Startup Columbia 2024
The Millard Chan ’99 Technology Challenge is part of Startup Columbia, a series of campus-wide startup competitions offering non-dilutive cash prizes to the winning teams.
Millard Chan '99 Technology Track
The Millard Chan ’99 Technology Challenge invites entries for business models based on a solid foundation of applied, solution-focused, technological innovation. Submissions for this track focus on product development, innovative design, and “builder” technologies including data analytics, biomedical solutions, software, or hardware. As always, cross-disciplinary teams are strongly encouraged. The challenge is open to all Columbia University students and recent alumni (five years or less from their most recent degree). Teams must have one Columbia Engineering founder member (recent alumni or student). Teams may only enter one challenge per year.
2024 Finalists Announced
Brekland Incorporated: Climate resilience solution for farmers combating frost.
Philip Brudnicki, 2022, PhD, Columbia University, Biomedical Engineering; Eric Bellefroid, 2018, PhD, Yale University, Geochemistry
CIPER: Automating IV push to reduce administration errors.
Sean Kim, Annabel Cho, Leonhard Heinrich; 2024 Columbia Engineering
Dumpling AI: Automated, product-contextualized documentation for engineers.
Jessica Shi, Sarah Gu, Manasi Soman, Theodore Chow; 2024 Columbia Engineering and Columbia College
InstaLabel: Novel customizable data-annotator to train any AI-model.
Ayman Talkani, 2023 M.S. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering; Aadil Mehdi Sanchawala, 2023 M.S. in Computer Science.
JotterWolf: AI Job Search Productivity tool.
Sunjana Ramana Chintala, 2022 MS in Electrical Engineering; Hari Prasad Renganathan, 2022 MS in Data Science, Columbia Engineering
newcase.ai: Medical malpractice AI case analysis for lawyers
Nader Karayanni, 2023 Columbia University; Priyanka Sundhar, 2021 NYU
OptiCardio: Transforming cardiac ablation into precision therapy
Haiqiu Yang, 2024, PhD Candidate in Electrical Engineering; Christine P. Hendon, Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering
Judges Announced
Mark Goldberger, MD, NYC Cardiologist
Lan Huang, Co-founder and CEO, BeyondSpring and Seed Therapeutics
Pete Slosberg, Founder, Pete’s Brewing Company
Nikos Theodosopoulos, BS’84, NY Angels Investor
Technology track awards sponsored by Millard Chan ’99
🥇 First place: $25,000
🥈 Second place: $15,000
🥉 Third place: $10,000
The Engineering for Humanity award is given to entrepreneurs that demonstrate a passion for creating impact through their business sponsored by Columbia Engineering
🏅 Prize pool of $10,000
Deadlines
February 9, 2024: Round 1 submission
March 20, 2024: Round 2 submission
April 3, 2024: Round 3 in-person finals
Open Track
The StartupColumbia Challenge is open to all Columbia University students and recent alumni (five years or less from their recent degree) who are working on a startup. This Challenge aims to promote entrepreneurship across the greater Columbia undergraduate community by offering Columbia founders the opportunity to develop their pitches, create a minimum viable product, and present to early-stage investors.
Open Prize awards sponsored by Columbia Entrepreneurship
🥇 First place: $15,000
🥈 Second place: $10,000
🥉 Third place: $5,000
Undergraduate awards sponsored by Columbia College
🥇 First place: $15,000
🥈 Second place: $10,000
🥉 Third place: $5,000
Note: Undergraduates who are awarded an undergraduate prize are NOT eligible for the open prize (each team can only win ONE prize).
Deadline
February 9, 2024: Round 1 submission
