Terp Startup Fellows

The Terp Startup Fellows program is the Dingman Center’s newest effort to accelerate our most promising student startups. Building on the success of the Terp Startup summer accelerator, the recipients of this prestigious fellowship are founders who have demonstrated strong commitment to their ventures and the ability to innovate as they push towards commercialization. As fellows, these student founders develop clear milestones as they work on their ventures for at least 10 hours per week in the center throughout the academic year.

The program features four key elements:

Non-dilutive seed funding up to $20,000
Access to office space
Ongoing advising
Access to the Dingman Center Mentor Network

Students who demonstrate exceptional growth and drive during Terp Startup in the summer may be considered as candidates for extended access to resources as Terp Startup fellows in the fall.

The program is funded by a generous gift from Bill Boyle ’81, donor and chairman of the Dingman Center's advisory board, who has also served as a venture mentor to members of the Terp Startup cohort and a coach in Pitch Dingman Competition. Learn more about Boyle's vision for the program in our press release.

2024-25 Fellows

Cursive Technology, Inc., founded by Joe Thibault, uses machine learning to enhance academic integrity by identifying unique writing traits and ensuring that students’ work is authentic. The company’s tool integrates seamlessly with learning management systems, allowing educators to verify the originality of student submissions and prevent plagiarism risks from AI-generated content. Their go-to-market strategy includes offering subscriptions to teachers and schools for tools like "Cursive for Your Class," aiming to make academic integrity affordable.

Sea My Culture, developed by Xinyi Zhang, is a multicultural board game aimed at elementary and middle school students. The game supports educators, school counselors, and parents by facilitating discussions on anti-racism, cultural diversity, and friendship-building. It has achieved significant milestones, including a completed MVP, 566 beta testers, active use in four schools, and $3,000 in grant funding. Sea My Culture ultimately aims to reduce prejudice and promote healthy social-emotional skills among children.

WISE Cities, founded by Marie Brodsky ’24 and Katherine-Aria Close ’23, is a women-run startup creating accessible technology for seniors experiencing social isolation to connect with their communities. The team completed the design and development of their Version 1 web platform and is now onboarding their first cohort of older adult users, community centers, and local businesses. WISE Cities participated in the Terp Startup Accelerator, working full-time on the venture. WISE Cities won 3rd place in both Pitch Dingman and the Do Good Challenge, Top 10 in the US in the Smith Draper Competition for Collegiate Women, and 2nd place in the TiE DC University Pitch Competition. The venture earned the award for “Most Potential” in the international U21 RISE Sustainability & Social Innovation Showcase.

Korion Health, founded by Akshaya Anand 23′ and Anna Li, is developing an electronic stethoscope and guided user interface to allow anyone to record their heart and lung sounds independently from the comfort and convenience of their own home. Korion Health has accomplished several milestones, most notably the submission of its non-provisional patent. This past summer, Korion Health grew a large community of over 900 supporters and surpassed its crowdfunding goal, raising over $150k from 176 investors. Additionally, Anna and Akshaya received top awards in several pitch competitions such as the Johns Hopkins Healthcare Design Competition and Terp Startup Demo Day. They are also finalists in the American Heart Association and BNY Mellon UpPrize Social Innovation Challenge pitch competitions. Live Streaming of the American Heart Association pitch competition will be available on Oct 19!

Mindgrasp, founded by Thai Cao ’24 and Shayan Khanlarbeik year 22’, is a platform that aims to make learning easy, fun, and accessible for students. Mindgrasp provides a suite of tools that will personalize your learning experience – granting you the ability to create AI-powered flashcards, notes, and quizzes, and get answers based on any content you upload. Mindgrasp had its official launch in November 2022 with 0 subscribers to their platform. Since then they have reached 15k+ active subscribers. Mindgrasp has amassed over 50 million views on social media and plans to refresh its entire product to service even more of its total addressable market.

Platybase, founded by Colleen Baldwin and Olivia Bruno, is a HIPAA-compliant visual diary that celebrates milestones between families and providers of autism care centers while increasing behavioral outcomes, creating community, and allowing center operations to emerge competitively from a historically analog industry. Platybase is a company founded exclusively by disabled women, for the disability community. With approximately 500 users actively engaged on their platform and three organizations utilizing their services, Platybase has established a substantial user base, demonstrating its value and relevance in the industry. The successful development of both iOS and Android mobile applications, as well as a web portal, showcases their commitment to accessibility and convenience for users across various devices. Notably, each new product release has proven to be a catalyst for increased engagement rates, underscoring Platybase’s dedication to continuous improvement. Furthermore, the heartwarming testimonials from caregivers and parents, highlighting specific stories of how Platybase has enhanced the individual care of children, serve as a testament to its real-world impact and the trust it has garnered from its user community.

Arch Dash, founded by Ina Kovacheva ’23, enables architects to make data-driven decisions that will result in healthier, efficient, and more sustainable building designs. Kovacheva participated in Terp Startup Accelerator in 2022, where she won the Go-to-Market Award ($1,000) at Demo Day and received the second-place Audience Choice award. Kovacheva also recently completed the regional I-CORPS program.

Platybase, founded by Colleen Baldwin and Olivia Bruno, is a HIPAA-compliant visual diary that celebrates milestones between families and providers of autism care centers while increasing behavioral outcomes, creating community, and allowing center operations to emerge competitively from a historically analog industry. Platybase is a company founded exclusively by disabled women, for the disability community. The company, formerly known as Dorothy’s Place, participated in Terp Startup Accelerator in 2021. The team also won the 2Gether International women’s pitch competition last spring and received a $10,000 prize.

