TiE Silicon Valley University Mentors Program: 2025 Wrap-Up & Pitch Finals Highlights
After three months of deep mentorship, high-impact workshops, and nonstop founder grit, the 2025 TiE Silicon Valley University Mentors Program has officially wrapped. This year brought together an incredible group of university innovators, world-class mentors, and industry leaders committed to helping founders make the leap from research to real-world venture creation.
A Season of Powerhouse Learning
Throughout the program, founders had access to a full lineup of expert-led sessions designed to strengthen their entrepreneurial foundations, including:
- Navigating the Transition from Research to Enterprise with Alina Adams
- The Founder’s Edge: Building a Team That Gets It Done with Pam Fox Rollin
- Legal 101 for Startups with James Huie and Sarah Gagan, Paul Hastings
- The Three C’s of Early-Stage Fundraising with Preetha Ram
- A to Z of Fundraising with a panel of top VCs and angel investors with Akash Pai, Alperen Ozalp, Alicia Castillo Holley & Zoe Samuel
- Early Stage Fund Raising – The First Check: Essential Advice for University Founders Seeking Early-Stage Funding with Dhana Pawar & Phil Digiacomo
- Presentation Guidelines workshop to prepare founders for Pitch Day with Preetha Ram
Each session delivered the essential Silicon Valley mindset: clarity, speed, practicality, and a focus on execution.
Honoring Our Mentors
This program would not exist without the dedication of our mentors, who volunteered their time, energy, and expertise to guide the founders week after week.
Thank you to our 2025 Mentor Cohort:
Alina Adams · Ambika Pajjuri · Anita Manwani · Ashwin Ram · Deepa Nagpal · Divya Ashok · Divya Yerraguntla · Holly Uber · Krishna Chittabathini · Minnie Sarwal · Nidhi Gupta · Patrick Cyril · Preetha Ram · Stephanie Bousheri · Zia Rehman
Your commitment to paying it forward embodies the heart of TiE Silicon Valley.
Celebrating Our 2025 Founders
We proudly acknowledge the 14 university-founded startups who completed this year’s program; each one making incredible progress, refining their GTM strategies, validating their market, and leveling up their pitch.
2025 Startup Cohort:
Aida · Auvi Labs Inc. · Ferritiva · Flowly AI · Infinite Loup · Logicyte · Menopatch · Nuranno · Otterra · Responsive RNAi · RoboMateMR · Spaceship Earth Renewables – Roco · StudioBumi · Vocalert
Your growth over these three months was truly inspiring.
Pitch Finals Results
After a powerful afternoon of pitches, Q&A, and judge feedback, we’re thrilled to announce the winners of the 2025 TiE Silicon Valley University Mentors Pitch Finals:
🥇 1st Place: Norh Asmare, Logicyte from Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University
🥈 2nd Place: Hamna Khalid, Menopatch from University of Illinois, Carle School of Medicine
🥈 2nd Place: Rishabh Veldur, Auvi Labs Inc. from University of Illinois
Congratulations to all three winners for delivering standout pitches and demonstrating exceptional clarity, preparation, and founder vision.
A Program Built on Collaboration
From our mentors, speakers, university partners, and judges to the founders who showed up with passion and persistence—this program is a collective achievement.
Here’s to continuing to support university entrepreneurs as they turn research into reality and ideas into companies.
TiE Silicon Valley remains committed to empowering the next generation of founders, and we can’t wait for the 2026 cohort.
