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The NYU Entrepreneurial Institute is thrilled to announce the addition of four more founders as Mark & Debra Leslie Fellows grant awardees, in culmination of their participation in the NYU Female Founders Fellowship. The latest four Fellows were each selected based on the progress made on their venture, and a demonstrated passion for supporting gender equity in entrepreneurship.
About the Fellowship:
The NYU Female Founders Fellowship is an opportunity for NYU student, faculty, and staff entrepreneurs to build community, establish mentorship relationships with renowned founders and investors, hone their leadership skills, secure financial support for their ventures, and alleviate their student loan debt – all while contributing to closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship. The Fellowship provides tailored venture coaching and extensive training via priority access to the Startup Accelerator Program and Tech Venture Program, sequenced skills-development programs for NYU entrepreneurs to advance their startups from idea to market.
At the end of the Fellowship and upon graduation, Female Founders Fellows may apply for student loan alleviation grants of up to $25,000, thanks to the generous support of Mark & Debra Leslie.
Meet the Fellows:
Please join us in congratulating the 2025 Mark and Debra Leslie Fellows on their awards.
Julia Maksimova (Stern '25)
Founder of Mova
Participated In: Startup Coaching, Startup Accelerator Program, Female Founders Fellowship
Mova is is solving the temporary housing needs for the modern nomad.
Kyra Williams (Steinhardt '22)
Founder of Stories in My Backyard
Participated In: Startup Coaching, Startup Accelerator Program, Female Founders Fellowship
SIMBY provides Black youth access to culturally relevant media arts education through online and in-person experiences led by Black instructors to foster belonging, representation, and media literacy.
Nisha Maheshwari, PhD (Tandon '25)
Co-Founder & CEO of CaroRhythm
Participated In: Startup Coaching, Startup Accelerator Program, Female Founders Fellowship
CaroRhythm connects patients and physicians to improve the standard of stroke care today. Its medical device, CaroSense, is non-invasive, wearable, and continuously monitors blood flow to the brain. Its software platform, CaroRhythm Dynamic Monitoring Service, notifies both patients and physicians to high risk of stroke before physiological symptoms occur. CaroRhythm provides physicians with the data they need to plan treatment options, and provides patients with the autonomy to track their own vascular health in real-time.
Oana Ciherean (Stern ‘23)
Founder of Foxa.AI
Participated In: Startup Coaching, Startup Accelerator Program, Female Founders Fellowship
Foxa.AI is an AI Coding Teacher that transforms beginners into proficient software engineers through personalized, interactive challenges on real-world projects.
