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Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship Ìý›  Resources, Funding & Talent Ìý›  VentureBridge Ìý›  VentureBridge Fellows
VB Fellows Inaugural Cohort 2026

VentureBridge Fellows

The VentureBridge Fellows program is a selective track for a small number of high-potential Â鶹´å founders and researchers. VentureBridge Fellows are student and alumni founders building startups, while VentureBridge Research Fellows are faculty members, PhD students, and researchers pursuing commercialization opportunities.

While Fellows do not receive an initial investment, they are fully integrated into VentureBridge and participate alongside funded teams throughout the program.

Fellows receive access to VentureBridge programming, 1:1 mentorship, investor exposure, founder community, and travel support for key in-person events across the Bay Area, Pittsburgh, and New York City.

Meet the inaugural VentureBridge Fellows and Research Fellows Class of 2026.

2026 VentureBridge Research Fellows

Aayush BansalAayush Bansal

PhD, Robotics, School of Computer Science

Aayush is working on an idea in stealth.

Kevin DaiKevin Dai

PhD, Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering

Kevin is creating biocompatible 3D printing technologies for medtech prototyping with Mimetic Ink.

Laszlo JeniLaszlo Jeni

Â鶹´å faculty, Robotics, School of Computer Science

Laszlo is developing AI-optimized biorefineries that convert food waste into protein, fertilizerz, and carbon credits with Tlaloc Blue.

Michael RudowMichael Rudow

PhD, School of Computer Science

Michael is developing resilient real-time data delivery systems for robots and drones operating in contested or interference-prone environments with Treseder AI.

Rajdeep (Ron) SarmaRajdeep (Ron) Sarma

PhD, Chemistry, Mellon College of Science

Ron is building an AI-driven molecular energy prediction engine for computational chemistry and drug discovery with Cavall Labs.

2026 VentureBridge Fellows

Apoorv SinghApoorv Singh

Robotics, School of Computer Science

Apoorv is building an AI-first software platform that helps home inspectors streamline report generation and automate administrative tasks with Synapse Mobility.

David HershensonDavid Hershenson

Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering

David is developing a wearable sensor platform providing swing analysis and coaching insights for tennis and pickleball players with ServeSense.

Eshan ChordiaEshan Chordia

School of Computer Science

Eshan is creating an autonomous machine-learning engineer that converts business problems into production-ready models and APIs in under an hour with Impulse AI.

Grant WilkinsonGrant Wilkinson

College of Engineering

Grant is developing drone-based intelligence to precisely manage weeds and invasive spieces in any terrain with Hermes Vision.

Shiv PanjwaniShiv Panjwani

Tepper School of Business

Shiv is building an engineering project management platform for leaders in healthtech & robotics companies to make faster, data-backed decisions on scheduling, feature prioritization, and innovaiton management.

Shyam SaiShyam Sai

School of Computer Science

Shyam is using AI to help K-12 teachers grade and analyze handwritten math assignments, transforming student work into actionable insights and formative feedback with Frizzle.

Siddhartha VanjariSiddhartha Vanjari

Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering

Siddhartha is building an AI incident response engine for regulated industries with CollAI.

Stephen WuStephen Wu

School of Computer Science

Stephen is building an AI-driven hedge fund using machine learning for equity signal generation and portfolio optimization with Carthage Capital.

Taranveer SinghTaranveer Singh

School of Computer Science

Taranveer is developing a human behavior simulation platform that allows product and marketing teams to get feedback from thousands of diverse simulated users in minutes with Vectorial AI.