Announcing the 2026 MPSC Finalists
This year, the MPSC received a record 70 applications. Congratulations to our 2026 finalists! These teams will compete in one of three tracks—Venture, Idea, and Social Impact—pitching their innovations to a panel of expert judges.
Stay tuned as they take the stage and bring their ideas to life on Tuesday, April 14th at Sears think[box]!
Venture Track Finalists
eLEXir
With significant vacancies in public schools’ special education departments, parents are left to fill the gap. eLEXir—a tailored learning platform—provides accessible options to supplement a child’s education.
Krupa Venkatesan, Menaka Wijeratne
Cocoa Potash
Cocoa Potash transforms agricultural byproducts into regenerative fertilizers and low-carbon potassium compounds, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional mining.
Ibrahim Quagraine, Ithabeleng Makhetha
PrintBot
3D printers sit idle during nights and weekends when engineers aren’t onsite to operate them. PrintBot is a mobile robot that automates printing, enabling autonomous 24/7 production.
Toby Langsner
OxyHeme
HODA, OxyHeme’s platform, assesses blood quality, supporting transfusion screening and blood-disorder testing in minutes instead of hours.
Zoe Sekyonda, Umut Gurkan, Ozan Akkus
Aarambha: Learn & Invest
Aarambha helps first-time investors learn finance through interactive lessons and build personalized portfolios to invest with confidence.
Akansh Devendra
Idea Track Finalists
Our Signing Service
AI-native workflow platform for notaries and title companies—aiming to eliminate inefficient job hunting, opaque pricing, and manual coordination.
Adam Hamdan
Locus
Locus is a real-time, intent-driven recommendation system for physical spaces—helping people meet the right people nearby at events and turning real-world presence into intelligent discovery.
Vinlaw Mudehwe, Kudzai Dhewa
Lineage
Lineage helps older adults create movies of their life stories.
Krishin Parikh, Kaleb Kim
Altoscope
Altoscope streamlines the rental workflow and acquisition process for video producers and production teams.
Darin Hall, Kevin Zhang
AquaLock
AquaLock addresses traditional swim caps that don’t work for everyone with a line of innovative swim caps designed for all hair types, combining hair protection, inclusivity, and advanced safety features.
Stacy Guech
Social Impact Track Finalists
Thrifty
Thrifty is a campus-only thrifting and clothing-sharing platform that lets students buy, sell, and borrow outfits locally—reducing costs, waste, and one-time purchases.
Ayati Lala, Niousha Sima
Blazecue
Blazecue is a fire-ready, ear-mounted biometric wearable that tracks core-temp trends and heart rate under full gear, delivering real-time alerts to firefighters and incident command to prevent overexertion deaths.
Jack Loomis
izma Technologies
Izma converts syllabi and past exams into print-ready practice worksheets, then grades scanned submissions and generates targeted follow-ups.
Johary Rahajason, Tiekoura Ouattara
Diversifying Optical Technology (DOT.)
DOT is a Braille learning device that enables users to translate phrases and build learning connections simultaneously.
Samhitha Bodangi, Abigail Figueroa
hairchair
HairChair is an autonomous styling system that combines robotics with health tracking, using computer vision to analyze scalp scans and recommend optimal hair products and tools.
Eva-Jessy Guech
More information on the MPSC
Eligibility and participation in the competition
Named After Legendary Cleveland Venture Capitalists…
The Morgenthaler-Pavey Startup Competition is named after venture capital leaders David Morgenthaler and Bob Pavey, whose valued input has been a key component of the success of the CWRU Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship.
Morgenthaler, a mechanical engineer and early investor in companies like Apple Computers and Manufacturing Data Systems, was once called “one of venture capital’s founding fathers” by the Wall Street Journal. He was an active supporter of CWRU initiatives in management, medicine and international engagement. His venture capital firm was founded in 1968 in Cleveland, where he lived for several decades. The New York Times has referred to Morgenthaler as a pioneer in the realm of venture capital.
Within a year of starting his firm, Morgenthaler took on Bob Pavey as a partner. According to Pavey, Morgenthaler told him, “There's only one thing that will get you fired: telling me what you think I want to hear.”
