Spring 2026 Skandalaris Venture Competition Finalists Announced

Sixteen ventures founded by students and recent alumni of Washington University (WashU) have been selected as finalists in the Spring Skandalaris Venture Competition (SVC). This semester, the competition received an impressive 107 entries, with 31 teams advancing to the semifinal round. On March 4, the semifinalists pitched their ideas to a panel of expert judges, whose scores determined which teams progressed to the finals. On April 15, the 16 finalists will compete for a share of a $25,000 prize pool and the opportunity to win the SVC cup!

“SVC is representative of what WashU does so well: activating student passion from a variety of disciplines,” said Associate Director Adam Wilson. “What differentiates WashU is that our entrepreneurs hail from every discipline, every school, every walk of life; our diversity of thought is our superpower.”

The Spring 2026 Skandalaris Venture Competition finalists are:

Alliance for Civic Engagement (ACE) – We’re a student-centered policy program that provides hands-on mentorship and publication opportunities to young policy thinkers while disseminating accessible, nonpartisan policy briefs to cultivate a more informed public. Ella Dennis (MS ’27)

Alon Technologies handles athlete discovery, campaign generation, and compliance tracking for NIL agencies, enabling them to scale without adding to their team. Nate Scherer (LA ‘27), Forrest Reyes, Flaviano Reyes

Amass Biosystems – Using the capabilities symbiotic species to enable farmers to diversify revenue while enabling utilities to transition to greener, cleaner fuelsUsing the capabilities symbiotic species to enable farmers to diversify revenue while enabling utilities to transition to greener, cleaner fuels. Justin Traenkle (MBA ’27)

ArmorMed – ArmorMed is a digital health platform that uses AI-powered pose estimation models to automatically measure patients’ range of motion from simple videos, enabling accurate, accessible musculoskeletal assessment anytime, anywhere. Sundeep Chakladar (MD ’28), David Brogan

BiteBack – BiteBack is a loyalty and rewards platform that helps local restaurants retain customers through points-based incentives and repeat-visit engagement. Philipp Schöller (BU ’26)

By Bri Boutique is an e-commerce lifestyle brand that helps college women stay organized with thoughtfully designed productivity products. Brianna Nitsberg (BSBA ’26)

Byte’m Brownie Bites – Making tasty brownies accessible to everyone. Jacob Tubis (JD ’25), John Davis

CardioVis – Delivers real-time guidance for robotic cardiac surgery by analyzing multiple data streams to enhance precision. Heath Rutledge-Jukes (MD ‘26) 

Euno – We can’t change the way we behave or feel without changing the way we think, and there’s no system designed to make that process accessible, so we built an AI-powered app that makes the cognitive change around the things that matter most in your life feel as easy as scrolling Instagram. Brent Pennington (BU ‘26), Bianca Rodriguez Pagano (BU ‘25), Brandon Chang (BU ‘28), Lauren Leff (BU ‘26), Katherine March (LA ‘26)

Index – Index is an intuitive, stylus-first AI notebook that goes beyond traditional apps like GoodNotes or Notability by dynamically interpreting handwriting in real time and acting as a live tutor to guide students with seamless, step-by-step feedback. Oseremen Ojiefoh (EN ’28), Lotanna Okoli (EN ’28)

Netty’s Juicery – Offers handcrafted cold-pressed juices, loose-leaf teas, and herbals through a convenient subscription model available both locally and nationwide. Ginette Rhodes (MBA ‘27) 

NexSupply – An end-to-end sourcing platform combining AI intelligence with owned logistics infrastructure to streamline global supply chains. Kim Myungjun (BU ’26), Joonmo Kang (LA ‘28), Taeyoung Ro (LA ‘26), Caleb Choi (BU ‘26)

Realize to Act– Empowering students to learn and dream big with educational resources, a platform to drive positive change, and tech infrastructure connecting schools with community resources. Tanya Keskar (LA ‘27) 

ReMind – ReMind turns photos into living, shared verbal memories that connect people and bring calm.ReMind Me turns photos into living, shared verbal memories that connect people and bring calm. Doreen Yang (MS ’27), Hannah Kinzer (PHD ’26), Elva Lin (GO ‘26), Ziyi Zhang (MS ’25)

SPARC – Mental performance training and analytics for athletic organizations. Sergiu Celebidachi (MBA ’25)

V. Jelly – V. Jelly is a fruit jelly infused with real vegetables, delivering a half serving of veggies per serving with no added sugar. Conor Reynolds (MBA ’26)

After the closed judging session, teams gathered in Crowder Courtyard for an open networking event. This was an opportunity for them to connect with judges, fellow startups, and members of the community. Attendees also had the chance to vote for their favorite venture, which would win one of two $500 People’s Choice Awards.

The SVC People’s Choice winners are:

SPARC

KINETIQA

“What an exciting night! Today, we witnessed an example of why WashU is a leading school for entrepreneurship,” remarked Venture Development Manager Cyril Loum. “Each of the 31 pitches today demonstrated what it means to be an action-oriented problem solver. This cycle of the competition also featured many new, innovative ideas, and we look forward to watching each of them grow in the future.”

The Spring 2026 Skandalaris Venture Competition winners will be announced at the WashU Innovation & Entrepreneurship Awards on Wednesday, April 15. We hope you will join us for this exciting evening celebrating the WashU innovation community!

Here are some highlights from the event: