Built in Boston: Student Founders to Watch

Boston City Hall became a stage for the next generation of builders this week.

Startup Boston teamed up with the City of Boston to host the Built in Boston: Student Founder Pitch Showcase, bringing together student entrepreneurs from across the region who aren’t just exploring ideas, they’re actively building companies while still in school.

Each team had five minutes to pitch, followed by live Q&A with judges, competing for a growing prize pool designed to help them move faster, from cash to legal support to marketing and IP resources. And the result? A clear look at what’s coming next out of Boston.

Meet the Founders

Five student-led startups took the stage, spanning climate, healthcare, and enterprise software:

LET - 🥇 1st Place Winner

Founder pitching: Jakob Esterowitz (Boston University, Class of 2027)

Every year, more than 25 million pounds of polyester tennis strings are thrown away - breaking down into microplastics over time. LET is tackling this head-on by collecting used tennis strings and transforming them into high-performance materials for clothing. 

The traction is already there: over 200 collection locations (including the U.S. Open and Wimbledon), a product line in active production, and more than 10,000 pounds of material diverted from landfills.

ZOR! - 🥈 2nd Place Winner

Founder pitching: Mukki Gill (Northeastern University, Class of 2026)

ZOR! is rethinking how epilepsy is managed for both patients and caregivers.Their platform centralizes seizure data, wearable integrations (like Apple Watch), and lifestyle inputs to provide personalized insights, visualizations, and clinician-ready summaries. With a product launch on the horizon, the goal is simple: make daily care more manageable and improve quality of life.

Skipit - 🥉 3rd Place Winner

Founder pitching: Emily Weinberg (Babson College, Class of 2027)

Skipit is building a safer streaming experience. The AI-powered browser extension detects and skips triggering scenes in movies and TV in real time—without disrupting the storyline. While platforms today offer general warnings, Skipit gives users control at the scene level, designed specifically with the mental health community in mind.

Fsen

Founder pitching: Christopher Risio (Boston College, Class of 2026)

Fsen is modernizing emergency response for property and facility management. Instead of relying on outsourced after-hours call centers, their system automatically dispatches emergencies—instantly calling the on-call worker, confirming job acceptance via SMS, and tracking every step against SLA requirements. The result is faster response times, better accountability, and lower costs.

ProvenanceXL

Founders pitching: Tuna Uskudar (Boston College, Class of 2028), Grant Drinkwater, Andre Assuncao

ProvenanceXL is bringing version control to financial modeling. Plugging directly into Excel, the platform shows what changed, who changed it, and why - turning messy version tracking into a clear, auditable workflow. With AI-powered summaries and full audit trails, it helps teams move faster and trust their numbers before sharing them externally.

Recognizing Our Judges

A huge thank you to our incredible panel of judges, who brought their expertise, curiosity, and thoughtful feedback to every pitch:

​Aidan McDonough, Director of SPARK Boston and Office of Mayor Michelle Wu

Aidan became deeply involved in the Brighton community, local and state campaigns, and later served as Executive Director of Brighton Main Streets and a member of the SPARK Boston Council. Now serving as Director of SPARK Boston within the Mayor’s Community Engagement Cabinet, Aidan is focused on empowering young adults, strengthening civic engagement, and connecting emerging leaders with decision-makers across City Hall.

​James Massaquoi, Senior Associate, Glasswing Ventures

James is a Senior Investment Associate at Glasswing Ventures, where he focuses on early-stage B2B technology investments and supports portfolio companies including Infinity Loop, Basetwo, Inrupt, and others. Prior to Glasswing, he spent three years at Osage Venture Partners sourcing and working on Seed and Series A investments across vertical SaaS, cybersecurity, and supply chain, and earlier managed $300M in accounts at Amazon within the Mass Beauty division. 

​Bella Pivo, Analyst, FoundersEdge

Bella is a startup storyteller who helps founders refine their pitch, positioning, and audience through clear, compelling messaging. She began her journey as a creator, growing a 100K+ following after teaching herself ASL at 13, which sparked her passion for building in public and personal branding. She has supported 500+ founders as CEO of Northeastern’s IDEA accelerator and now writes about founder storytelling while working as an Analyst at FoundersEdge, a Boston-based pre-seed VC firm.

Gratitude to Our In-Kind Sponsors

Events like this come to life thanks to our community partners who believe in empowering early-stage founders with tangible support and expertise.

Orrick

Orrick is a global law firm focused on serving the Technology & Innovation, Energy & Infrastructure, Finance, and Life Sciences & HealthTech sectors. Leading companies and new entrants call on their teams in 25+ markets worldwide for forward-looking, pragmatic advice on transactions, litigation, and compliance matters. 

HubSpot for Startups

HubSpot is a leading CRM platform that helps businesses grow better, offering powerful marketing, sales, service and website management tools that scale with your business. Through HubSpot for Startups, founders gain access to deep discounts, educational resources, and dedicated support to help them attract, engage, and delight customers from day one. 

Accountalent

Accountalent is a one-stop shop providing fixed-price tax and bookkeeping services for over 5,000 startups. Their experienced team helps founders maximize credits and savings, including R&D credits, BOI filings, and strategic CFO support. With “Big Firm” strength and “Small Firm” care.

Matter

Matter Communications is an integrated PR, marketing, and creative agency that helps brands turn their stories into impactful, results-driven campaigns. With national agency capabilities and a local partner approach, the team works across industries - from B2B tech to food and beverage - to amplify clients and drive meaningful connections. 

ShineQuo

ShineQuo is building joyful, connected campuses by supporting students early—before challenges escalate into crisis. Through student-first programs focused on belonging, confidence, and community, the platform helps students navigate social challenges and build foundations for long-term success and well-being.

Clear IP 

Clear IP is a platform that transforms ideas into intellectual property by capturing and refining concepts into comprehensive, filing-ready patent drafts. Built for individuals and startups, it simplifies the path to protecting innovation and accelerating business growth. With a mission to empower builders early, ClearIP helps founders leverage IP, proven to significantly increase their chances of raising venture capital and achieving successful exits.

More Than a Pitch Competition

This wasn’t just about who took home first place, it was about giving student founders a real stage, one where they could test their ideas, get meaningful feedback, and connect with the broader startup ecosystem.

From investors asking sharp questions to founders learning from each other in real time, the room reflected what makes Boston’s startup community work: people showing up to help each other get better.

Why It Matters

What stood out most wasn’t just the ideas, it was the level of execution. These founders are already building products, securing partnerships, and getting into market. And they’re doing it before graduation.

If this is the pipeline of talent coming out of Boston, the future of the ecosystem isn’t just promising, it’s already in motion.

Huge thank you to the City of Boston, our judges, and the partners who contributed to the prize pool and made this event possible. And to the founders: this is just the beginning.