Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship hosted Kaplan Pitch Tank 2026 on Friday, April 24, 2026, drawing a packed audience to watch five finalist startups pitch their ventures to a panel of more than a dozen judges from across Chicago’s venture and startup ecosystem. The event, organized by the Illinois Tech Startup Studio, offered competing teams the chance to win a $50,000 SAFE Note investment, a meaningful shot at real capital for student-led companies still in their early stages.
The afternoon kicked off with a networking session from 1:00 to 1:45 p.m., giving attendees the chance to mingle with founders, judges, and fellow students before the main event. At 2:00 p.m., Shivani Bhojwani, Assistant Director of the Startup Studio and Adjunct Faculty, welcomed the crowd and set the stage for the day. She was followed by Nik Rokop, Coleman Foundation Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship at Stuart School of Business and Director of the Center for Sports Innovation, who spoke on entrepreneurship before the judging criteria were unveiled. Each startup would get five minutes to pitch and five minutes of Q&A, with teams evaluated across three dimensions: team strength and ability to execute (40%), market traction and validation (30%), and market awareness (30%).
Then, the room turned its attention to the keynote speaker: Linxin Wen, Co-Founder and CEO of Chowbus. Wen, an IIT alum, spoke candidly about his path from immigrant student to leading a food-tech company that now surpasses $4 billion in annual transaction volume. His message centered on the role of courage and initiative in entrepreneurship, a fitting prelude for the student founders about to take the stage.
Startup pitches ran from 2:20 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., followed by a judges’ deliberation period that also featured a special “Talon Pitch” segment. Awards were presented at 4:25 p.m., and the event wrapped up with a Food & Drinks Mixer from 4:40 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Eight startups were showcased at this year’s competition, spanning industries from healthcare to sustainability to gaming. Five were selected as stage finalists competing for the prize.
- CRIO Systems is building tools to make public infrastructure smarter and communities more resilient, targeting the often-overlooked challenge of modernizing the systems that cities rely on every day.
- Ditto is an AI visualization platform designed to create high-quality vector graphics while tackling one of the more persistent problems in generative AI: diagram hallucinations. The team is pushing the frontier of what AI-assisted design can look like.
- TaoRani brings a wellness angle to the beverage industry, crafting science-backed drinks formulated with hormone-friendly ingredients. Rooted in cultural wisdom, TaoRani aims to make cycle balance more accessible, and enjoyable, for everyday consumers.
- Vitriform takes a materials science approach to sustainability, transforming waste glass and ceramic into durable, high-performance countertop surfaces. The startup turns discarded materials into something both functional and beautiful.
- WURA Meals addresses a gap in the food delivery market by focusing on Nigerian cuisine, making it easier for people to enjoy culturally meaningful food while staying connected to their heritage.
Three additional startups were in this cohort, but could not make it to the final round:
- Sunrise Studios is a youth-focused game development company building online games designed to promote collaboration and reduce incidents of harassment among young players.
- Pedal To The Future (PTTF) is designing an adjustable bike-frame cushion that improves rider comfort and independence, with a focus on offering safer, more supportive alternatives for a wider range of cyclists.
- NeuroKind is developing an AI-powered neurodivergence screening and guidance system for clinicians, aiming to improve early identification and support for neurodivergent individuals through better clinical tools.
The Judges
The judging panel reflected the depth of Chicago’s investment community. Evaluators included representatives from:
- Dorm Room Fund (Jack Flintoft)
- Lightspeed (Biju Khulatakal)
- Drive Capital (Landon Campbell)
- Chicago Early Growth Ventures (Brian Crump)
- MATH Venture Partners (Troy Henikoff)
- Kacek Ventures (Stacey Kacek)
- Lofty Ventures (Christopher Deutsch)
- Perimeter Advisors (Karin O’Connor)
- Tensility VP (Armando Pauker)
- The 81 Collection (Arnav Dalmia)
- Indax (Jose Acevedo)
- Farmer’s Fridge (Luke Saunders)
- DCEO (Michelle Lura White)
- LongJump (Tina Hrabak)
- UICO (Doug Monieson)
- BLD Consult (Iskandar Gadirzade)
- Flowers Law Group (Mel Flowers)
- Chowbus (Linxin Wen)
The range of backgrounds, from early-stage funds to growth-stage operators to legal and government, gave each startup multidimensional feedback beyond just investment readiness.
Presented during the judges’ deliberation slot, Talon was one of the more meta moments of the afternoon: an AI agent built specifically to help employers find Illinois Tech talent using natural language search, essentially ChatGPT for recruiting from Illinois Tech’s student body. The pitch was simple and pointed: employers find you, no applications required.
Alas, CRIO Systems took home the $50,000 SAFE Note investment, winning over the judges with their vision for smarter public infrastructure and more resilient communities.
Kaplan Pitch Tank has become one of the signature events in Illinois Tech’s entrepreneurship calendar. For many of the founders on stage, it represents one of their first opportunities to pitch in front of professional investors and receive substantive feedback on their business models. The Startup Studio, which organizes the event, continues to build programming around the student venture ecosystem. Those interested in getting involved can reach the team at startupstudio@illinoistech.edu.