The student entrepreneurs impressed the judges with both the quality of their ideas and their dedication to bringing them to market
Colin Sheardwright and Krish Bhuva of the startup Elyton, which won first prize in this year's contest (contributed photo)
The Innovation Quest (iQ) entrepreneurship competition crowned five new champions on April 20, with innovations that included a novel manufacturing innovation, a system for making tuition payments easier, and tool to help protect creative endeavors from being usurped by AI.
The students ranged from a second-semester freshman to a ready-to-graduate Ph.D. candidate. Together, they shared $35,000 in prize money.
"The students we met this year were extremely serious about entrepreneurship and wanting to bring their ideas to the market,'' says iQ director Kevin Gardiner. "Every year, the quality of their ideas grows stronger, and the bar keeps getting higher. They are really, really sharp students who have the grit that it takes to succeed as entrepreneurs."
As in the past, the competition drew students from a large swath of majors within UConn. Some 170 UConn students participated in the entrepreneurship workshops, with more than 30 entering the formal competition. While last year's cohort created startups that capitalized on artificial intelligence, this year's companies were more diverse.
The 2026 iQ competition was sponsored by alumnus and angel investor Ashok Bahl '06 MBA. Bahl was so impressed with the teams that he increased the total prize money from $30,000 to $35,000.
The winners were selected by 16 judges, including venture capitalists, startup owners, and other experts in business, all of whom volunteered to spend Saturday judging the competition.
The following companies were selected among the top five new UConn startups:
Elyton Addresses Need for Manufacturing Innovation
The first-place winner is startup Elyton, which is creating an automated metal- finishing platform for complex geometries and difficult-to-machine alloys. The system combines pulsed electrochemical machining with robotic multi-axis tool pathing to remove material and produce consistent, high-quality surface finishes.
Elyton's approach is uniquely suited to address a major bottleneck in additive manufacturing. Metal 3D printed parts often have rough, intricate, and delicate surfaces that are difficult or impossible to post-process using traditional methods.
"A simple example would be finishing a complex 3D printed metal aerospace or medical part that is difficult to polish using traditional tools,'' says co-founder Krish Bhuva '27 (ENG), a materials science and engineering major. "Our process uses electrochemical machining to improve surface finish without physically contacting the part. There are companies in machining and finishing broadly, but we believe our automated and flexible approach for complex geometries is highly differentiated.''
Bhuva and co-founder Colin Sheardwright '27 (ENG), a robotics engineering major, are the president and vice president of UConn Robotics, where they have been leading a team of 25 students designing and building an underwater remotely operated vehicle for the 2026 MATE ROV World Championship in Newfoundland, Canada.
"We have both always been interested in advanced infrastructure, automation, and building real systems, which naturally led us toward entrepreneurship and starting a company together as roommates,'' Bhuva says.
"My biggest takeaway from iQ was how valuable it is to clearly communicate the problem you are solving,'' Bhuva says. "Strong technology matters, but being able to explain the value in a simple way is just as important.''
Elyton's leadership will use iQ's $12,000 grand prize for next steps, which include moving into lab space at the UConn Depot Campus next month, purchasing additional equipment, adding staff, and expanding the company's prototype capabilities.
InfinityPay, A Tuition-Payment Platform, Took Second Place
Thembi Loga '28 (ENG), a computer science and engineering major and an already established entrepreneur, took second place and a $10,000 prize with InfinityPay. He developed the fintech platform to make it easier for parents and school administration to handle tuition payments.
Loga is a native of Malawi in Southeastern Africa. Many schools there rely on fragmented, manual systems, including paper records and spreadsheets, leading to poor tracking of student accounts and administrative inefficiencies.
InfinityPay provides a secure, transparent, and fully digital payment experience, allowing schools to collect fees through mobile money, bank transfers, and card payments, while enabling real-time tracking, reconciliation, and structured payment plans.
Loga thinks it would be popular in his home nation and throughout Africa.
"Through Innovation Quest, the most valuable thing I gained was learning how to refine and clearly communicate our business as we actively build and grow InfinityPay,'' he says. "Working with experienced mentors and entrepreneurs helped me think more strategically about execution, scalability, and how to move from building a product to scaling a real, impactful business.''
Loga became interested in entrepreneurship from a young age, and in 2023 founded InfinityMX, a software development company offering web and mobile app development, branding, and marketing services. He's worked with over 15 clients and completed more than 20 projects.
With InfinityPay, he led product development and built the platform himself, leading the company from vision to execution, backed by a strong team of strategic advisors.
"Our immediate next step is securing our Payment Service Provider (PSP) license so we can operate as a legal payment processor in Malawi,'' he says. "We have two schools ready to pilot once the license is approved. We're also actively exploring funding opportunities to help us scale quickly and efficiently.''
'Swipe Dining' Makes Meal Preferences Easier to Find
Swipe Dining is a mobile app that helps UConn students browse dining hall menus, filter by allergens and dietary preferences, and find food that fits their needs across all 19 dining locations.
The startup, the brainchild of Sean Howard '29 (BUS) took third place and a $6,000 award. A health-conscious student, Howard was looking for an easier way to get nutritional and other information. He even included a feature so students could be alerted when their favorite meal is being served.
"I'm most looking forward to going to market and seeing this app help as many students as possible,'' Howard says. "The funding through iQ will allow me to accelerate the process, and I hope to see my app in [multiple] schools this fall.''
Howard says the biggest lesson he learned from iQ is to take advantage of UConn's resources.
"When [associate director of the Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation] Kathy Rocha recommended the iQ program in January, I was hesitant to apply because the app was just an idea at the time,'' Howard says. "I quickly learned that the valuable part of the iQ program isn't just the funding but also the mentorship and guidance I received along the way. The virtual workshops, as well as the iQ mentor meetings, were crucial to the development of the app and were a huge reason for my success.''
Since it launched in February, Swipe Dining has been downloaded 1,000 times. Howard hopes to introduce the service at other colleges. "I think there's definitely a market for it. I think there's a problem to be solved,'' he says.
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