The 2026 StartUp Competition, presented by the Charles F. Dolan School of Business, showcased innovation, determination, and entrepreneurial talent. Two student-led ventures, Leave It to Us and EviSyna, emerged as winners in their respective categories.
This year’s competition featured six teams—three in the scalable category and three in the bootstrap category—each presenting solutions to real-world challenges and vying for a total of $50,000 in seed funding. The showcase was hosted by senior communication major, Sophia Haber-Brock ’26.
Bootstrap Winner: Leave It to Us
Leave It to Us, a subscription-based service designed to support seniors, secured the top prize of $11,000 in the bootstrap category. The company focuses on simplifying everyday tasks and improving quality of life for the aging population. Team member Colby Ciampi ’28, who is studying accounting and marketing at Fairfield Dolan, said the win motivated him and his business partner Andrew Hefter ’27, an analytics and finance student, to continue building and stay focused on delivering value to the senior population.
Ciampi and Hefter are preparing to launch their services startup and welcome their first clients this summer in New Haven County. They plan to closely evaluate operations, refine their model, and continue working with advisors and the Fairfield StartUp network as they shape the venture’s next phase of growth.
“StartUp has a natural way of refining your thinking, structuring your time, and strengthening the discipline you bring each day,” Ciampi said. “It’s a constant process of learning, refining, and improving.”
Scalable Winner: EviSyna
EviSyna, an AI-powered research assistant, earned first place in the scalable category and $11,000 in seed funding for its innovative approach to streamlining complex research processes.
Graduate students and business partners Sidharth Kumar Pradhan, who is pursuing dual master's degrees in business analytics and finance, and Naqibahmed Kadri, who is studying toward his MS in computer science in the School of Engineering and Computing, are the team behind EviSyna. They summarize the platform as a way to streamline the clinical trial and literature review process for researchers. During months of preparation for the StartUp Showcase, Pradhan said, “We learned how to pivot our idea based on feedback, refining technical concepts into a message that is accessible and impactful for a general audience.”
Riding the momentum of their success in the competition, the team is currently focused on advancing from prototype to active beta testing. Their next steps include refining their minimum viable product, launching pilot programs to validate the platform in real-world settings, and continuing to incorporate guidance from mentors and advisors as they scale the venture.
