The Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management has selected the 2024 cohort of startup teams participating in its Johnson Summer Startup Accelerator. Notable for their innovative use of AI and new technology, the 28 companies are pursuing forward-thinking solutions in healthcare, hospitality, agriculture, entertainment, and more.
The program
The Johnson Summer Startup Accelerator (JSSA) enables graduate students to develop their entrepreneurial pursuits during the summer when they might otherwise feel pressure to push their dreams aside and gain internship experience in an established company. The accelerator is a structured and supportive 10-week program that provides participants the time, network, and knowledge to develop their business ideas into defined strategies and marketable products. The entrepreneurs receive hands-on training in weekly workshops, professional networking opportunities, and are supported in one-on-one consultations by dedicated Entrepreneurs in Residence.
Enabling innovation
MBA students planning to work full time on their startups post-graduation were eligible to apply for a stipend from the Vrinda Kadiyali Student Entrepreneur Fund. Stephen Smith ’91, MBA ’95, established the fund in honor of Vrinda Kadiyali, the Nicholas H. Noyes Professor of Management, who inspired him to launch his startup. Smith’s idea ultimately became Naviance, the successful college and career readiness software. Smith believes that the summer between the first and second years is critical for MBA students who plan to launch their own businesses, prompting him to establish the fund to alleviate the financial burden on young entrepreneurs.
This year’s recipients of the Vrinda Kadiyali Student Entrepreneur Fund are Albert Charles, MBA ’25, founder of Phytoflock, and Michelle Lin, MBA ’25, founder of EcoMatia.
“Through JSSA, I aim to complete our customer discovery interviews, confirm our initial target customers, and formulate a go-to-market strategy,” says Lin, CEO and founder of EcoMatia. “I look forward to connecting with industry experts to gather valuable insights that will inform our business strategy.”
Meet the 2024 JSSA cohort
- ALC Consulting: A wealth management memoire and website, with a potential AI integration focusing on estate planning, finance, and tax, founded by Adrian Leon, MBA, ’25, who is enrolled in the Johnson School’s Two-Year MBA
- Alzium: A dementia-care solution that improves patient and caregiver lives with personalized, real-time interventions outside of clinics, founded by Agnes Gjekmarkaj, MBA/MS ’25, who is enrolled in the Executive MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership, offered jointly by the Johnson School and the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.
- AskHR: An AI-powered online platform providing expert guidance and answers to work-related questions for career professionals and job seekers, founded by Maureen Simmons, MBA ’24, who is enrolled in the Johnson School’s Executive MBA Americas
- Blossom: Pairs breast cancer patients with expert, culturally sensitive, and empathetic care and advanced telemedicine solutions, aiming to empower patients, particularly black women facing healthcare disparities, founded by Vivian Bea, MBA/MS ’25, who is enrolled in the Executive MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership.
- Bots BnB: Leverages artificial intelligence to create a franchise chain of fully automated hotels, enhancing the guest experience, optimizing operational efficiency, and offering a smart stay, founded by Kyaw Myo Min, MMH ’24, who is enrolled in the Master of Management in Hospitality program at the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration.
- Capture: Provides more comprehensive and predictive market data in the entertainment space, founded by Elliott Williams, MBA ’24, who is enrolled in the Executive MBA in Americas program.
- The AD Project: Utilizes AI and other computing tools to build engineering solutions to help improve healthcare in America, founded by Ash Deepak, MBA ’25, who is enrolled in the Executive MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership program.
- DevTrade: Utilizes blockchain technology and smart contracts to supplement and eventually replace the currently existing derivative contract model with digital tokens, founded by Nicole Moore, MBA ’25, who is enrolled in the Johnson School’s Executive MBA Metro New York
- EcoMatia LLC: Harnesses the power of black soldier fly larvae to tackle food waste, plastic pollution, and agricultural issues by transforming organic waste into chitosan-derived eco-friendly bioplastics and hydrogels, providing a scalable, sustainable solution to these global challenges, founded by Michelle Lin, MBA ’25, who is enrolled in the Two-Year MBA program.
