Students Hone Startups in Tsai CITY Accelerator

Every fall and spring semester, Yale students working on startups have the opportunity to participate in the  Tsai CITY Accelerator, a program that offers resources to guide students through the process of building effective organizations, projects, and ventures. The Accelerator provides workshops, mentorship, and funding.

Among this spring’s Accelerator cohort of 15 teams are several Yale School of Management students. Following an initial set of in-person meetings and workshops earlier in the semester, the cohort has shifted to remote programming in response to COVID-19. There will be a virtual showcase later this spring.

Startup teams with Yale SOM students include:

Navi

Team members:  Salina Hum ’21; Nitya Kanuri ’20, a joint-degree student in the MBA program at Yale SOM and the master’s in public health program at the School of Public Health; and Agniezka Matjya-Sanetra ’21.

Navi is a technology platform that helps college counseling centers more efficiently and effectively manage the mental health of student populations.

“The coronavirus crisis has underscored the need for digital opportunities to deliver mental healthcare at scale, as well as maintain communications and track outcomes during times of uncertainty,” said Kanuri. “We are having conversations with colleges in New Haven to partner in deploying digital triage tools to assess students’ mental wellness and their preferences for treatment modality, and to connect them with effective care quickly.”

Outlaws Inc.

Team member: Jon Miller ’21

Outlaws Inc. aims to prepare and place veterans in skilled trade jobs whose efforts and products provide sustainable value to communities.

“Starting Outlaws Inc.  has really pushed me outside of my comfort zone,” Miller said. “ The support network at Tsai CITY and SOM is so strong that I never feel alone, despite being a solo founder.”

Elektron Sustainability Ltd.

Team members: Hemdeep Dulthummon ’21 and Mahendra Gooroochurn

Elekron is integrating smart, sustainable technologies with passive design features to transform existing buildings toward net-zero carbon emissions in the tropical climate of Mauritius.

“My main focus during the Accelerator is to deepen my customer discovery process,” Dulthummon said. “I want to have a clear picture of the pain points during the process of getting a building designed and constructed in Mauritius. I then want to ensure that I am creating enough value to address these pain points while shifting the consumer behavior toward selecting a net-zero energy building.”