At the Season 4 TechRise Finale, six of this year’s top TechRise Startups will pitch onstage for the chance to win $100,000 in capital. We look forward to celebrating the more than 350 Founders who’ve taken the TechRise Stage since 2021, along with our broader Chicagoland tech ecosystem!
From Noon on October 14 – Noon on October 25th, YOU have the opportunity to vote for the six startups you’d like to see pitch onstage. Read more below about each of our Semifinalist companies.
The 36 Semifinalists you’ll see below were selected as Winner or Runner Up during one of the ‘regular season’ TechRise Pitch Competitions.
These Semifinalist Startups are divided into (4) randomly generated voting blocks, and from October 14-25th, your vote will help propel them to the Finale Stage.
You can vote for (2) companies per each of the (4) voting blocks daily until October 25th.
On October 25th, the top (3) voted Semifinalist Startups within each voter block (12 startups total) will be passed to an independent VC panel, who will select the (6) Finalists to pitch onstage.
Ayesha Kazi
ASL Aspire is an online educational platform that teaches STEM to K-12 deaf and hard of hearing students and their teachers through games.
Brian Cordero
Greenclick is the first car share marketplace connecting car rentals on-site at hotel properties for instant rentals for guests. Supported by local fleets, and the Greenclick app, travelers can book cars with a wide range of cars and availability.
Melody Roberts
29M American women worry daily about leaking pee in public: an $8.7B US market. We are developing a physical product and semi-automated pelvic health coaching software to keep them dry at the gym and out of the operating room.
Nikki Bravo
Momentum Coffee serves quality coffee, tea, sandwiches and pastries in its 6 locations in Chicago. Momentum is intentionally located in under resourced neighborhoods to be an economic driver for those areas to thrive.
Andrea wallace
Opnr is a platform that helps concert organizers save time and boost ticket sales by matching them with the perfect acts for their shows. We use fan data to ensure that every booking drives maximum engagement and revenue.
Kelly McKay-Lumbreras
20% of our population suffers with chronic pain. At PainNavigator, we empower patients with chronic pain with our lifestyle-based coaching app to have options beyond invasive surgeries and addictive pain meds. We partner with pain management clinics to unlock remote care and reimbursement.
Eva Bugg
REUSO is a software as a service company on a mission to eliminate single-use waste. REUSO’s tag and trace technology empowers operators to manage reusable items at scale – we’ve started with the food and beverage sector and have been in discussions with additional industries (i.e. construction) seeking to reduce their carbon footprint and eliminate waste.
Anj Fayemi
Rivet is the AI-platform that increases D2C revenue for artists and brands by growing their communities and powering their direct-to-fan marketing and sales.
Hunter guy
Study Aloud is a faith-based Edtech company focused on using advanced technologies to improve biblical learning through immersive and personalized learning journeys. Our mission is to make the Bible more relatable to Christians, empowering those from diverse backgrounds to confidently connect with and understand God’s word.
Ana cornell
We at Acorn Genetics have built the “smartphone” for sequencing. Using patent-pending nanopore technology, we have lowered the cost of the sequencer from >$500K, to just $5,000. Our portable design, low price point, and fully automated sample prep makes sequencing available to untapped markets, such as industrial agriculture, point-of-care testing, and bench top research. We are changing where and how sequencing is happening, unlocking the nearly $70B rapid sequencing market.
Nana Arkorful
Arke’s mission is to democratize mobility by providing affordable, accessible, and practical eBike solutions, empowering individuals to break free from the constraints of their circumstances.
Brian Tolliver
Banyon Power provides enabling technologies that accelerate the global transition to e-mobility by making ownership more accessible, while assisting utilities and energy providers with grid management.
Watch this company’s TechRise Pitch!
KENT JONES
ChicagoFootwork.com is the key to the pulse of Chicago’s most loved dance, Footwork. We curate exclusive content, events, and insider access to the city’s most impactful dance movement.
Makini Allwood
Plait is an online marketplace and delivery solution that connects Black consumers to all the hair products we need in one place and delivers them to your home as early as the next day.
Laura Epstein
Pulse Charter Connect is a healthcare logistics solution that resolves inefficiencies in organ and surgical team transportation.
Brenda Sanchez
We at Sign Nerds make Graphic Designs, Printed Materials, Signage, and Apparel. Our specialty lies in building relationships with our clients and committing to their success, for as their business grows, so does ours.
Renuka Agarwal
J. Lewis
Valusync is an investing education platform that personalizes and simplifies the beginning of the journey for Millennials and Gen Z and connects brokers and advisors to them at a pivotal point in that journey.
