Cozad New Venture Challenge 2024 Grand Prize-winning team Pathlit is making AI more accessible

Pathlit, a no-code platform built to empower users with all the tools necessary to easily customize, experiment, and deploy custom-fit generative AI solutions without any deep expertise in tech or AI is the Cozad New Venture Challenge 2024 Grand Prize Winner. 

Grand Prize Winner

“Participating in the Cozad New Venture Challenge was an enlightening experience that helped us deeply understand the importance of adaptability and clear communication, especially when explaining complex Gen AI capabilities to our wide array of audiences. And, the Grand Prize is an amazing boost for us! It will be directly invested in enhancing our platform’s capabilities and scalability.”

ADVAY GUPTA
Founder & CEO of Pathlit

Pathlit won $50,000 in investment at the Finals Event that took place at Portal Innovations in Chicago on April 17. Seven finalist teams pitched their startup ideas to a panel of judges at the Finals Event. The Technology Entrepreneur Center in The Grainger College of Engineering administers the annual new business venture creation program, Cozad New Venture Challenge. Funding and in-kind prizes up to $500,000 will be awarded to Cozad teams this year.

Pathlit enables enterprises and individuals to build GenAI-powered use cases at breakneck speeds through rapid experimentation. With the help of no-code, drag-and-drop GenAI models, the startup allows customers to save valuable time and get ahead by not investing heavily in building in-house GenAI teams. Pathlit is backed by AWS Activate, Google, and Nvidia and actively raising funds to grow.

Advay Gupta, Economics student in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, and Founder and CEO of Pathlit says, “Participating in Cozad was an enlightening experience that helped us deeply understand the importance of adaptability and clear communication, especially when explaining complex Gen AI capabilities to our wide array of audiences.

These lessons will guide our ongoing efforts to simplify AI application development. The grand prize is an amazing boost for us! It will be directly invested in enhancing our platform’s capabilities and scalability. This funding will help us to not only refine our technology but also expand our team and support network and make AI more accessible to businesses of all sizes. Our success at Cozad has further energized our mission to democratize AI technology, ensuring businesses can leverage these powerful tools to innovate and grow."

 

 

This year, the campuswide competition kicked off in early February with about 200 competing teams representing 10 campus colleges. The teams attended workshops on customer discovery, value proposition, finance, and presentation skills, with additional community building opportunities to sharpen their entrepreneurial mindsets. Nearly 130 startup teams made it to the Demo Day that took place on April 11 at the Illinois Conference Center in Champaign, Illinois. The teams pitched their startup ideas to about 170 judges which included past Cozad alumni, investors, mentors, faculty, sponsors, and partners of the thriving University of Illinois entrepreneurship ecosystem.

“We are thrilled to see such groundbreaking innovations emerging from this year’s record-breaking Cozad New Venture Challenge cohort. Pathlit’s success highlights the remarkable potential of our students.”

JED TAYLOR
Assistant Dean for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Executive Director, Technology Entrepreneur Center
 Grainger Engineering

Jed Taylor, Assistant Dean for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Grainger Engineering and Executive Director of the Technology Entrepreneur Center (TEC), said that the Cozad New Venture Challenge has witnessed unprecedented growth since its beginning in 2000.

“We are thrilled to see such groundbreaking innovations emerging from this year's record-breaking Cozad New Venture Challenge cohort. Pathlit’s success highlights the remarkable potential of our students. Cozad New Venture Challenge not only supports our mission to foster an entrepreneurial mindset but also plays a crucial role in translating these bold ideas into sustainable business ventures. Congratulations to all the teams, and we look forward to seeing how these startups will continue to evolve and impact industries,” Taylor said.

