Wharton Magazine
Headshots of Jagmeet Lamba and Dudley Brundige.
News
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Entrepreneurship
Spring/Summer 2024

Certa

Juggling multiple vendors can be daunting for a small-business owner. Certa, led by CEO Jagmeet Lamba WG07 and CFO Dudley Brundige WG07, streamlines relationships with third-party vendors, making onboarding up to three times faster. The platform itself can reduce IT labor needs, allowing users to create personalized workflows. The company also has its own AI technology — CertaAssist — that can fill out supplier questionnaires, consolidate intake requests, and create data visualizations. Certa’s clients include Uber, Instacart, and Box, whose executives have reported reduced cycle times and operating costs after using the procurement software.

Sigo Seguros founders Nestor Hugo Solari and Julio Erdos seated in chairs on a rooftop.
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Entrepreneurship
Spring/Summer 2024

Sigo Seguros

Spanish remains the most widely used language in the U.S. behind English, with an estimated 41 million current speakers. But Hispanic immigrants still face cultural barriers when they arrive in the States. Nestor Hugo Solari G19 WG19 and Júlio Erdos C10 ENG10 G19 WG19 created Sigo Seguros, a bilingual Texas-based car insurance technology company, to better serve this population. “Our differentiated product starts with a deep understanding of our community and its needs,” says Solari. The Spanish-language mobile and web portals, coupled with quick payback periods, are particularly appealing to working-class drivers. The “insurtech” company raised $5.1 million in additional pre-seed funding in 2023.

Red, white, and black illustration of a medical professional staring up at a large microscope with cells under the glass.
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Entrepreneurship
Spring/Summer 2024

CancerIQ

Cancer can bring your life to a screeching halt. Along with the burden of navigating through new medical terminology and uncertainty, a positive diagnosis can generate feelings of loneliness and isolation. CancerIQ was founded by Feyi Olopade Ayodele W05 WG12 to offer a supportive and more strategic solution for health-care providers working with patients in early cancer detection and prevention. As a software platform, CancerIQ offers hyper-personalized care plans and assesses risks in patients by avoiding the one-size-fits-all approach. The tool focuses on early detection with more precise screening. CancerIQ has been implemented in more than 200 clinic locations across the U.S.

Headshot of Yuval Shmul Shuminer in a white formal jacket.
News
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Entrepreneurship
Spring/Summer 2024

Piere

Every day seems to bring a new way to send, receive, or manage money. Managing cash flow on numerous platforms has become quite onerous, non? Au contraire. Piere, an AI-powered app founded by Yuval Shmul Shuminer W19, analyzes past transactions to create a customized budget in two taps. It’s a peer-to-peer facilitator (for such tasks as getting reimbursed for a group meal) and a spending tracker in one. Since Intuit shut down its popular Mint budgeting app, Piere is reported to be the ideal successor: News outlets have featured the app as part of the “loud budgeting” social media trend, and financial publications highlight it as a valuable tool for monitoring spending.

Portrait of Heidi Block wearing a black Play-PKL shirt and standing in front of her business's apparel.
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Entrepreneurship
Spring/Summer 2024

Play-PKL

Heidi Block WG95 and her family first got hooked on pickleball during the COVID-19 lockdowns, when they played the sport together at home in New Jersey to pass the time and stay active. But when Block couldn’t find apparel specifically designed for pickleball, she decided to make her own. Along with her eldest son, Max, she founded Play-PKL, an online retailer selling premium pickleball equipment and stylish outfits for recreational players. The site also offers tips and lessons for beginning pickleballers.

Red, white, and black illustration of a construction worker staring at a large iPad with blueprints for a home on it.
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Entrepreneurship
Spring/Summer 2024

GreenLite

Obtaining the correct building permit at the right time is crucial, and a lack of permits can grind construction to an expensive stop. To make the process faster, easier, and more transparent, Ben Allen WG17 and James Gallagher C09 launched GreenLite. Their team — made up of planning, construction, and development professionals — has experienced permitting challenges firsthand and built that knowledge into the construction-permitting and plan-review platform. The company has raised $8 million in seed funding since launching in October.

Sandeep Acharya in jeans and a button-down shirt seated in front of a wall with an Octave logo on it.
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Entrepreneurship
Spring/Summer 2024

Octave

Inspired by the musical term, Octave offers mental health care that can be finely tuned. Co-founded in 2018 by Sandeep Acharya EAS03 W03, Octave matches individuals, couples, and families with a provider to meet their unique needs. The company also addresses common challenges that providers face by pioneering relationships with insurers, which in turn leads to coverage for high-quality individual or couples therapy. Last year, Octave secured $52 million in Series C funding for its plan to serve all 50 states. That rapid growth earned it a spot on the LinkedIn Top Startups 2023 list.

Five Odyssey Notebooks with different designs on them, including Greek vases, Roman gods, and marine life.
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Entrepreneurship
Spring/Summer 2024

Odyssey Notebooks

Laan “Rainbow” Yeung WG24 is the founder of Odyssey Notebooks, which produces hand-crafted journals. They’re made with Japanese-sourced proprietary paper that can withstand watercolor and ink and is thick enough for back-and-front writing — ideal for artists and journalers alike. Designs such as marine mosaics and Greek gods are meant to spark inspiration upon opening. Yeung participated in the annual Venture Lab Startup Challenge in 2024, and Odyssey Notebooks was named a finalist.

