CREATE-X, startup, entrepreneurship, founders

Klaus Startup Challenge Showcases Georgia Tech's Rising Entrepreneurial Talent

dgivens8 — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 12:57:41 +0000

Klaus Startup Challenge Showcases Georgia Tech's Rising Entrepreneurial Talent dgivens8 Tue, 07/29/2025 - 08:57

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies played a crucial role for student entrepreneurs competing for $750,000 in startup funding during the fifth annual Klaus Startup Challenge at the College of Computing.

More than 200 students competed during the entry-level pitch competition. Georgia Tech alumnus and renowned tech entrepreneur Christopher W. Klaus, the competition's namesake, pledged $150,000 toward startup costs for five winning teams. The challenge aims to prepare beginner entrepreneurs for future competitions and funding opportunities.

The three-round competition started in February with 87 teams. In round one, teams had to meet the application deadline and ensure that at least one team member participated in all challenge workshops, mentor meetings, and pitch practices. Round two required eligible teams to submit a 90-second pitch video.

Twenty-four teams selected by a judges' panel then moved on to round three of the startup challenge, which took place on April 2 in the Klaus Advanced Computing Building.

For the final round, the teams pitched their startup concepts to a live audience and a panel of judges. The judges were Klaus, Joe Uhl, an alumnus and member of the College of Computing Advisory Board, and Margaret Weniger, director of Entrepreneurial Programs at CREATE-X.

The winning startups span financial services, cybersecurity, social media, and other business sectors.

Targeting the food and beverage industry, winning startup DDingDong has developed an innovative platform that leverages advanced technology and streamlined communication to connect restaurants and diners through personalized promotions.

Seung Taek Lee (CS 25), CS BS/MS student Sunny Park, and business major Seongyeon Cho co-founded DDingDong. The team is using its funding investment from Fusen to establish the startup as a Delaware C Corporation.

“What started as a spark of an idea just three months ago has now grown into a real product, a real team, and a real company. With all those late nights, no weekends, and endless coding — all running on the sheer energy of ‘we believe in this,’” Park said in a LinkedIn post.

Park also thanked the judges in her post. She singled out Klaus. She said, “This challenge carries your name, your legacy, and your continued commitment to pushing innovation forward.

“It was an honor to pitch in front of you, and we’re incredibly grateful that you saw something in us. Your belief in our idea gave us the confidence to keep building.”

The competition rules require each team to have at least one member who is a current Georgia Tech student. In addition to DDingDong, the winning teams of the 2025 Klaus Startup Challenge and their Yellow Jacket team members are:

AerLock: Jack Rumpf, Jack Wachter (CS 24), Yoyi Xie – AerLock brings AI to cybersecurity, creating a single solution to defend entire organizations in real time. It looks to outpace the development of malware, which will help end effective cyberattacks.

Chemetrian: David Ashley (CS MS 25) – Chemetrian empowers molecular scientists to harness AI and machine learning through an intuitive, easy-to-use platform that standardizes computational workflows. This functionality accelerates the discovery of societally transformative molecules, eliminating the need for programming expertise.

Loandock: Ethan Gutierrez and Arnav Jha – Loandock streamlines the mortgage process for homebuyers by consolidating loan officers, underwriters, and processors into one AI-powered platform.

Shelfmates: Khushi Gupta, Krishnav Singhal – Shelfmates creates tailored social media experiences for readers. It provides users with daily book discoveries, personalized recommendations, and tools to journal, rate, and effortlessly share their reading journeys.

The winning teams each received $150,000 to fund their startups. Fusen, a national campus startup accelerator founded by Klaus, provided the investment funding for the competition.

Despite this generosity, funding the College’s student startup challenge isn’t Klaus’s only investment in Georgia Tech student entrepreneurship this year.

Klaus, a member of the College’s Advisory Board, made headlines this month when he announced that he would personally cover the incorporation costs for any graduating student aspiring to launch a startup.

"This is about more than just covering fees — it’s about lighting a spark,” said Klaus during Commencement remarks on May 2.

“Every founder needs someone to believe in them early. Through this gift, we’re offering that belief and giving graduates the chance to start building with purpose and confidence.”

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Summary sentence

Named for alumnus and tech entrepreneur Christopher W. Klaus, the College of Computing's annual student startup competition featured $750K in funding.

Summary

Named for alumnus and tech entrepreneur Christopher W. Klaus, the College of Computing's annual student startup competition featured $750K in funding. The Klaus Startup Challenge aims to prepare beginner entrepreneurs for future competitions and funding opportunities.