Cozad has awarded over $2.8 million to student entrepreneurs since its inception and has played a pivotal role in propelling several notable University of Illinois startups like Top Tier Lessons, Natrion, PSYONIC, and more. Cozad is made possible with support from generous sponsors and other campus partners, like the Carle Illinois College of Medicine. Last year marked the introduction of the Healthcare Track, a collaborative effort with the Carle Illinois College of Medicine. This track focuses on advancing healthcare innovations with specialized workshops, mentoring, and a dedicated $100,000 in funding and prizes, covering areas such as Rural Health, Sports Medicine, and Healthcare Innovation, attracting 54 teams this year.

Second Place | $35,000 

Led by Carle Illinois College of Medicine student, Richie Li, AUVI is developing a wearable device placed after every arteriovenous fistula (AVF) procedure for remote monitoring to enable early detection and surveillance. AUVI detects the signs of a failing AV fistula early, which prevents the need for expensive surgeries and improves the quality of life for patients with end-stage kidney disease. This startup in the Healthcare Track of the competition aims to be the glucose monitor of the hemodialysis space.

Third Place | $25,000 

ClimeCast uses AI to optimize decarbonization strategies for commercial real estate. Led by Computer Science and Linguistics student (College of Liberal Arts & Sciences), Raj Amalakanti, the startup aims to help firms navigate emissions-based regulations, identify cost-effective decarbonization projects, and source reliable vendors.

Finalist Prizes | $10,000

AminoSense, BYLD Innovations, Cote Privacy, and Provenance Security, which were the other finalist teams, each won the $10,000 Finalist Prize.

AmnioSense: Led by Carle Illinois College of Medicine student, Tessabella Magliochetti, AmnioSense is an at-home amniotic fluid detection system built into a disposable underwear liner which provides a reliable test ensuring timely and accurate identification of labor onset.

BYLD Innovations: Led by Karan Jain, Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering student, BYLD Innovations is building a revolutionary, portable, and foldable 3D printer for increasing accessibility to 3D printing and innovation. 

Cote Privacy: Cote Privacy is developing an AI Governance SaaS platform that is intuitive, forward-thinking, and compliance centric. Led by the Gies College of Business student, Shriya Srikanth, Cote Privacy aims to be the go-to AI governance platform for small and medium-sized financial services firms lacking in-house capabilities.

Provenance Security: Led by Computer Science graduate student, Akul Goyal, the startup is developing a next generation endpoint detection and response tool tailored for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs). Unlike big businesses, SMBs can't maintain an internal security team and outsource cybersecurity to third-party security providers who have high false alarm rates and long threat investigation times. 

Dr. Paul Magelli Innovation Award | $10,000 

Third place winning team ClimeCast also won the Dr. Paul Magelli Innovation Award sponsored by Illinois Ventures. This prize honors Dr. Magelli and his significant impact on the University of Illinois. Dr. Magelli was a driving force for entrepreneurship throughout the University launching startups and student careers for over 20 years.

Finals Best Pitch by Cozad Asset Management | $5,000

ClimeCast won the Best Pitch prize at the Finals Event. This award recognizes teams that excel in conveying a compelling vision using their visual aids and sharing information in an organized way within time constraints.

Audience Favorite | $1,000

Second place winning team, AUVI, also won the Audience Favorite prize at the Finals Event.

Other Prizes

In addition to the Grand Prize and other top placement prizes, sponsored prizes were also awarded.

mHUB Co-Working Membership
mHUB will provide a 3-month membership to AmnioSense, AUVI, and BYLD Innovations with access to shared workspaces, prototyping shop, meeting spaces, a network of regional suppliers and networking opportunities to connect a valuable Chicago network of mentors and venture capital resources.

TechNexus: TeamWorking Space Prize
Pathlit also won access to the TechNexus Venture Collaborative incubator space and resources in Chicago. The prize includes work and meeting space, and access to the TechNexus community of entrepreneurs and mentors.

More Prizes to Come!

The Cozad New Venture Challenge will conclude with the Year-End Celebration and Awards Ceremony on April 24 at the Campus Instructional Facility. Join us!