VentureCat 2018: Meet the Semifinalists

VentureCat, Northwestern’s annual student startup competition, is an event and showcase celebrating Northwestern’s most promising student-founded startups, and we couldn’t be more excited about this year’s lineup. We have 29 incredibly impressive, talented student teams competing for a spot on the Finals stage. VentureCat culminates with the VentureCat Finals on May 23, 2018, where $100,000 in prize money is given away (and yes, we have giant checks). The 29 semifinalist teams compete in six industry tracks. First place from each track will take the Finals stage. And don’t forget to RSVP to grab your seat at Northwestern’s biggest startup competition of the year. Previous VentureCat competitors have gone on to have their startups funded, acquired, and more. Who are you rooting for?

BUSINESS PRODUCTS + SERVICES (B TO B)

CoCo Health: CoCo Health provides on-site mental wellness support for employers and employees by bringing counselors and providers to the workplace.Facilikey: Facilikey is an app for property managers to organize maintenance requests and connect them with the right vendors for the job.Hilltop Health: Business solutions for vets to create tech enabled, world class pet care.Queralyze, LLC: Queralyze is a cost effective teaching enhancement tool focusing on critical thinking and writing.RideLink: RideLink provides amusement park operators with a predictive machine learning platform to make smarter maintenance decisions and reduce annual unplanned maintenance costs.

CONSUMER PRODUCTS + SERVICES (B TO C)

Cariset: Because the key to feeling like you’re on top of the world starts with your bag.Commit: Commit is a platform that creates and guarantees demand for events and trips to make sure they’re full… or don’t happen.LOUD Enterprises LLC: LOUD’s mission is to use artwork and apparel to inspire, challenge and enable others to pursue their passions and to live out their dreams.SkimmyLabs: Skimmy is a wearable device that alerts credit card holders to detected skimmers.Unruled.: Unruled. is empowering visual thinkers through environmentally responsible design.

ENERGY + SUSTAINABILITY

Instago: Instago is a community centric carpooling app that matches people going in the same direction at similar times and thereby allows them to split the cost of the ride while reducing emissions.NUMiX Materials: NUMiX Materials manufactures and supplies Northwestern University-patented materials to remove heavy metals from aqueous streams at ten times the efficiency of competing materials on a per-volume basis.PedalCell: PedalCell creates novel bike-powered phone chargers for the bike share industry.Walla: Walla helps utilities meet state-mandated energy savings targets by incentivizing consumers to reduce their individual electricity demands through micro-investing and cloud-based smart appliance automation.

FOOD + BEVERAGE

2nd Kitchen: 2ndKitchen is a platform that enables bars without kitchens to serve food seamlessly using a network of popular restaurants around them.BrewBike: BrewBike fuels college students with cold brew coffee. HotPlate: HotPlate is an app that enables diners to discover the best dishes at restaurants through individual dish ratings and reviews.Jora Beverage Company: Mindful mixers, conscious crafters, and innovative partiers who refuse to settle for alcoholic beverages that continuously fail to acknowledge our lifestyles.reBLEND: reBLEND sources misshapen produce and crafts delicious smoothies that help customers better win their day.

LIFE SCIENCES + MEDICAL INNOVATIONS

BackWave Technologies: BackWave is developing a noninvasive device that measures cardiac output to detect and prevent acute exacerbations of heart failure.BioTrellis, LLC: BioTrellis, LLC is an innovative pre-clinical nanomaterial product which can dramatically improve healing post surgery for cartilage repair patient.Jabiru Medical: Jabiru provides real-time biometric feedback for new moms to facilitate expedited labor and avoid undesirable, costly surgical interventions.Jetter: Jetter is an easy-to-use, child-friendly device that improves the pediatric injection experience.Rheos: Rheos has developed a noninvasive, wearable biosensor capable of diagnosing ventricular shunt malfunction.

SOCIAL IMPACT + NONPROFIT

BOSSY: BOSSY is a platform that celebrates female business owners and helps them grow their businesses by motivating female consumers to buy women-owned.Brave Initiatives: Brave Initiatives is on a mission to empower high school girls to be brave leaders of change in their communities using technology. LineShift: LineShift provides solutions and tools that enable the manufacturing workforce to analyze and deploy their skills as AI and automation disrupt the industry.Poppy: Poppy is the first online support system designed to help communities provide long-term and meaningful help for the grievers in their lives.Sidekick Education: Students partner with organizations to solve real problems using core class content. Sidekick partners with teachers to help them pull it off.