Red, white, and black illustration of an iPad with hands shaking on the screen.
News
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Entrepreneurship
Spring/Summer 2024

PartnerOptimizer

Tech companies invest a lot of time and money in finding viable B2B channel partners. When only 20 percent of the partnerships produce 80 percent of the revenue, frustration among leadership mounts. PartnerOptimizer, founded by Dina Moskowitz W88, has developed an AI-powered tool to help companies discover and recruit teams up to 20 times faster than traditional methods. The company’s “Partner Ecosystem Intelligence Platform” offers users a way to better engage within their ecosystem or to recruit anew. Think of it as a supercharged dating site for companies looking to build better business relationships.

Headshot of Cindy Shaw.
News
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Entrepreneurship
Spring/Summer 2024

Paines Hollow Kitchen

One of the ways to honor family heritage is through food. Founder Cindy Shaw WEV12 of Paines Hollow Kitchen dedicates herself to celebrating the culinary creations of her grandmother, an immigrant from Czechoslovakia who settled in Central New York State and supported her family through quality ingredients from her farm. Today, Shaw draws upon the made-from-scratch cooking traditions instilled by her grandmother when creating her baking kits. With pre-measured ingredients, essential baking tools, and complementary local products, these curated packages inspire others to “stir up some joy” with loved ones. Paines Hollow Kitchen also partners with local shops in the Philadelphia area that provide baked goods at neighborhood events.

Two men stand side-by-side posing for a photo leaned against a desk, with computer monitors behind them.
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Entrepreneurship
Fall/Winter 2023

Chapter

Like many government programs, Medicare often leaves consumers confused, as Chapter CEO Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz C12 W12 learned firsthand. “After spending weeks on research, my parents still nearly missed deadlines and enrolled in sub-optimal plans,” he says. Alongside co-founder Corey Metzman C12 W12, Blumenfeld-Gantz started Chapter to provide Medicare advice to older Americans in their search for the best value. The Medicare advisory firm scours options to suggest plans, advise on when to enroll, and more. As the company grows, it’s investing in an app to provide additional support and services to retirees.

Two men in black tops and blue pants posed around two wooden, decorative chairs.
News
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Entrepreneurship
Fall/Winter 2023

Recuperet Health

The idea for Recuperet Health stemmed from an encounter Sanjeev Suratwala WG22 had with a patient who was experiencing post-operative bleeding after spinal surgery. The case, which required immediate medical attention, led Suratwala and co-founder Gary Arora WG22 to identify several gaps in the post-surgical recovery journey for patients, families, and clinical providers. Together, they launched Recuperet Health as a technology-based approach to monitor patient progress and improve both clinical workflows and at-home experiences. Recently part of Venture Lab’s VIP-X program, the firm connects patients and health-care providers through a platform that leverages wearables, AI algorithms, and other technology to collect detailed information about the recovery process and avoid negative post-op outcomes.

Portrait of a woman with a blue shirt and teal necklace.
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Entrepreneurship
Fall/Winter 2023

Eyeful

Kristen Nwanyanwu M09 WG09 is bringing style to the eye-examination room. Nwanyanwu, a vitreoretinal surgeon and associate professor at the Yale School of Medicine, founded Eyeful to address her dissatisfaction with both the look and the utility of the weathered case she previously used to hold her ophthalmic lenses. Now, Nwanyanwu is sharing her designs with eye-care providers far and wide. Eyeful currently offers two stylish cases, each made from vegan leather and equipped with features such as impact-resistant foam and an inside pocket for accessories like a cleaning cloth.

Portabl
News
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Entrepreneurship
Fall/Winter 2023

Portabl

Accessing financial services over the internet doesn’t have to be a hassle, says Portabl, which is making sign-ups, sign-ins, and overall online experiences for firms with complex verifications more seamless. Co-founded by CEO Nate Soffio WG22, the startup’s log-in client can be integrated with other apps and pre-verifies data regarding users’ identities, payment methods, and accounts. By leveraging decentralized identity standards, Portabl aims to help users avoid repeatedly completing lengthy confirmations for financial services while maintaining compliance and keeping information safe.

Illustration of winged shoes floating among the clouds.
News
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Entrepreneurship
Fall/Winter 2023

Birdies

This comfort-forward shoe line sprang from Marisa Sharkey WG03 and Bianca Gates’s conviction that there had to be better footwear options for hosting dinner parties than casual slippers — or bare feet. Relying on their collective experience at companies such as Ross Stores, Bain and Company, and Facebook, the Birdies co-founders teamed up in 2015 to create a design that combines sleek fashion with long-lasting comfort. After their first pair of loafers took off, they expanded the line to include a wide variety of sneakers, sandals, flats, and slides. Sharkey and Gates have also led Birdies to become a Certified B Corporation, propelling purpose-driven efforts such as a mentorship program for women and girls and donations of more than 54,000 pairs of shoes.

Working Trees founders posing for a photo together in front of a green background.
News
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Entrepreneurship
Fall/Winter 2023

Working Trees

As more organizations adopt environmentally friendly practices, some farmers are utilizing trees to help do the work. Founded by John Foye ENG13 W13 and Aakash Ahamed, Working Trees partners with landowners to facilitate tree-planting on their properties. The firm, which was part of Venture Lab’s VIP-X Fall 2022 cohort, provides technology to measure carbon stored by the trees, which in turn generates revenue for farmers from companies that pay for the sequestration as part of their net-zero commitments. Among the extra benefits, the method can improve agricultural conditions and production — for instance, by creating better grazing conditions for farm animals and increasing soil’s nutrient content.