Co-founder Caroline Strzalka C00 WG05 went swimming in the Shark Tank and walked away with a $500,000 deal from celebrity investor Mark Cuban. Since her appearance on the reality show aired in March, Strzalka has continued to disrupt social gaming with the DIY app, which boasts more than 200,000 downloads. Overplay allows users to turn videos —  anything from cooking tutorials to extreme sports — into interactive games easily, without coding, and has totaled more than 1.3 million games played and counting. The app’s licensable technology generates its own revenue while simultaneously allowing content creators to access new audiences. As of August, Overplay had raised over $1 million from nearly 900 investors on Wefunder.

Precision agriculture results when technology meets farming, and it’s what Nirby does best. The soil analytics startup, founded by Piotr Lazarek ENG25 W25, cuts down on CO² emissions and can lead to up to 40 percent savings on fertilizer costs. Using data obtained from its own drones combined with satellite imagery from the European Space Agency, Nirby provides useful insights for farmers. The tool identifies the most productive zones of a field, even during the early stage of crop development, and recommends fertilizers accordingly. The company won the $50,000 grand prize in the 2024 Venture Lab Startup Challenge.

“It doesn’t take a saint to be sustainable” is the motto behind Re.Statement, a one-stop shop for upcycled clothing. The online marketplace, founded by Hannah M. Le W20, lets designers sell fashion made from existing or used materials while offering customers unique clothing options. Designers apply to join Re.Statement, and a select few have their products featured on the platform. Customers can then shop and directly order any of the fashion items, from tie-dye sweatshirts to cigar-box purses. Le has a background in fashion design herself, along with a lifelong passion for upcycling.

Serena Advani C17 W17 WG22 is taking on single-use plastic with Seadrop Skincare. Her startup’s first product, a “just add water” facial-cleanser tablet, eliminates the need for beauty bottles and the synthetic preservatives that keep bacteria out of them. Instead, Seadrop Skincare’s powder-based concentrates are packaged in biodegradable paper tubes, for a zero-waste experience. The company, a member of Venture Lab’s VIP-X Philadelphia Spring 2024 cohort, has been recognized by publications such as Elle and hailed as “my new favorite skincare investment” by Harper’s Bazaar.

Co-founder and CEO Irene Liu WG22 was inspired to start this meal delivery company when her mom sent traditional Chinese medicine meals to her aunt, who’d just had a baby. “After seeing what postpartum care looks like in Asia and other more ancient cultures, I wondered why this doesn’t exist in the U.S.,” Liu told TechCrunch. She wanted to build on the concept of food as medicine, offering personalized nutritional guides and curated meals delivered weekly, for comfort and support when women need it most. Chiyo tailors nutritional plans to fit each phase in a new mother’s life — fertility, prenatal, and postpartum — using a “first of its kind” research database. The company, featured in the New York Times and Bon Appétit, recently raised $3 million in funding.

When CEO Allison Whalen WG14 returned to work from her first parental leave in 2018, she was surprised to find her office in disarray: Projects hadn’t advanced without her input, and staff were exhausted after covering for her. After witnessing firsthand how parental-leave policies can backfire, she decided to do something about it. Whalen started Parentaly as an employee benefit service to support the parental-leave process and make it mutually beneficial: Employees get a structured career coaching program, while managers receive a custom checklist. Whalen made the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 in 2023; Parentaly’s clients include Zoom and PwC.

This alumni-run company is a breath of fresh air. Physician and chief of Cleveland Clinic’s Integrated Surgical Institute Patrick Byrne WG15 applied his medical knowledge to launch Hale, an innovative nasal-device startup. The product, created to relieve congestion, features an inconspicuous design that can be easily inserted and removed. Clinical trials at Johns Hopkins, where Byrne is a professor, show the device increases air flow by 54 percent, compared to 31 percent for nasal strips. Hale also shares healthy breathing tips, from mouth-taping to meditation, on a blog authored by CMO Sing Ling WG22.

When Tara Townsend W04 set out to find meaningful holiday decor a few years ago, she came back empty-handed. Her frustration sparked the idea for Adara Rituals — a nod to her daughter’s Hebrew name. Townsend’s online retail company features original crafted pieces intended to enliven Jewish traditions and celebrations. The website offers a range of spiritual and stylish home goods, including place mats, candles, challah covers, trays, garlands, and more. Adara Rituals was a part of Venture Lab’s VIP-X San Francisco Spring 2024 cohort.