- Ferro Health: Enhances the quality of life for patients with highly complex autoimmune diseases on a patient-centric productivity platform, founded by Reema Shah, MBA/MS ’24, who is enrolled in the Executive MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership program.
- HealthRevAI: A healthcare app that leverages AI to streamline workflows and reduce costs for healthcare providers while improving patient care, cofounded by Sonia Borker, MBA/MS ’24, Fatma Miraz, MBA/MS ’25, and Edwin Torres, MBA/MS ’25, who are all enrolled in the Executive MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership program.
- Helen’s Foundry: Streamlines software management for early-stage startups to align strategy, user research, and code, founded by Ashley Maguire, MBA ’24, who is enrolled in the Executive MBA Americas program.
- Jul-AI: A no-code software application that creates AI and ML models for any enterprise in simple steps, founded by Camila Bernal, MBA ’25, who is enrolled in the Two-Year MBA program.
- Liiv: Provides vertically integrated SaaS solutions to real estate landlords, property managers, hotel owners, motels, and housing authorities, founded by Devin Abraham, MBA ’25, who is enrolled in the Executive MBA Metro New York program.
- MediConnect: Offers mentorship and professional networking opportunities for physicians on an app-based platform, founded by Oyinkansola Ogundipe, MBA/MS ’25 who is enrolled in the Executive MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership program.
- Navy Route: Empowers small and medium-sized businesses with advanced tools and solutions traditionally reserved for larger enterprises, founded by Eashwer Manmeeth, MBA ’25, who is enrolled in the Executive MBA Americas program.
- Nexus Rentals: Provides gaming hardware setups to gamers away from home, founded by William Jiang, MBA ’25, who is enrolled in the Two-Year MBA program.
- NuHealth Solution: Provides an end-to-end health insurance broker support tool to contract with health plans, compare plan benefits, and enhance post-sale customer service, founded by Xiaohui Feng, MBA/MS ’24, who is enrolled in the Executive MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership program.
- Paroya and Aslam Capital: Revolutionizes asset management with tailored investment solutions and seamless market integration on the platform Llenroc Terminal, cofounded by Owais Aslam, MBA ’25, and Shahn Paroya, MBA ’25, who are both enrolled in the Two-Year MBA program.
- Petra Cibus: Offering products to disrupt the synthetic fertilizer industry, founded by Kwesi Joseph, MBA ’25, who is enrolled in the Executive MBA Metro New York program.
- Phytoflock: Provides poultry integrators with grape skins and seeds as an antibiotic alternative to save 44 percent in health management costs, founded by Albert Charles, MBA ’25, who is enrolled in the Two Year MBA program.
- RELAYS: Supports freelancers to meet, match and spin up a world of ready-to-run freelancer teams, founded by Kelly Fitzsimmons, MBA ’24, who is enrolled in the Executive MBA Americas program.
- Sierra Madre Partners: A North Mexico-based private equity fund focused in industrial small-to-medium sized enterprises, cofounded by Gerardo Sebastian Diaz Muro, MBA ’25, and Pedro De La Rosa, MBA ’25, who are both enrolled in the Two-Year MBA program.
- SmartFin: Helps university students to better manage their finances and build their credit scores while still in school, founded by Ain Razali, MBA ’25, who is enrolled in the Two-Year MBA program.
- Synergii: Utilizes AI to streamline the grant discovery and application process for entrepreneurs and small to medium-sized business owners, turning what typically takes up to 33 hours into a matter of minutes, cofounded by Ebony Martin, MBA ’24, and Keshavan Seshadri, MBA ’24, who are both enrolled in the Johnson Cornell Tech MBA
- Urban Pharmaceutical: Developing antibiotics to treat the multidrug-resistant infections that have become a public health crisis, founded by Robert “Wayne” Frost, MBA ’25, who is enrolled in the Executive MBA Americas program.
- Vital Scan: An operator-independent, AI-enabled ultrasound device for rapid diagnosis of lung conditions, founded by Gul Zaidi, MBA/MS ’25, who is enrolled in the Executive MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership program.
- X Capital: Aims to become the first 100%-electric trucking solutions provider in the U.S. for short and medium range trips, founded by Jiayanfei Li, MBA ’25, who is enrolled in the Two-Year MBA program.
