBS

Mental training and wellness platform for professionals in high-risk occupations.

 

Spacely 

Thomas Cerio, CBS

We are a marketplace and inventory management system for print and offline media.

 

Sumly

Maggi Heneghan, CBS

Sumly is the one-stop-shop for the self-employed to manage their business and personal finances with AI-enabled expense tracking, tax filing, and financial advising.

 

Terra

Raymond Heimann Columbia College | Tom Higgins Columbia College

Revolutionizing ‘minimulti’ real estate to bring authentic workforce housing back to the heart of America at scale.

 

Tesoro

Sara Gomez Horta , SIPA

Wealth management platform designed for young Latinas

 

Toothdoc

Zoe Mattana, CBS

ToothDoc is a digital health platform that digitizes, streamlines, and tracks referrals between dental professionals, boosting practice revenue while enhancing patient engagement and treatment follow-through.

 

Vega

Madeline Park, Engineering | Benjamin Lee, Engineering

AI-powered people search (so you always have the inside scoop on who matters).

 

Verteel

Brian Monga, CBS | Brian Ross, CBS

Verteel empowers businesses to deliver high-value goods faster using unmanned aerial systems.

 

Vitruvius

Anshul Singhania, CBS

Startup focused on mass-customisation, generative design & additive manufacturing of luxury products.

 

Wifi Shark

Joshua Gerson, CBS

Wifi Shark helps unhappy Spectrum and Xfinity internet customers switch providers and save money on home internet.

 

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