Spotlighting Founders Who Are Building What’s Next

Kanika Radhakrishnan
Sep 21
2 min read

This past Friday, the Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs (HAE) community gathered at Harvard Medical School’s Martin Conference Center for an evening of bold ideas, global perspectives, and extraordinary founders.

I had the privilege of serving as one of eight judges for the inaugural HAE Startup World Cup Regional Finals—a pitch competition designed to elevate Harvard-founded startups onto the global stage.

Twelve finalist teams presented ventures spanning autonomous retail, food security, education, medical devices, and more. Each team brought not only innovation, but purpose—a desire to tackle complex challenges with clarity and urgency.

Congratulations to this year’s top three winners

1st Place: Autonomo Technologies (James Sutherland, HBS ’14) – enabling fully autonomous retail
2nd Place: Nilus (Ady Beitler, HLS ’08) – innovating food distribution to reduce insecurity and waste
3rd Place: TagHive Inc. (Pankaj Agarwal, HBS ’12) – transforming student engagement through classroom tech

Autonomo will go on to represent HAE at the Startup World Cup Global Finals in San Francisco, competing for a $1 million investment prize from Pegasus Tech Ventures.

Honored to stand alongside fellow judges

This event brought together not only exceptional founders, but also a deeply engaged panel of judges. I was proud to serve alongside:

Anubha Shrivastava, Felix Kues, Jeffrey Fidelman, Kanika Radhakrishnan, Mike Ma, Peter Dolch, Shivani Singh, and Stephanie Oestreich.

My thanks to Regina Ryan, President of HAE, for her leadership and vision, and to Bill Reichert of Pegasus Tech Ventures and Carolina Stewart for their commitment to supporting global entrepreneurship.

Each of us brought a different lens to the evaluation process, and I valued the opportunity to learn from their perspectives as we assessed these promising ventures.

Mentorship, capital, and global connection

This event was about more than competition. It marked the beginning of a new partnership between HAE and Jaylen Brown’s 7uice Foundation, focused on creating pathways for young entrepreneurs through mentorship and opportunity.

That message of inclusion and support was woven into every part of the evening. These founders weren’t just pitching for funding—they were building with purpose, and with the potential to scale that purpose globally.

Looking ahead to San Francisco

I’m excited to attend the Startup World Cup Grand Finale in San Francisco this October. The global finals will bring together regional winners from around the world—all competing for the $1 million investment and the opportunity to accelerate their impact on a much larger stage.

To my fellow judges, the HAE team, and the inspiring founders who took the stage: thank you for making this event a celebration of not only ideas, but action.