New Ventures

Experience Overview

New Ventures is our spring cohort experience for students going through the venture development process, after they have validated their market opportunity. This experience provides structured support to those with an defined understanding of the problem and customer segments, and are interested in developing a minimally viable solution and business model. This cohort experience capstones with our annual pitch competition.

Pitch Competition

The annual New Ventures Pitch Competition brings together Vassar’s most innovative and entrepreneurial students to showcase their ideas, ventures, and solutions to real-world challenges. This signature event celebrates creativity, problem-solving, and change-making at the intersection of the liberal arts and entrepreneurship.

Note: Participation in New Ventures as a cohort experience is a prerequisite to participation in this pitch competition.

Past Winners

2026 New Ventures

1st Place: FutMarket, Cailan Baker ’26: FutMarket is the only consumer-to-consumer marketplace built exclusively for soccer.

2nd Place: Cherish, Cher Mei ’26

3rd Place: Emotional Empowerment Project (EEP), Cooper Jaffe ’29

2025 New Ventures

1st Place: Veris, Niranjan Baskaran ’27: Veris is a revolutionary, end-to-end, AI-powered platform for collaborative math research, automating complex computations to save time. Now Confluence Labs.

2nd Place: ElevateEd, Jordan van der Meulen ’25

3rd Place: Disc Data, Vishnu Lakshman ’27

2024 New Ideas

1st Place: More Than Fencing, David Sagardi Diaz ’28: More Than Fencing is an adaptive physical program that utilizes fencing to help women recover from breast cancer.

2024 New Ventures

1st Place: OutCast, Lissus Murataj ’27: Outcast provides accessible fishing gear that lasts longer and is easier to use, eliminating tangled and permanently damaged rods, and making fishing a better experience for all.

2nd Place: Cher Studios, Cher Mei ’26

3rd Place: LunchBox, Tanish Pradhan Wong Ah Sui ’26