Startup Columbia Millard Chan ’99 Technology Challenge 2025

Winners of the Millard Chan ’99 Technology Challenge, part of Startup Columbia, were selected on April 17th Startup Columbia is a series of campus-wide startup competitions offering non-dilutive cash prizes to the winning teams. The challenge recognizes startups for their solid foundation of applied, solution-focused, and technological innovation with the opportunity to win seed funding for their ventures. $50,000 in funding was awarded to the top three teams in the Technology Challenge and $10,000 for the Engineering for Humanity prize.

🥇First Place ($25,000) | Kathedra: Revolutionizing furniture manufacturing with first upholstery robot. Kathedra is building the first upholstery robot to help premium furniture manufacturers facing severe labor shortages. 

🥈Second Place ($15,000) | MilkShaker: Automated Mastitis Prevention for Breastfeeding Women 
MilkShaker is a fully-automated wearable to prevent mastitis and clogged milk ducts in breastfeeding women.

🥉Third Place ($10,000) | SWERV: Improving health and comfort with better air. SWERV is a patent-pending, window-mounted ERV that efficiently cycles fresh air while recovering heat and moisture, improving air quality without increasing energy bills.

🏅Engineering for Humanity Award ($10,000) | Cadre technologies Services LLC: AI-powered glasses empowering the visually impaired. Cadre Tech’s AI Glasses are an innovative assistive technology designed to enhance independence for visually impaired individuals.