This June, while many members of the Class of 2025 tossed their caps and posed for graduation photos, a few Northwestern students traded in post-grad job offers for pitch decks and product demos. Meet the graduating founders who are taking their startups full-time, and The Garage-powered programs that helped get them there.
Each of these ventures began as an idea nurtured at Northwestern and matured through The Garage’s vibrant community and hands-on programming. One program in particular made a defining difference: Jumpstart, The Garage’s competitive summer pre-accelerator. Over the course of 10 weeks, students receive funding, mentorship, and a dedicated workspace to test, build, and pitch their ventures. For many, it’s the turning point between a side project and a viable business.
For Neha Mehta and Catherine Malloy (both Kellogg ‘25), Rora began with a quiet truth: women are suffering in silence throughout menopause.
After hundreds of conversations with midlife women, the pair launched Rora, a women’s health startup tackling one of menopause's most overlooked symptoms: external vaginal dryness. Their first product? A hands-free, hormone-free mist offering fast, discreet relief.
Through Jumpstart, the Rora team conducted live product testing, iterated packaging designs using The Garage’s 3D printers, and built their MVP from scratch. At the end of the program, they pitched Rora at Demo Day and took home first place, along with an additional $10,000.
But the journey didn’t stop there. With support from Kellogg's Levy Inspiration Grant, Neha and Catherine traveled to South Korea to study packaging design, skincare science, and manufacturing trends. Neha also joined the Zell Fellows program, gaining strategic support and mentorship to grow Rora beyond the classroom.
"We’re not just solving a symptom," says Mehta. "We’re reshaping the story of menopause; from something women quietly endure to something they feel empowered to navigate."
Language barriers affect billions, and Yutaro Nishiyama (Kellogg + MSDI ‘25) is building an app to break them. InstaEnglish acts as a personal English-speaking coach, helping users reach fluency through science-backed training.
Yutaro launched the first version of InstaEnglish in early 2024. Within weeks, the app had paying users and its first major win: first place at the Kellogg Venture Challenge. After joining The Garage’s Residency program, Yutaro and his team entered Jumpstart for a summer of full-time focus.
During Jumpstart, InstaEnglish gained traction through pitch wins, product refinement, and mentorship connections. Yutaro recalls both the intense founder sessions and the moments of bonding, from pitch prep to paddleboarding on Lake Michigan.
Today, InstaEnglish ranks in the top 10 English learning apps in Japan and is expanding to South Korea, with plans to launch in Chinese, Spanish, and Thai. "We’re not just building a company," says Yutaro. "We’re building a movement."
That movement gained major validation at VentureCat 2025, where InstaEnglish placed second overall and took home $50,000 in non-dilutive funding. Now, as Yutaro and his team move to full-time dedication after commencement, they are focused on international growth, recruiting new interns, and scaling their impact. With consistent 30% month-over-month growth, they’re aiming for $1M ARR within the year.
Bella Le Sage (Weinberg ’25) is tackling a challenge many students know all too well: subletting. After facing the problem herself in 2022, she founded hostU, a trusted, student-to-student housing platform built for medium-term stays ranging from one to eleven months.
The venture began in a Farley Center course with Neal Sales-Griffin and quickly gained traction. In summer 2023, Bella joined Jumpstart at The Garage and was awarded the top prize at Demo Day. She then raised hostU’s first round of funding, including investment from the founding CTO of Intercontinental Exchange, and secured a tech partnership with 13 Castles.
Over the next year, Bella deepened her experience through more Farley Center courses, citing Professor Acuña’s classes as especially influential. She also made a pivotal decision: turning down an offer from Goldman Sachs to pursue hostU full time.
Jumpstart was a defining experience. "It was my first structured entry into startup building, the accountability, community, and Demo Day experience helped me validate the idea and gain early momentum," Bella said. She also credits the X-Factor Program and mentorship from Laurence Jankelow (co-founder of Avail) as instrumental in her growth as a founder.
Today, hostU is expanding to new schools, building out internal AI tools, and hiring technical talent to scale. Bella and her team are now based in New York City, fully committed to making student subletting feel as seamless and secure as booking a dorm.
Ali Lee (Weinberg ’25) isn’t just solving a common outdoor annoyance. She’s changing how we think about bug spray. With Swarm, Ali has created an all‑natural insect‑repellent lotion designed to be both effective and enjoyable to use.
Swarm’s journey began during Ali’s sophomore year, when she participated in Propel and was named a Little Joe Ventures Fellow. She then went on a global “mega trip” with Little Joe Ventures in her junior year. It was during that transformative journey that Swarm took shape, sparking an idea that pulled her toward building a new, skin-conscious venture.
With Swarm accepted into The Garage’s Jumpstart summer pre‑accelerator program, Ali devoted the summer to full‑time building. She developed the unique lotion formula, refined user experience, and leveraged Jumpstart resources like mentorship, prototyping labs, and Demo Day pitching.
Her hard work paid off in a big way: at VentureCat 2025, Northwestern’s signature startup competition, Swarm earned the Grand Prize of $100,000, beating out nearly two dozen semifinalists to take home the top award.
Today, with a refined formula in development, a diploma in hand, and a launch roadmap ahead, Ali is fully committed to growing Swarm full-time. Her mission is clear: build an iconic, skin-friendly bug repellent brand that people actually want to use and help redefine outdoor protection through clean science and thoughtful design.
These founders are proof that with the right support, a startup idea can outlast college and take on the world. Programs like Jumpstart and other resources from The Garage not only help build companies but also build confident, mission-driven entrepreneurs.
The Class of 2025 might have graduated. But for Rora, InstaEnglish, hostU, and Swarm, this is just the beginning.
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