WashU + Mayfield AI Garage Partnership Announcement

On the evening of February 24, students and members of the WashU community gathered at Whitaker Hall to announce the establishment of the Mayfield AI Garage.

The Mayfield AI Garage is a collaboration between Mayfield, Silicon Valley’s leading venture capital firm in the AI sector, the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship at WashU, and the McKelvey School of Engineering at WashU. 

The WashU AI Garage is designed to support student-led teams that are exploring early-stage artificial intelligence ideas, providing a pathway from concept to venture. Winning teams will be hosted at the Skandalaris Center during the summer of 2026, where they will receive mentorship, workspace, academic credits, and access to WashU’s broader innovation ecosystem.

The announcement followed a Fireside Chat held in Whittaker Hall, where students from across the university attended a discussion on the future of AI at WashU. The panel featured II Luscri, Assistant Vice Provost of Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Marc Bernstein, CEO and Founder of Balto; and Irving Hsu, Principal at Mayfield. The Mayfield AI Garage is a collaborative initiative between Mayfield, Silicon Valley’s leading venture capital firm in the AI sector, WashU’s Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and WashU’s McKelvey School of Engineering.

We asked attendees for their opinions on this exciting new program:

“ I think it’s pretty impressive that Washu and the Skandalaris Center is one of the first universities that Mayfield is choosing to invest in and partner with, because there are a lot of great institutions out there and I think the fact that WashU is second only behind Berkeley like, speaks a lot to something that Mayfield sees in Washu.” – Justin Traenkle (MBA ’27)

“ I would say the fact that Mayfield is putting in the money without really expecting anything directly in return, the fact that they’re supporting students, I think that it is really impressive, they shows that they believe in the technology and that they’re, I’m sure they want to see more companies spin out and putting that trust in student founders and that’s cool. They’re not afraid of investing in people who may not have as much career experience but are really adaptive in deploying and using new technology.” – Brent Pennington (BSBA ’26)

The Mayfield AI Garage serves as a launchpad for AI founders, meeting them at various stages of their journey and providing essential resources and mentorship to help elevate their ideas. Mayfield is collaborating with prominent institutions, such as Washington University (WashU), to initiate transformative AI Garage programs. These initiatives equip early-stage founders with the tools necessary to shape the future of AI. The WashU Skandalaris Center will host AI Garage participants from May to November. To learn more or apply for the program, please visit our website.