Young entrepreneurs are ready to pitch

Meet the local 2026 STARTedUP Regional Finalists

The STARTedUP Foundation announces the regional finalist teams advancing in the 2026 STARTedUP Challenge, Indiana’s premier high school pitch competition, now in its ninth year. The event was formerly known as Innovate WithIN.

With a $25,000 grand prize on the line, the STARTedUP Challenge brings together Indiana’s brightest young innovators and challenges them to develop real ventures, pitch to judges, and compete for life-changing opportunities.

• The Central Indiana (Region 2) Competition will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, April 16 at Kurz Purdue Technology Center, hosted in partnership with Purdue Innovates & Purdue University Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Click here to register.
• The East Central Indiana (Region 3) Competition will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 22 at IU Indianapolis – Campus Center Theater, hosted in partnership with Indiana University Indianapolis, IU Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, IU Innovates, and IU LAB Launch Accelerator for Biosciences. Click here to register.

Both events are free and open to the public.

How the competition works

The 2026 STARTedUP Challenge follows an exciting multi-stage format designed to identify and accelerate Indiana’s top young entrepreneurs:

• Regionals, April 2026: One winning team will be selected from each of the seven regional competitions across the state.
• Wildcard Selection: Three additional teams from across Indiana will be chosen as wildcard finalists, bringing the total number of advancing teams to 10.
• Regional & Wildcard Prize: Each advancing team member (up to three members per team) will receive a $1,000 prize.
• Six-week Bootcamp: All 10 advancing teams will enter an intensive bootcamp featuring weekly calls, mentorship opportunities, expert support, and a two-day in-person experience, all designed to take their ventures to the next level.
• Finals, June 12, 2026: The top teams will compete in the STARTedUP Challenge Finals, where the ultimate winner will claim the $25,000 grand prize.

Finalists

The following area student teams from Region 2 will compete at the 2026 STARTedUP Challenge:

• Dermi: Angie Xiu & Alex Mi | Carmel High School
• Exit Point: Freddy Brubaker & Zoya Syed | Carmel High School
• Ganz Osteo AO: Zoe Baldauf | Carmel High School
• Hydraband: Isaac Qian & Mahesh Duvvuri | Carmel High School
• Occlusense: Riya Koya & Zaina Khan | Carmel High School
• Templ: John Bunch & Nick McKeown | Westfield High School
• TraceAI: Alexander Weiland | Hamilton Heights High School
• Veristryp: Aparna Parasad & Jessica Flowers | Carmel High School
• VitaFlex+: Liv Bates & Sam Foster | Westfield High School
• Arys-Rx, LLC: Jack Hamilton & Shayen Maun | Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School
• ClimaNex: TinaLe Liang, Anthony Thieu & Ishan Pande | Zionsville Community High School
• CropConnect: Keshav Krishnan | Park Tudor School

The following area student team from Region 3 will compete at the 2026 STARTedUP Challenge:

• Barkitecture: Jack Whalen, Luke Hile & Cooper Case | Noblesville High School

Powered by Innovation Accelerator Classroom

Many of this year’s competing students have been prepared through STARTedUP’s Innovation Accelerator; a three-level professional development path that helps teachers bring real-world entrepreneurial thinking into their classrooms.

For eight years, STARTedUP has partnered with educators across Indiana to build classroom cultures rooted in innovation, problem solving, and real-world impact. Through the Innovation Accelerator, teachers receive training, coaching, classroom-ready resources, and access to a statewide community of educators doing groundbreaking work.

Over the course of the program, students identify real-world problems they care about and build venture concepts with tangible deliverables like prototypes, business models, and pitch presentations. Students have gone on to launch businesses, nonprofits, inventions, services, civic projects, in-school initiatives, and more.

About the STARTedUP Foundation
The STARTedUP Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs across Indiana. Through programs like the STARTedUP Challenge and the Innovation Accelerator, STARTedUP works with students, teachers, and communities to turn classrooms into launchpads for real-world ideas. The STARTedUP Challenge has grown into the state’s premier high school entrepreneurship competition. For more information, visit startedup.org.