Athenus Financial Group

Athenus Financial Group, founded by Cameron Williams ’21 and Damian Shaw ’24, is a fintech application that allows its users to easily trade foreign exchange. It is powered by Machine Learning AI, which allows users to analyze price data in seconds and then place successful trades without having to learn the market themselves. Williams participated in New Venture Practicum during the 2021 spring semester and the team also competed in Pitch Dingman Competition 2021 semifinals as well as Terp Startup Accelerator in 2021. Athenus Financial Group was chosen as the recipient for the 2021 Jason ’96 & Jamie Cohen Entrepreneurship Fund Award ($1,000). The team has also raised over $11,000 through a crowdfunding campaign.

Aurora

Aurora Aurora was founded in 2017 by Sydney Parker ’18, Imani Rickerby ’17, and Jasmine Snead ’18, MBA/MPP 2021. Aurora designs inclusive athletic apparel and hosiery for dancers and ice skaters of all skin tones and sizes. The Aurora team won the $15,000 grand prize at the 2019 Pitch Dingman Competition. They also participated in Terp Startup Accelerator in 2018. The Aurora team has raised $13,000 for black and brown dancers and ice skaters through the Perform In Color virtual showcase.

Door Robotics

Door Robotics, co-founded by Joshua Ermias and Colgate University 2019 graduate Patrick Crowe, is a 360-camera indoor capable drone company. The company created a drone with Roomba-like functionality and a follow-me feature that optimizes the capture of quality video and photo shots with a 360 view. Door Robotics participated in Terp Startup Accelerator in 2020 and also started as a Fellow in 2020. The team placed as finalists in the 2020 Pitch Dingman Competition and Ermias was selected to receive the Rudy Award for Student Entrepreneur of the Year in 2021.

Fancy & Spicy

Fancy & Spicy, founded by Brin Xu, PhD ’22, is a digital culinary platform, emphasizing authentic Chinese food through a food blog, website, and published cookbook. Xu plans to offer different kinds of online cooking classes with a variety of recipes to make healthy cooking accessible to everyone. Fancy & Spicy won the $15,000 grand prize in the Pitch Dingman Competition 2021 Main Street Track and also participated in Terp Startup Accelerator in 2021.

Vitalize

Vitalize, founded by Sanketh Andhavarapu ’23 and Veeraj Shah ’21, is a digital wellness platform specifically for clinicians. Vitalize aims to improve the well-being and professional satisfaction of clinicians by providing them with engaging evidence-based wellness modules specific to working in healthcare, and help hospitals deliver more accessible staff well-being programs. Vitalize participated in Terp Startup Accelerator in 2020 and was a Pitch Dingman Competition quarterfinalist in 2021. Shah was also named as the 2021 Gates Cambridge Scholar and both founders were featured in DC Inno 25 Under 25 in 2020. Vitalize is currently conducting a hospital pilot at Midland Memorial Hospital for 150 nurses and has other larger pilot programs in the works.

BraceLint

BraceLint is a commercial goods company that produces a patent-pending, flat-fitting, and pocket-sized version of the lint roller for professional pet parents on the go! We all have important moments in life where we need to dress to impress and founder Daniel Raithel '20 is on a mission to keep you confident and prepared, even when you aren't. BraceLint has been through all of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship's programs including Spark, Dingman Jumpstart, New Venture Practicum, Dingman Fridays, Terp Startup Accelerator, Pitch Dingman Competition (top 5 finalist) and is now selling on Amazon along with testing in select stores throughout Maryland and Virginia.

Door Robotics

The Sustainable Socialite

The Sustainable Socialite sells curated vintage/vintage style pieces and upcycled fashion to help you stand out from the crowd while standing up to fight fast fashion. Founder Sarah Lader believes in bringing life back to old clothing items to keep them out of landfills and to prevent people from shopping for new items, which contributes to 108 million tons of non-renewable resources wasted every year. Their items are handpicked, one-of-a-kind, and feature modern yet eclectic vibes to spice up your wardrobe!

Memley – Steven Jettoo ’20

Memley (formerly NuroSTREAM), co-founded by computer science student Steven Jettoo (CEO) and alumna Kirsten “Sage” Newman ’15 (COO), is an education-technology startup that aims to enhance students' learning curve by streamlining educational content, easing access to efficient learning tools, and captivating minds. Their learning platform, Memley, features research-backed memory-enhancing tools that enable students to experience significant academic gains in major content areas as well as assist educators in a reduction of instructional time spent on skill and drill assessments of core knowledge.

With funding from the Terp Startup Fellows program, Jettoo launched a paid pilot with Jersey City Global Charter Schools to utilize Memley as part of their everyday classroom environment. The data from the case study will create a path to attracting new schools to their platform. The founder is seeking to utilize funds to hire a full-time CTO to help scale the company as ongoing partnerships with new school systems are established.

ENLY – Tom Savransky ’20, Jonathan Schneider ’20

ENLY(umbrella company “Savvy Tech”) is a fashion tech startup led by a Maryland Smith senior finance student Thomas Savransky (CEO), a Maryland Smith senior finance and info-systems double major Jonathan Schneider (COO). Over the past two years, the founders have been developing their app, ENLY, to allow fashion customers to try on and buy designer clothing in a virtual marketplace. A key feature of the app is technology that will allow users to submit a selfie and their measurements to render a 3D avatar that will determine clothing fit. The founders hope that ENLY will reduce clothing returns and encourage sustainability in fashion.

Through funding from the Terp Startup Fellows program, the ENLY team was able to attend strategic fashion shows and forge connections with retailers and investors to help refine their business model. They also completed the development of their app and redesigned their website.