Four Cornell Tech student teams received $100,000 each from during Cornell Tech’s annual Startup Awards competition May 16 on the New York City campus. 

The winning companies are CreditQuant AI, gymii.ai, Polyrook and SAIL. Around 1,000 students, university leaders, entrepreneurs and tech executives gathered to hear the teams pitch ideas developed in Cornell Tech’s Studio program. The startups spanned industries from AI to digital health, law, finance and entertainment.

The Startup Awards are a capstone of the Studio curriculum, a critical component of the master’s degree program. In their final semester, students can choose to form teams and enroll in Startup Studio, where they develop ideas and prototypes for a startup in an academic setting.

Eleven teams competed for the $100,000 investment, studio space and ongoing mentorship to transform their pre-seed stage companies into thriving businesses in New York City. Judges included Andrew Ross Sorkin ’99, New York Times columnist, author, producer and co-anchor of CNBC’s Squawk Box, who announced the winners.

The winning teams are:

• CreditQuant AI, which developed an AI commercial credit risk tool that can parse financials, calculate risk ratios, and draft credit memos for faster, sharper lending decisions. It was founded by master’s degree student Adam Liu.
• gymii.ai, which created a nutrition tracking app that can instantly analyze meals, explore a social feed, discover fun facts and compete in streaks, founded by master’s degree students Selina Li, Zach Zhong and Alex Taic.
• Polyrook, which created a solution that leverages AI to generate fully customizable 3D environments for games and films, enabling creators to build and iterate immersive worlds in seconds. It was founded by master’s degree students Zachary Decker and Jeremy Yanyang Lu.
• SAIL, which developed an AI-native trade compliance product that helps track tariffs in an era of rapidly shifting trade policy. It was founded by master’s degree students Chansam Kim, Olivia Mei, William J. Reid and Salik Tehami.

A runner-up was also selected: Reforma, an AI personal trainer for fitness that delivers personalized form correction and performance tracking using computer vision, founded by master’s student Courtney Clapper. The team will receive office space and mentorship through Cornell Tech’s Runway program.

“It has been incredible to watch our students collaborate to create innovative solutions addressing real-world challenges across a wide variety of fields,” said Greg Morrisett, the Jack and Rilla Neafsey Dean and Vice Provost of Cornell Tech, also a member of the jury. “This annual event not only celebrates these students’ achievements, but also our culture of creativity as well as our tangible impact. I am confident that this year’s winners will make significant contributions to New York City and the world.”

The Studio program is led by Chief Practice Officer Josh Hartmann and Startup Studio instructors Jenny Fielding, Sam Dix and Alberto Escarlate, who all served on the jury, along with tech executives.

“Watching students grow from pitching rough concepts to leading real companies is one of the most rewarding parts of this program. These teams are ready to scale their visions into lasting ventures,” said Hartmann. “The companies launched here go beyond the classroom, creating jobs, attracting investment and helping people live better lives.”

The Startup Awards are a launchpad for the next generation of tech leaders poised to make a significant impact both in New York City and beyond, Hartmann said. A total of 61 companies have received the award.

Overall, Cornell Tech – and through Startup Studio and the Runway Startup Postdocs program at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute – has launched nearly 120 companies, which have generated a collective valuation of more than $700 million. Many have chosen to stay locally post-graduation, creating over 500 jobs in New York City since the programs began.

Other finalists that competed for this year’s Startup Awards included Artca, Fixware, Livinit, MagNet Agents, Occazio and Prinx.

Grace Stanley is a staff writer-editor for Cornell Tech.