Pavey sits on the Board of Trustees at CWRU, and as an angel investor his focus is on seed companies run by experienced entrepreneurs in California and Ohio. One of his many contributions involves providing generous funding and support for the Morgenthaler-Pavey Startup Competition.
Awardees
Idea Track
First Place (Tie)
Diffy: $3,500 awarded to Andrew Shereshevsky and Jonathan Burton
Data AI: $3,500 awarded to Nandini Rajaram Siva, MD and Mark Orland, MD
Research Track
Third Place
Mandibular Fracture Repair System: $500 awarded to David Suh (CWR '22)
Second Place (Tie)
HODA: $1,750 awarded to Zoe Sekyonda and William Wulftange
InstaGTx: $1,750 awarded to Lauren Switala
First Place
PhotoSorb: $3,000 awarded to Yang Yang
Social Impact Track
Second Place
Paramarsh: $2,000 awarded to Raghvendra Omprakash Yadav and Binayek Tiwari
First Place
eLEXir: $4,000 awarded to Krupa Venkatesan and Menaka Wijeratne
Venture Track
Second Place
SellAnalytix: $10,000 awarded to Ryan Hurley
First Place
First Place
Asclepii: $15,000 awarded to Franco Kraiselburd (CWR '24)
Idea Track
Second Place
MAWE Technologies: $2,000 awarded to Tumi Adeeko
First Place
HemoSan: $5,000 awarded to Ryan Rilinger
Research Track
Second Place
AGTR2 Agonist Lung Therapeutics: $3,000 awarded to Lauren Leh
First Place
Artemis Platform: $4,000 awarded to Ixchel Robles Ruiz
Social Impact Track
Second Place
Voteable: $1,000 awarded to Eric Elizes
First Place
tekSafari: $5,000 awarded to Ignas Kamugisha
Venture Track
Third Place
SellAnalytix: $4,000 awarded to Ryan Hurley
Second Place
SearchOwl: $5,000 awarded to Jadon Wyant
First Place
Lighthanded Enterprises: $16,000 awarded to Brecken Blackburn
Idea Track
First Place (Tie)
Retflix: $3,500 awarded to Kevin Arndt, Amy Budzichowski, Maya Kapur, Sonia Kim, Bhavya Krishna, Parshva Sanghvi
Anti-asporin Antibody: $3,500 awarded to Ila Mishra
Research Track
First Place (Tie)
Hyperion Therapeutics: $3,000 awarded to Jennings Luu
Bladder Patch for Treatment of Obstetric Fistula: $3,000 awarded to Ilaha Isali
Second Place
Voice Analytics for Pathology Tracking: $1,000 awarded to Millan Patel, Katelyn Vlastaris, Matthew Glaros and Andrew Ye
Social Impact Track
Second Place
Sonali Bags: $1,000 awarded to Tanvir Hasan
First Place
Cocoa Potash: $5,000 awarded to Ibrahim Quagraine
Venture Track
Second Place (Tie)
Asclepii: $5,000 awarded to Franco Kraiselburd
Lighthanded Enterprises: $5,000 awarded to Steven Burns (CWR '11, MEM ’11) and Matthew McPheeters (CWR ’12, GRS ’13, PHD ’21)
First Place
Lumilin Therapeutics: $15,000 awarded to David Suh (CWR '22), Grayson Derossi, Aahana Kanyal, Kerry McConnaughay, Kendall Rogoff, Ana Salas
Idea Track
Second Place
LEAF: $7,500 awarded to Evan Haug (CWR ‘21)
First Place
HemoSan: $5,000 awarded to Ryan Rilinger
Venture Track
Third Place
Micah Specialty Foods: $5,000 awarded to Nana Kwamena Takyi Micah (MGT ‘24)
Second Place
Cleanr: $5,000 awarded to Max Pennington (CWR ‘22)
First Place
Micah Specialty Foods: $5,000 awarded to Nana Kwamena Takyi Micah (MGT ‘24)
Still have questions?
Contact Jasmine Ongole (jao92@case.edu) or Stacey Lotz (sjm119@case.edu).