Fall ’24 Founder Grants awarded to seven startups

Arctic Sea House team: Isabelle Anderson, Monica Scotto, Felix Hoehner

Congratulations to the recipients of the Fall '24 Founder Grants! We received 33 submissions spanning a broad range of interests, including fashion, AI, medtech, and education. After a long and difficult deliberation, we are happy to announce the following grantees:

• Nautilus - $4,000: Founded by Ali Sareini, MEM '26 & Amayr Babar, MEM '26, Nautilus transforms car wash e-commerce by enabling one-click online sales and automating SMS and email marketing. The team plans to utilize the funds to grow their client base via marketing and industry outreach.

• MiteOut - $3,500: Founded by Jonah Hymes '28 and Lucas Bell (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute '28), MiteOut develops solutions to protect beehives from the effects of varroa mites. They plan to utilize the funding to continue developing and testing prototypes and consult with patent attorneys. "We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to receive this funding and to become a part of the Magnuson Center community! This project marks an exciting step in our mission to bring innovative technologies to the field of beekeeping, with the ultimate goal of saving the bees and preserving the vital role they play in our ecosystem," says Hymes.

• NEXUS - $2,500: The founding team of Nathan Hammerschmitt Le Gal '27, Nate Abbott '27 & Aren Carlson '27 are developing a modular running shoe that provides high performance, cost savings & reduced waste. Hammerschmitt Le Gal says, "As a runner, I've replaced my shoes 12 times in the last 3 years and experienced the high cost of running firsthand. I saw potential for shoes that provide simplicity and accessibility. Now thanks to the generosity of the Magnuson Center, we can bring NEXUS to the next level by creating initial wearable prototypes and manufactured samples in early 2025."

• Antiq.ai - $2,000: Baris Yildirim '25 brings modern tools and capabilities to Classics language education. "For years, I felt a disconnect between the treasures of Classical thought and the tools available to understand them," says Yildirim. "I want to build a platform that makes the great works of the past engaging, accessible and genuinely enjoyable."

• Arctic Sea House - $2,000: Founded by a trio of MEng '25 students, Monica Scotto, Felix Hoehner & Isabelle Anderson, Arctic Sea House created a new space-saving iceless chilling solution called the Pufferfish. The team will use the funding to iterate on their prototype and begin the patent process for their technology. "Indebted to the Magnuson Center's generosity, our team is equipped and excited to continue developing our innovation," says Scotto.

• CourseMe - $1,000: "As we look ahead, we're excited about the future of CourseMe and can't wait to roll it out to colleges nationwide, revolutionizing how students plan their academic journeys," says Ranvir Deshmukh '26. Built with co-founders Eric Peterson '26 and Rohan Ray '26, CourseMe offers a new software platform for educational institutions that actively guides students through course selection and degree planning in a personalized, intelligent way.

• Versara - $1,000: "We want to give control back to the creators," says Colin Wolfe '27 about Versara, a venture he is creating with co-founder Will Savage MIT '28. Versara aims to provide tools to help content publishers protect their digital assets from being used for AI training and scraping.

Nautilus co-founders Ali Sareini and Amayr Babar

Working on your own startup idea?

The next round of Founder Grant applications will open in the spring '25 term, so make sure you subscribe to the Magnuson Center newsletter to stay up to date. Anyone working on growing a new idea on campus is eligible, so faculty, staff, and students who can utilize up to $5k in startup funds are encouraged to apply.

"What we really love seeing in this process is a founding team iterating from a previous application. This round, we funded three applicants who did not advance last spring but kept working hard, resulting in more compelling pitches. The idea is only one piece of the puzzle; your commitment to working on your idea and learning from those efforts is essential," says Roy Schmidt, Program Manager, Startup Support. "Taking a chance and pursuing a new idea, you should be ready for roadblocks. But it's how you handle adversity and build support that will help define how far you can take your idea in the long run."

If any new founders need support, please contact Roy Schmidt to schedule office hours and learn how the Magnuson Center can help.