CMU VC 2024 Recap
The 2024 CMU Venture Challenge provided significant support and exposure for early-stage entrepreneurs, hosting over 60 competitive teams nationwide. Running from February to March, the event culminated in a final round at CMU's Swartz Center, where 12 teams pitched to a panel of CEOs and prestigious entrepreneurs. The top three winners received cash prizes, operational support, and exclusive sessions with leading venture firms like Y Combinator.
Winners
1st place
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KnitFit is designing custom-fit compression garments for medical use, such as scar management and blood pressure regulation. They are able to reduce the production time of these garments from 1 month by current manufacturers to about 30 minutes.
2nd place
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Developed with the JHU Center for Fetal Therapy a novel port system optimized for fetal therapy surgeries to improve the safety of these life-saving procedures. We aim to revolutionize the standard of care in this field.
3rd place
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By using ML to understand the body’s natural immune response, we’re developing a rapid, inexpensive blood test capable of detecting any disease. We have an initial focus on early detection for pancreatic cancer as there are limited alternatives.
Speakers
Blake Scholl is an alumnus of Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science, where he completed a Bachelor of Science degree with honors. Scholl's journey in the tech industry included pivotal roles at Amazon and Groupon, showcasing his skills in software engineering and product development. In 2014, he embarked on a bold venture by founding Boom Supersonic, driven by the vision of making supersonic air travel widely available and transforming the way we connect across the globe. As the CEO of Boom Supersonic, Scholl applies his deep understanding of technology and business to lead the company towards achieving faster-than-sound travel, aspiring to significantly reduce flight times and make the world more accessible.
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Lucy Guo is a notable entrepreneur and software engineer, recognized for co-founding Scale AI, a leading artificial intelligence company specializing in data annotation for machine learning algorithms. Before her entrepreneurial journey, Guo demonstrated her technical prowess at companies like Snapchat and Quora, contributing significantly to their product development. At Scale AI, she played a crucial role in the company's rapid growth and success, which involved providing high-quality training data for AI applications in various industries, including automotive and technology. Her achievements have positioned her as an influential figure in the tech industry, particularly in the AI and machine learning sectors, showcasing her blend of technical expertise and business acumen.
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Additional Finalists
Sitewiz focuses on AI-driven iterative optimization for e-commerce websites. Our tool generates actionable and data-driven text, design, and structural suggestions angled towards increasing conversion rates using proprietary explainable models and generative AI.
LegalPulse automates the process of legal time tracking, generating entries lawyers would normally have to fill in themselves so they can focus time on billable work. This saves lawyers hours and generates millions in revenue for firms every year.​
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Adjustable Children's Clothing
Adjustable children's clothing that expands to a child's new body growth while keeping it affordable, stylish, and long-lasting.
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At Kreative DocuVet, we automate the creation of veterinary medical records using AI to help busy veterinarians save time, reduce stress from medical recordkeeping and compliance risks, and increase their earning potential.
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Romantic Dinings
Romantic Dinings is an AI-driven dating experience-centered app that exclusively focuses on aesthetic restaurants and bars with personalized itineraries suitable for dating.
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Developer of a new class of batteries powered by trees. We store energy using elastic bio-polymers made from tree sap. This technology is designed to facilitate the integration of renewable resources into the electricity grid, offering competitive energy storage prices while capturing CO2 emissions.
Develops audio-responsive video games that leverage the core elements of game design to engage students, even when practicing is boring. Our in-game progression mechanics motivate students to practice and improve every day through visual positive reinforcement.
assurif.ai enhances efficiency for lower market mortgage underwriting firms burdened by redundant tasks that comprise 75% of daily workflow. Combining AI and human input, we set a new industry standard, improving accuracy and cutting costs by 40%.
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Metaverse Museum
Alliance Program
Our program aims to display local and university museums in VR and web applications. The goal is to provide students and other potential visitors with affordable, accessible, interactive, and customized educational field trips to deepen their understanding of art and history genuinely and engagingly, while generating additional revenues for museums.
Judges