Dateline

Tue, 05/20/2025 - 12:00

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Ben Snedeker, Communications Manager II

Georgia Tech College of Computing

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Computing Student Secures Y Combinator Funding for LLM Developer Tool

dgivens8 — Thu, 15 May 2025 13:57:39 +0000

Computing Student Secures Y Combinator Funding for LLM Developer Tool dgivens8 Thu, 05/15/2025 - 09:57

Ayush Karupakula, a second-year computer science student (CS), has secured $500,000 in pre-seed funding from Y Combinator (YC) for Tropir, a startup that helps developers trace and debug failures in large language model (LLM) pipelines.

YC is a prestigious startup accelerator known for launching companies like Airbnb, DoorDash, Stripe, and Reddit, and Karupakula’s acceptance into its Winter 2025 batch places him among the next generation of tech founders.

The Road to Y Combinator

Winning a spot in YC is no small feat. The selection process is highly competitive, with an acceptance rate of around 1%. Participation requires a compelling vision, a strong team, and proof of concept that demonstrates potential. For this student and his co-founder Aarush Kukreja (Princeton University), the journey began in late 2024 with an ambitious idea and a scrappy demo.

“The interview was a 10-minute rapid-fire session with YC partners. They grilled us on our prototype, market fit, and drive,” Karupakula said. “We didn’t have everything figured out, but they loved our energy and our willingness to pivot fast.”

Pivoting from Sustainable Design to Developer Tools

Today, the team is building a developer tool that helps teams trace, debug, and improve complex LLM pipelines. It captures how inputs flow across chains of prompts, retrievals, and tool calls—without any code changes—and surfaces the root causes when outputs break. It also suggests better prompts, structural changes, and other ways to optimize pipeline performance.

Tropir initially aimed to help architecture and planning firms design energy-efficient buildings using AI-driven optimization. But after early user feedback revealed budget constraints and limited software adoption in that market, the team shifted focus.

The team’s ability to adapt quickly to demand is a skill Karupakula credits to his experience at Georgia Tech, where rigorous problem-solving and exposure to cutting-edge technology taught him to iterate fast and stay grounded in user needs.

Leveraging Georgia Tech’s Startup Ecosystem

For Karupakula, Georgia Tech also played a pivotal role in shaping his entrepreneurial mindset. The rigorous CS curriculum provided the technical skills to build innovative solutions, but it was the startup ecosystem that truly sparked his ambition.

“CREATE-X was a game-changer. Taking the Startup Lab class gave me hands-on experience, and attending project showcases opened my eyes to other undergrads’ wild ideas. It’s pure inspiration,” Karupakula said. “And the Grand Challenges Living Learning Community drilled into us the value of stakeholder interviews and rapid prototyping, habits I live by now.”

Hackathons like Hacklytics also helped fuel his passion, exposing him to fast-paced, high-impact projects that reinforced his problem-solving skills and entrepreneurial drive.

The YC Experience: Hustle, Innovation, and Growth

Since joining YC, the experience has been transformative. Relocating to San Francisco, the startup’s founders are now immersed in a high-energy environment where late-night coding sessions and continuous mentorship are the norm. With Garry Tan, YC’s President and CEO, as their designated general partner, they’ve gained insights to refine their approach.

“Being surrounded by founders pushing the boundaries of tech is electric,” Karupakula said. “The energy here is unreal; constant feedback, late-night sprints, and meeting users who get hyped about what we’re building.”

What’s Next?

With YC backing and a new direction, the team is moving fast. Their primary focus is testing their latest concept with users and preparing for a product launch by late spring 2025. The $500,000 in pre-seed funding is being used to expand outbound sales, support cloud infrastructure, and eventually hire engineers to accelerate development.

“YC’s network is the ideal launchpad,” Karupakula said. “Long-term, we’re committed to building something transformative.”

Advice for Aspiring Georgia Tech Entrepreneurs

For fellow students looking to break into the startup world, Karupakula’s advice is simple: “Go for it. Build a rough prototype and get it in front of users, even if it’s not perfect. Lean on CREATE-X for mentorship and connections - they’re gold. And don’t overthink the idea. Pivots are part of the journey. If a second-year undergrad like me can land in YC, you can too.”

Subtitle

Summary sentence

Ayush Karupakula, a second-year computer science student (CS), has secured $500,000 in pre-seed funding from Y Combinator (YC) for Tropir, a startup that helps developers trace and debug failures in large language model (LLM) pipelines.

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Thu, 05/15/2025 - 12:00

emily.smith@cc.gatech.edu

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Klaus Startup Challenge Showcases Georgia Tech's Rising Entrepreneurial Talent

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Computing Student Secures Y Combinator Funding for LLM Developer Tool

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