Gabriel Huertas del Pino
Arch is a pet consumables company that prioritizes utilization of sustainable superfoods (think crickets and invasive fish such as Asian Carp). These ingredients also provide solutions to food sensitivities within pets—the most common of which are chicken and beef—and won the startup Purina’s 2024 Pet Care Innovation Prize.
Victoria Bills
Banrion Capital is a tech-enabled B2B marketplace for financial advisors to invest directly in alternative managers and educate themselves on using alternative assets in their client’s portfolio.
Al Lagunas
Levee is revolutionizing hotel operations by solving a critical issue: inconsistent and incomplete data capture from deskless workers like housekeepers and maintenance staff. Our platform uses computer vision AI and natural language processing to automate data collection, providing hotels with accurate, real-time insights that help optimize workflows, reduce inefficiencies, and enhance guest experiences.
Genesis Bencivenga Sr
Genesis Bencivenga Sr., CEO and co-founder of Lorenzo’s Frozen Pudding, took her father’s banana pudding recipe from the family kitchen into national stores. Lorenzo’s Frozen Pudding is a family brand, and pushes to be THE trusted frozen dessert brand in the World.
Jill Miller
Lunum measures the financial value of investing in people across complex supply chains to show how those investments improve business performance and reduce risk.
Sona Shah
Neopenda innovates needs-based, connected, medical technologies for emerging markets. Our first product, neoGuard, is a wearable vital signs monitor that immediately alerts clinicians of patients in distress.
Prarthana gupta
There are 600K+ manufacturers managing over $100K each in product sampling assets every year. That’s $60B not sitting on any software today. The OrdrSmart platform bridges the gap between CRMs and ERPs, enabling manufacturers to reduce costs, reduce manual error, and increase revenue by streamlining their product sampling & catalog operations.
Stephane Manuel
TrueFiktion is education company that uses comics to help students understand the world they live in. We support teachers with engaging historical fiction comics, curriculum, and professional development.
Obianuju Okoye
Visualize is the care platform (web-based and mobile app)for underserved communities. Clinics and patients see their full history, message each other, and even provide vitals through the app. Build out a complete plan to book the patient, confirm or help them with transportation, address social determinants of health and follow through on every action item from medication to nutrition.
Ryan Hackler
We transform plastic waste into higher value chemicals. By diverting waste away from landfills and into sustainable alternatives to critical petrochemicals through a patented chemical process, we catalyze the decarbonization of various manufacturing industries.
Lily Wang
Demi is making composting mainstream. We make it cool for residents and smart for buildings to reframe the way we think about “trash”. From sleek bins to smart pods to a mobile app, we’re the first tech-enabled composting system that makes it easy for buildings to do good for the planet & for their bottom line.
Vinay Tharayil
Discreedly is a digital platform designed to transform and scale the engagement between Pharma Medical Affairs and Healthcare Providers (HCPs). Our mission is to streamline access to clinical data, foster scientific dialogue, and gather valuable insights—all while ensuring the right information reaches the right HCPs, at the right time, for the right patients.
Camryn Ross
Fillow marries the ease and convenience of tampons with the reusability and long-lasting wear of menstrual cups — providing a sustainable, all-day-wear tampon alternative for modern women seeking an effortless and mess-free period product.
Veronica Peterson
FlashHoops is the fun, smart app for developing youth math skills through short workouts led by elite athletes. We fuse physical activity, gamification and AI while learning to boost engagement, provide tailored learning tracks and keep youth on the move.
Jenny arrington
LOOK is a pioneering digital well-being platform designed to help individuals break free from social media’s addictive grip and reduce family conflicts around screen time. By delivering AI-powered hyper-personalized nudges that adapt to each user’s routine, preferences, and personality, LOOK gamifies building healthier habits and engaging in meaningful real-world activities —so the three billion smartphone users worldwide can scroll less and live more.
Sade Dixon
We want to build an online community with flexible work for moms that connects them with fellow moms who want their homes cleaned by people they can trust!
Jeremiah Kim
Signl is a pre-clinical Biotech company spinning out of the University of Chicago that tunes the immune system in new ways. Our first product will reduce the side effects of vaccines while simultaneously making them more protective.
Keisha Howard
At Sugar Gamers Labs, we bridge corporations, educational institutions, and professionals with the rapidly evolving video gaming and emerging technology space through tailored services and unique community engagement. We create opportunities for innovation, collaboration, and access to diverse talent, fostering innovation and delivering measurable impact in the tech industry.
