The VentureCat 2025 Public Showcase was held on Wednesday, May 28 and featured the best and brightest Northwestern student-founded ventures competing across five industry tracks for a non-dilutive prize pool of more than $175,000! Congratulations to Ali Lee, Founder and CEO at Swarm, for winning the Finals Grand Prize - ultimately taking home $100,000 at the Public Showcase. Swarm is building the next iconic brand in bug spray, creating an all-natural insect repellent lotion that aims to improve the appeal and aesthetic of traditional bug sprays.
Joining Swarm on the winners podium was Yutaro Nishiyama, Founder and Head of Technology at InstaEnglish, who took home Second Place - bringing their total winnings to $50,000. InstaEnglish is a personal English-speaking coach that helps English learners reach conversational fluency in just 10 months.
Angie Mercurio, Co-Founder and CEO of nLab, ultimately took home Third Place and $25,000 as well as the Audience Favorite Award of $5,000. nLab combines the world’s smallest electronics lab with an interactive educational platform that teaches hands-on circuit-building, helping learners develop the skills to fill critical tech jobs.
This year, we welcomed VentureCat 2024 finalists Izzy Mokotoff '24 and Scott Tsangeos '24 back to the VentureCat stage as the event emcees! While we were busy watching the pitches live, we were also thrilled to welcome a virtual audience to join us via livestream. You can watch the entire VentureCat 2025 Public Showcase Livestream recording below:
Prior to the event, each of the 25 Semifinalists participated in a four‐week Pitch Prep Program in the weeks leading up to the competition. This includes one‐on‐one pitch coaching and industry expert consultations.
“The 25 Semifinalists selected to participate in VentureCat each year represent the culmination of the many layers of entrepreneurial resources, courses and programming available to students from across Northwestern,” said Mike Raab, Executive Director of The Garage, Northwestern’s student startup incubator. “Unlike traditional business plan competitions, VentureCat selects and supports Northwestern student founders that have moved beyond the initial idea phase and onto developing a product or service that meets a validated market need.”
This year, VentureCat distributed more than $175,000 in non-dilutive funding to competing student ventures thanks to generous contributions from our sponsors. We’d like to thank Microsoft for Startups - Founders Hub, Cooley, and Schneider Electric, for joining us as general sponsors - as well as Exelon for joining us again as a sponsor for our Energy & Sustainability Track.
Semifinals were held in a closed door format at The Garage on the morning of May 28. Each track was judged by selected experts in corresponding fields. The first place winner in each of the five tracks advanced to the finals, in addition to one Wildcard winner chosen from the second place track winners. Now, to the track results!
The first place winners in each track - plus nLab, the Wildcard Winner - moved on to pitch in a closed session in Kellogg Global Hub with our impressive panel of finalist judges, who kindly donated their time and expertise to today’s events. This year, we welcomed Vinit Bharara, Co-Founder and CEO at Mojo; Todd Cruikshank, Co-Founder and COO at Surgical Innovation Associates; Allyson Lewis, CEO at The Spice House; Guy Turner, Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners; and Betsy Ziegler, CEO at 1871.
Congratulations to ALL of the VentureCat participants – finalists, semifinalists, and winners. We can’t wait to see what you do next!
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VentureCat 2025 was made possible thanks to the 75+ volunteer pitch coaches, track advisors, and judges. You can learn more about all of the participating teams, track advisors, and judges in our online program here.
If you would like to contribute to this important program, your gift will support VentureCat resources and awards for future participants. Join us in supporting tomorrow's leaders driving forward groundbreaking solutions and fostering a culture of innovation at Northwestern.
Nadia Bidarian ’26 is a Journalism, Data Science, and Cognitive Science student from Redondo Beach, California. She is a student aide at The Garage who works on alumni programming, events and other projects for The Garage.
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