Exciting Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship at VenturePack Challenge
With over $100,000 up for grabs, eighteen teams brought their best pitches to VenturePack Challenge 2026.
VenturePack Challenge (VPC) 2026 was an exciting display of innovation, entrepreneurship and interdisciplinary ideas. On April 7, 2026, eighteen teams competed for a grand total of $128,000 at NC State’s largest startup competition, VenturePack Challenge.
During the ceremony, the student startup teams took the stage to deliver their pitches to an audience of over 190 attendees. Pulling from their own diverse expertise, these teams developed creative solutions to a variety of real-life challenges.
From surgical recovery to language learning, the challenges addressed spanned disciplines — and so did the students. The teams were made up of talented students and advisors from across the university, each of whom brought their own ideas, skills and experiences to their startup. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, these teams developed innovative solutions and translated them into business models. During the showcase, all of that hard work got the recognition it deserved. Every pitch was followed by cheers from audience members and fellow competitors.
After the ceremony and pitches, guests were ushered to the showcase portion of the night. VPC teams were joined by other Wolfpack entrepreneurs, including Student Made at NC State, to share their ventures with the community and sell products.
Student Track
With businesses ranging from agriculture to biomedical to personal care and more, VenturePack Challenge was a jaw-dropping show with fifteen student teams pitching their businesses to a live audience. The student track offered any degree-seeking NC State student the opportunity to pitch their idea to VPC’s panel of judges.
Forest Found | Grand Prize Winner | $8,000
Forest Found Products makes fast acting, long-lasting bug bite and sting relief products that are plant-powered.
Seagull EcoChem | Grand Prize Winner | $8,000
Seagull EcoChem Inc. is bringing customers the first cost-effective, sustainable, flexible plastic packaging replacement.
Specivex | Grand Prize Winner + Audience Choice | $8,500
Specivex is developing a novel, articulating endoscopic biopsy forceps designed to improve precision, efficiency, and biopsy tissue sample quality during minimally invasive procedures in space-constrained bodily lumens such as the esophagus.
Cualli | Winner + Audience Choice | $5,000
Cualli is developing a programmable probiotic platform that transforms microbes into “living medicines” designed to sequester environmental toxins, treat complex diseases and solve complex public health challenges.
Colvida | Winner + Audience Choice | $5,000
Colvida is developing a next-generation fecal management system (FMS) for hospital patients that reduces leakage, skin injury, and infection risk while easing the workload on bedside clinicians. By improving containment and adaptability within existing hospital workflows, Colvida aims to improve patient outcomes and lower the hidden costs associated with fecal incontinence in intensive care unit settings.
SPRTN Technologies | Winner | $4,000
With 50x more wireless range than any other earbud on the market and the world’s first live audible AI coach, SPRTN 1s are the fully waterproof, all-in-one earbuds built for athletes and swimmers. Run the full length of the track without losing connection, then dive straight into the pool, still wearing your everyday earbuds.
Aegis Medical | Winner | $4,500
Aegis Medical is developing a mesh-integrated specimen retrieval bag designed to reduce incision size and extraction force during minimally invasive surgery. The device enables safer, more efficient specimen removal while preserving the benefits of laparoscopic and robotic procedures.
Hurūf La’b | Winner | $4,000
Hurūf La’b is a puzzle that tactically represents Arabic letters in their Four Contextual Forms, allowing users to create unlimited meaning with a fully mechanical version of the Arabic script. Designed for K-12 learners at novice proficiency levels, the larger Hurūf La’b system will include student workbooks, video guides, and a mobile AR phonics app so teachers can easily integrate the puzzle into their classroom routines given their unique teaching constraints.
Dunaleia | Winner | $3,000
Dunaleia remodels food aid to combat global malnutrition. Dynamically designed therapeutic foods and programming create pillars for capacity strengthening in food-insecure communities.
Stratisk | Winner | $1,000
Stratisk is a decision-grade risk intelligence platform that helps municipalities turn fragmented infrastructure and environmental data into explainable, defensible risk rankings for capital planning. It enables planners and engineers to prioritize investments consistently, transparently, and continuously—without replacing existing systems or assuming engineering liability.
TerraInsight | Winner | $1,000
It takes about 2-4 weeks to receive lab results about parasitic worms and soil health. TerraInsight is building a portable, AI-powered soil analysis device that delivers real-time results in the field, enabling faster and smarter farm management decisions.
Future of Food Track
This year, the Bezos Center for Sustainable Protein, Rohan Shirwaiker and Tim Martin, sponsored a Future of Food track. The sponsors of this track judged startups working within the food industry. Amid stiff competition, two winners were selected, each receiving a first-place prize of $5,000: Dunaleia and Flavur.
Innovation in AI Track
With AI and technology growing rapidly, VPC also supported an award for an Innovation in AI track. One team was selected as the winner of this track’s $1,000 prize for their startup’s AI innovation: Coachera AI. Coachera AI received this $1,000 award for innovating with AI at the forefront of their startup.
Daugherty Track
The Daugherty Track is for officially registered startup companies that have licensed NC State intellectual property in the past three years — meaning their licenses must be currently active. The funds allocated to winning companies can be used for critical early-stage business expenses.
Intra Therapeutics | First Place | $25,00
Intra Therapeutics, Inc. is a preclinical stage biotherapeutics company established to commercialize localized cancer immunotherapies. Intra’s localized delivery systems enhance exposure and retention of immunotherapies within the tumor microenvironment and overcome the dose limitations of current systemically administered cancer immunotherapies.
Rooted-in-Tech | Second Place | $20,000
Rooted-in-Tech has developed a fully enclosed, autonomous crop propagation system that delivers high-quality, disease-free young plants through crop-specific “environmental recipes.” Unlike traditional propagation systems, such as open-field nurseries, high tunnels or greenhouses, their platform enables precise, plant-level microclimate control within a fully biosecure environment.
PolyPV | Second Place | $20,000
PolyPV provides lightweight, rugged and portable solar power solutions to ensure reliable energy for defense, disaster response and off-grid operators in the world’s most demanding environments.
This year’s VPC was a resounding success. Entrepreneurship and innovation were on display as thousands of dollars in awards were given to startups from across disciplines. Join us next year for another exciting display of entrepreneurship at VenturePack Challenge.
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