The George Washington University’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) announced the finalists for all five tracks of the 2025 New Venture Competition, a nationally recognized event for student entrepreneurship.
The finalists emerged from a field of 224 teams in round one and the 50 who made it on to the semifinals. All 10 GW schools were represented in the first round of the competition.
There are five finalists each in four of the “Vertical 4” tracks: the Consumer Goods and Services Track; Business and Goods Track; Healthcare and Life Sciences Track; and Social Innovation Track. The top three winning teams from each track will be announced during the awards ceremony.
Additionally, three winners were announced for the Explorer Track, which appeals to students with early-stage ideas and are curious to learn more about entrepreneurship. The Explorer Track ended at round two.
After pitching to judges on April 9, finalists will have the opportunity to present their ideas via elevator pitch at an awards ceremony open to the public and free of charge from 6-8 p.m. on April 10 in the Jack Morton Auditorium. The winners will be announced that night.
Here is a breakdown of each of the 20 finalists in the Vertical 4 tracks, with descriptions of their ventures as provided by OIE:
Consumer Goods and Services Track, encompassing everyday items that can be used by the typical consumer such as food, beverage, apparel, toys or jewelry.
- Greenlit: A sports-betting advisory software platform that leverages advanced data analytics to provide unbiased bet recommendations that empower sports bettors to make informed betting decisions. From GW Business’ Rohan Rajesh, Andrew Sotell, Alexa Asgharzadeh and Arnav Patel.
- Heartwise: A relational wellness companion for young professionals seeking long-term relationships. From Columbian College of Arts and Sciences’ Christine Wenzel.
- NextBase: A baseball-social-media marketplace connecting 400,000-plus high school players with 10,000-plus college athletes for recruiting guidance, team insights and career advice. From GW Business’ Karol Mlynarczyk, Elliott Irwin and Graham Jeffries.
- Shpapi Vision: An eyewear company started by two brothers whose mission is to revolutionize the sunglasses industry by creating a community where people can express their style and protect their eyes from the sun and club lights. From GW Business’ Andres Villareal and alumnus Fernando Villarreal, B.S. ’24.
- Uniflex: An app that connects students with clubs by allowing them to import their existing schedule to see which clubs fit their availability. From the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Vijay Jayamani and Khushi Thakkar.
Healthcare and Life Sciences Track, dedicated to solutions that improve an individual’s care and outcomes, while also reducing healthcare costs and spending:
- GuideGuard: Intuitive, clinician-friendly design improves patient safety and outcomes while integrating seamlessly into existing central-line kits, positioning us as a key player in the quality improvement (QI) space. From GW Business’ Aditya Loganathan, Daniel Shpigel, Leslie Gailloud and School of Medicine and Health Sciences’ Andrew Meltzer and Nicholas Melucci.
- HorusRx: An AI-powered compliance platform designed to streamline billing, regulatory adherence, and operational efficiency for compounding pharmacies. From CCAS’ Aileen Moseley.
- Pathpic: A pathology reporting service that seamlessly integrates tissue collection with rapid staining and preparation, followed by secure cloud-based uploads. This enables pathologists worldwide to access and deliver same-day diagnoses. From SMHS’ Abdulla Ahmed.
- Weigh2Dose: Innovative scale providing an easy, reliable solution by determining the correct number of tablets based on an individual’s weight. From SMHS’ Jada Covington, Pedro Gazzinelli-Guimaraes and Paprika Berry.
- WELL.: A personalized health navigation app that bridges the gap between online health information and science-backed medical guidance. From Milken Institute School of Public Health’s Carissa Henry.
Business Goods and Services Track, dedicated to selling products or services directly to other businesses such as large enterprises, the government or other startup companies:
- Immutiverse, Inc.: SaaS platform that automates and reduces the weeks-long firmware signing process down to minutes, shortening time to market and reducing reliance on scarce, expensive expertise. From SEAS’ Jeanine Johnson.
- Layerpure Technologies: Technology developing reverse osmosis membranes for the water processing units of the food and beverage industry. From SEAS’ Samarpan Deb Majumder, Xitong Liu and Zhaoyang Wang.
- Nurse Math, LLC: A mobile app bridging the healthcare financial literacy gap among nurse leaders. From School of Nursing’s Marguerite Rowell.
- Outlaw Motor Company: A manufacturing company that builds the LR8 engine for the vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) market. From SEAS’ Adrian Outlaw and Yasser Jafari-Jozani.
- SepsisCare: an AI/ML-powered software as a medical device (AI SaMD) designed to facilitate the rapid diagnosis and prediction of sepsis. From CCAS’ Bharat Khandelwal.
Social Innovation Track, including solutions focused on improving and sustaining the welfare and well-being of individuals or communities that can be for-profit, nonprofit or hybrid:
- Brāv Buddies: A mission readiness intelligence platform that leverages a large language model to equip Army National Guard Commanders with force capabilities insights and near real-time assessments of units’ deployment status. From SEAS’ Josephine Tientcheu.
- Leave No Trace of Clinical Research Waste: A sustainable redistribution platform for surplus medical supplies from clinical research sites to for-profit hospitals and clinics operating on a sliding scale in underserved communities in Washington, D.C. From Milken Institute SPH Riley Lima, GW Business’ Aditya Loganathan and Leslie Gailloud and SMHS’ Andrew Meltzer and Mardi Gomberg-Maitland.
- Lulupoo: A 100% water-soluble, pet-friendly and non-toxic dog waste bag made from PVA sugarcane waste. From GW Business’ Lilla Reinertson.
- Run the World – Appalachia: A network empowering low-income, first-generation women in West Virginia to stay in college and become future leaders. From Graduate School of Education and Human Development’s Rebecca Burns and Jessica Hinshaw.
- The Petition Co.: AI software to validate voter registration information on candidate petitions and ballot initiatives. From Elliott School of International Affairs’ Elia Ahmadi and GW Business’ Mateo Moya Chavez.
Three Explorer Track teams won prize money for their ventures, as well.
- Bee Strong won first place and $1,500 for its app that streamlines stroke recovery with metric tracking, emergency alerts, secure caregiver pairing and more, empowering survivors and caregivers to navigate recovery together through consistent, coordinated care. From Elliott School’s Chelsea Antero and Milken Institute SPH’s Joanna Hsu.
- Victory Lane won second place and $1,000 for its two-sided digital platform that eliminates waiting weeks for an appointment, using insurance and traveling to a clinic. From GW Business’ Margaret Pittman.
- Policare won third place and $500 for its app-based service and artificial intelligence tool provided to healthcare workers allowing for fast and accurate access and comparison of local, state and national health policies. From GW Business’ Aditya Loganathan, alumna Isabella Lagunzad, M.P.H. ’24, and SMHS’ Andrew Meltzer, Janice Blanchard and Ryan Heidish.
Tickets for the awards ceremony, held from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, April 10 in Jack Morton Auditorium, are now available free of charge.
