iVenture welcomes 40 student entrepreneurs for ninth cohort

The University of Illinois’iVenture Accelerator – powered by Gies College of Business – has admitted 11 startups into its ninth cohort. This year’s group consists of 40 full-time students from 26 fields of study and seven colleges on the University of Illinois campus, including Gies College of Business, College of Applied Health Sciences, College of Education, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, College of Media, The Grainger College of Engineering, and the School of Information Sciences.

"The iVenture program has returned to fully in-person for the first time since summer 2019,” said Manu Edakara, director of iVenture. “We are excited to translate what we learned about building community online back to an in-person experience. Our cohort is taking full advantage of our focused programming, robust resources, and incredible team supporting them.”

Meet this year’s 11 ventures:

BYLD Innovations is developing a compact and accessorizable 3D printer to empower students and innovators.

Career Advancement Exchange inspires diversity in the workforce by creating a professional network of underrepresented communities and connecting them to career opportunities.

Climecast provides property-specific insights on projected property insurance rates, odds of nonrenewal, and risk mitigation strategies, enabling customers to make better-informed financial decisions.

DoubleSpot is a venue management and discovery platform that enables facility owners to fully realize their booking potential and event organizers to effortlessly find the ideal space.

Earthworm builds nano-drones for farm health monitoring.

EmoNet is an AI-powered voice journaling platform for self-reflection.

PlayTogether is a multiplayer hosting platform that connects people across the globe, increasing the accessibility of technology through intuitive, human-centric design.

Privy Track is the first period tracking app focused on privacy.

Sakura MedTech offers a superior, patient-centric imaging device for cervical cancer screening to reduce patient discomfort and improve medical efficiency for gynecologists.

TooTak – Art of reading Farsi is a mobile app for 6- to 10-year-old kids to learn how to read Farsi.

Top Tier Lessons matches college student-athletes with parents in the community looking for sports lessons for their kids.

Launched in 2015, iVenture is a systemwide and cross-campus program housed in Gies College of Business that provides opportunities for student-led startups to create economic and social value. iVenture supports student entrepreneurs with knowledge, funding, and access to the world-class University of Illinois resources and alumni. Since its inception, iVenture has incubated 100+ ventures led by 300 student entrepreneurs who have gone on to raise more than $100 million for their work, created over 500 full-time jobs, and won various accolades across the globe.