Jumpstart Demo Day 2026 - The Results!

Jumpstart Demo Day is the culmination of The Garage’s summer pre-accelerator program, where student startups are given $10,000 and 10 weeks of programming and mentorship to work full-time on their startups over the summer. 

This year, 10 student teams from across Northwestern participated in the program, building products in fitness, AI, and more. On August 26th, 2026, the teams made their final pitches to a panel of judges who were tasked with awarding more than $18,000 in prize money to support their ventures. 

Find out who took home the prizes below and watch the show here!

After presenting one final time during the Public Showcase to a standing-room-only audience of more than 90 attendees at The Garage, and over 280 watching the livestream, the Jumpstart cohort was ready to see who won.

1st Place ($10,000): Restless Energy

Restless Energy is a better energy solution that keeps people in demanding professions energized throughout the day without crashing. 

After receiving the $10,000 check, CEO Daniel Medina’s face lit up with a big smile.

“It feels amazing to focus on my startup all summer and see our hard work pay off big time,” Medina said. “But even if we didn’t win, I’m grateful that I’ve found a unique community of entrepreneurs and went beyond what I could’ve imagined with Restless.”

For Restless, who already won VentureCat’s Audience Favorite prize and third place this spring, winning Demo Day is another huge achievement. 

“This was such an awesome experience and use of my summer,” head of marketing Jack Easterby said. “I’m so excited to see what’s next for Restless and the next step for its marketing.”

2nd Place ($5,000): OnSight

OnSight creates sensors that help gyms run their facilities better. 

After placing second, co-founder and COO Matthew Martinez had one word for how he felt. 

“Electric.”

While getting $5,000 will help them offset hardware costs, co-founder and CEO Angel Mendoza says the money isn’t the most important part of Jumpstart.

“Jumpstart was great,” co-founder and CEO Angel Mendoza said. “I always valued it, whether we won or not. It’s great to get some money, but the stuff, the space, the ability to do what we did here in the 10 weeks is the real prize.”

3rd Place ($2,500): Spyke Automation

Spyke Automation is a code-analysis platform for industrial automation.

When their name was announced for third place, Spyke’s team member Jatin Hooda said it was “a pleasant surprise.”

“It really feels unreal at the moment,” founder Karthik Velamati said. “This is a really good surprise.”

Behind the award are 10 weeks of hard work and refining their product to perfection.

“I cannot recommend Jumpstart enough,” Velamati said. “Before coming into [Jumpstart] 10 weeks ago, we did not have a product, but now because of the support that we’ve gotten, the resources available at The Garage, and the community that we’ve got to build over the last 10 weeks, I think it really pushes you to make some real progress on your business.”

Audience Favorite ($1,000): Tuka

Tuka is a software and hardware startup that helps hotels deliver trusted local recommendations to every guest.

After winning, CEO Josephine White was “absolutely geeked” and “thrilled” to get the award.

CTO Autymn Williams credits White’s beam and enthusiastic energy with capturing most of the audience. 

“I was looking at people’s reactions, and just the energy [White] brought,” Williams said. “People  were physically leaning forward in their seats.”

Now a Jumpstart alum, White left a piece of advice she learned after 10 weeks at The Garage.

“Be nimble and ready to pivot,” White said. “Fall in love with the problem, not the solution you’ve made.”

At the end of the pitch competition, teams like Jukebox.am, Symbia, and Kinetic Robotics showed off physical products and chatted with the audience. No matter where they placed, the Jumpstart teams left with a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment at how far they’ve progressed over the summer.

Congratulations to all the teams for completing Jumpstart at The Garage! After a historic cohort in which 9 out of 10 teams produced revenue, we couldn’t be more proud of this group. This was a special summer, and we can’t wait to see how far these teams will go. See you in the Fall!