Winners of LaunchPad’s 2025 Impact Prize Announced
by Sawyer Tardie ’27 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management)
Syracuse University Libraries’ Blackstone LaunchPad (LaunchPad) held its annual Impact Prize competition on November 19 at Bird Library, commemorating Global Entrepreneurship Week. Seven student startup companies were awarded a total of $15,000 in cash prizes for ventures that create meaningful change.
The event featured a keynote from Carl Schramm, an internationally recognized leader in entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth. Schramm is a University Professor in the School of Information Studies and former President of the Kauffman Foundation. An economist, serial entrepreneur, and author of the book Burn the Business Plan: What Great Entrepreneurs Really Do, Schramm was named ‘the evangelist of entrepreneurship’ by The Economist.
This year’s winners are:
- 1st Place ($5,000) - Haley Greene ’26 (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications), founder of Miirror, a free, peer-led digital platform providing inclusive eating-disorder recovery support and crisis tools, making treatment accessible for underserved communities.
- Tied 2nd Place ($4,000) – Dylan Bardsley ’26 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management), founder of Clarity, an AI-powered credit card discovery tool that gives students personalized, unbiased recommendations to avoid debt and build credit.
- Tied 2nd Place ($4,000) – Jacob Kaplan ’28 (School of Information Studies), founder of The OtherGlasses, adjustable prescription glasses using tunable liquid-crystal lenses that fit normal frames, allowing real-time vision changes without multiple pairs.
- Runner-Up ($500) – Carolina Aguayo-Pla ’27 (School of Information Studies/Martin J. Whitman School of Management), founder of Frutecho, a modular cooling retrofit for non-refrigerated trucks that reduces produce spoilage and helps small farmers access premium markets.
- Runner-Up ($500) – Ava Lubkemann ’27 (College of Engineering and Computer Science), founder of Revamped, a mobile thrift and textile-recovery model that collects, refurbishes and resells donated clothing to cut waste and expand affordable access.
- Runner-Up ($500) – Rajdeep Chatterjee G’26 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management), founder of TradeBridge, a blue-collar ed-tech platform offering mobile-first vocational training, integrated tool purchasing and job placement.
- Runner-Up ($500) – Samantha Kurland ’26 (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications), founder of Acellsé, a high-fashion brand using medical cell imagery to create ethical, purpose-driven apparel that funds medical research.
During this year’s competition the LaunchPad pilot tested new accessibility technology from Sign-Speak, a local upstate NY startup, which provided real time American Sign Language during the competition.
This year’s 2025 Impact Prize competition judging panel included: Syracuse fashion designer and owner of By Suli, Suli Abdul Sabor; Broadview Federal Credit Union’s Chief Commercial Banking Officer, Lee Carman; SU Libraries’ Inclusion and Accessibility Specialist, Corinne Sartori; media strategist at Strategic Communications LLC, Alice Maggiore; Senior HIV Prevention Technical Advisor at PATH Ibou Ithior; Senior Human Capital Manager at TDO, Meghan Durso; Founder of JJR Strategies LLC, Janice Harvey; CenterState CEO, Syracuse Surge Entrepreneurship Manager, Emad Rahim; Green Acres Processing, Chief Everything Officer, Hailee Greene; Broadview Federal Credit Union, Chief Performance Officer, Peter Wohl; OneGroup, Director of Client Engagement & Outreach, Rina Corigliano-Hart; and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs’ Lerner Center Program Coordinator, Vicente Cuevas.