Columbia Students Showcase Big Ideas in Just 60 Seconds at Fast Pitch Competition

From AI-powered tools to innovative recruitment platforms, Columbia University undergraduate and graduate students took the stage at Davis Auditorium on Nov. 20 for the Fast Pitch competition, presenting their business ideas in 60-second pitches that could earn them up to $5,000 in funding.

The Fast Pitch competition, designed to help participants master the art of the elevator pitch, reached a milestone this year with 66 applicants—the highest number since its inception around 14 years ago. The event offered students a chance to share their vision, hone their communication skills, and compete for funding to kickstart their projects.

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Undergraduate Winners

1st Place (Tie)

GAITR: An affordable, modular device revolutionizing mobility assistance for Parkinson's patients. Team Lead: Ratna Sharma ‘25SEAS, with team members Lucia Martin, Sarah Mia Liu, Jenny Fan, Maggie Nedbalek, and Ming Ying Yeoh (all ‘25SEAS students).

Mooodboard.ai: A fast visual brainstorming tool for designers. Team Lead: Michael Roberson ‘27SEAS

3rd Place

AxaBlock LLC: Making offline experiences more rewarding—and financially beneficial—than online. Team Lead: Aaron Siddiky ’28CC

Graduate Winners

1st Place

Foodweb AI Ltd: An AI platform aimed at making restaurant kitchens more sustainable. Team Lead: Arnav Agarwal ’25GSAS 

2nd Place

CIPER Medical Inc.: Automating IV push processes to reduce administrative errors. Team Lead: Leonhard Heinrich ‘24SEAS, with members Sean Yubeen Kim BS’24 and Kasey Zhou ‘27NRS.

3rd Place

DefendAir: An autonomous wildfire risk prevention and mitigation system. Team Lead: Prerana Gambhir ‘25CBS

Audience choice

Solar EZ: Buying second hand solar just got easier. Team Lead: Yiwen Wu ‘26SEAS, with members Tianrui Zhang ’26SIPA and Xueru Zhao ‘26SIPA

Prerana Gambhir, a third-place winner from Columbia Business School, said the most valuable part of the process was refining her value proposition and learning to clearly articulate her idea within the tight 60-second timeframe.

“I've been preparing for this for a week, and every day I'd look at my pitch and start scratching off two or three words,” said Gambhir, the founder of DefendAir, which aims to combat wildfire risks autonomously.

She encouraged future participants to seek out similar opportunities to practice pitching.

“There’s no better way to do it than to do it live and get real feedback,” she said.

Maggi Heneghan, ’25CBS, and founder of Sumly, an AI-enabled expense tracking and tax filing tool, echoed Gambhir’s sentiment.

“Fast Pitch is useful for understanding who your customer is and how to differentiate yourself in the market,” she said. “The worst part is just the nerves and butterflies before getting up there. But that’s the real world—you have to pitch.”

For Phillip Yan ’26CC, the competition was a first-time experience presenting an idea to a large audience. Yan pitched a tool to aggregate newsletter emails, inspired by his desire to stay on top of new developments.

“It was a pretty interesting process,” he said. “You have a solid concept in your mind, but getting from there to something you can express succinctly in a minute was definitely challenging.”

Ivy Schultz, director of Columbia Entrepreneurship programs at the Engineering School, emphasized the value of the event as a platform for students to network, build teams, and prepare for the larger Startup Columbia competition.

“The idea behind a pitch is that somebody will want to learn more after they hear it,” Schultz said. “We aim to have students polished enough in their communication skills to attract interest. It’s really a skill everybody needs, and we’re always impressed by what people can do in 60 seconds.”