Startup Yale celebrated entrepreneurship and innovation in the New Haven community for the seventh year in a row on March 30.
During the event, 31 teams competed for $175,000 in project funding by pitching their ideas to panels of experts. The winning teams were announced Tuesday.
Thorne Prize for Social Innovation in Health or Education
An award of $25,000 went to Carys Care, an enterprise working to embrace the Down Syndrome community.
The audience choice award went to Mindful Kala, an organization working to help teens foster cultural dialogue and well-being through Indian classical dance and mindfulness practices.
New Haven Civic Innovation Prize
A $10,000 prize for the best student or community-led project was awarded to The Key Bookstore, a bookstore app which targets African American customers and helps book lovers connect.
YEP!, a free program for New Haven public school students aiming to create the next generation of changemakers, received the audience choice award.
Miller Prize
Banofi Leather, which pitched its venture for vegan leather made from crop waste, received the prize of $25,000. The audience choice award went to Cache DNA for its biomolecule storage proposal.
Sustainable Venture Prize
The $25,000 prize was awarded to General Biological for its mass-market chemicals made from sugar instead of oil.
Carbon Loop won the audience choice award for a method of recycling carbon waste into high-value byproducts.
Rita Wilson Prize in Support of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Health Technology
The award for creative solutions to health or education challenges among low-income communities was given to Ensight-AI for AI technology for cardiovascular disease diagnosis.
Equolity Bio received the audience choice award for its venture in treating menopause symptoms.
Black Venture Summit Prize
This inaugural $20,000 award, addressing a need among Black communities, was awarded to Webquity for work in providing tools to students with dyslexia or visual impairment.
Halo Braid took the audience choice award for its ability to boost business for hairstylists by bringing the time to braid hair down from six hours to minutes.
Yale Innovators’ Prize
This $15,000 award for a non-profit with the potential for wide scale impact went to Catala, a venture working to destroy contaminants in wastewater.
Phigitals received the audience choice award for its project expanding a fashion brand’s e-commerce site to the resale marketplace.
Manolo Sanchez Prize
The final award of $25,000, geared toward for-profit or non-profit organizations improving financial health, was given to Fines and Fees Freedom Fund, a venture fighting poverty-based incarceration through financial and legal support and advocacy.
Sillabe, a platform allowing customers to find, browse and buy from local businesses, took home the audience choice award.
Contact Matt Verrilli at mverrilli@newhavenbiz.com
