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Please join us in welcoming the new founders joining the NYU Female Founders Fellowship!
The NYU Female Founders Fellowship provides community support, training, mentorship, networking, and grant opportunities to entrepreneurs at NYU building scalable, differentiated ventures who are committed to advancing gender equity in entrepreneurship. Fellows get fully plugged into NYU’s ecosystem of resources, and are invited to apply for student loan alleviation grants of up to $25,000 each following their graduation from NYU. These grants help to reduce financial burdens, which can be significant barriers to starting a startup. This financial assistance is made possible through the generous support of the program’s lead donor: Entrepreneur and NYU alumnus Mark Leslie (WSC ‘66, Trustee), and his wife, Debra.
We're looking for extraordinary entrepreneurs to join our Female Founders Community! Interested in joining the Fellowship's Fall ‘25 cohort? RSVP for an info session on 4/9 and submit your application by May 5 at 6pm ET.
This Spring, we're thrilled to welcome the following members into the Circle cohort of the Fellowship:
Akshitha Kumbam (GSAS '25 ), Co-Founder of LaRa-Home
LaRa-Home is an AI-powered tool designed to help young architects in New York City create beautiful and code-compliant building designs. Targeted at early-career architects in their 20s, LaRa-Home simplifies the design process by allowing users to input requirements in simple text and generating multiple floor plan options.
Anastasia Dor (Tisch '24), Founder of Mentivista
Mentivista is an online platform solving the inconvenience of in-person license renewal classes for licensed skin care professionals in Illinois. Our live online and on-demand classes empower estheticians to grow their businesses and stay compliant without the hassle of commuting or rearranging their schedules.
Anat Goldstein (Stern '24), Founder of FinOptima
FinOptima is a RegTech platform that helps small and mid-sized financial institutions combat identity fraud and account takeovers (ATO) with an AI-driven, multi-layered system that detects and prevents fraud by validating identities.
Arina Shah (CAS '25), Co-Founder of Fruition
Fruition is an AI-powered platform that connects students to faculty on research projects, and centralizes research data for universities.
Canan Tugberk (Steinhardt), Co-Founder of Mint
Mint is a mental health app for pregnant women, offering daily nudges, CBT-based tools, and psychoeducation to reduce anxiety and empower. Our target customers are expectant mothers, especially mothers who live abroad and have limited contacts to provide them with tailored mental health support
Diamond Bradley, (SPS '24), Founder of Primary Movement
The Primary Movement is a creative hub dedicated to fostering sustainable careers and empowering communities for Black creatives in Atlanta and beyond. We connect creatives with resources, opportunities, and networks to grow their skills, projects, and influence.
Jenna Sherman, (Stern '25), Founder of Sweep
Sweep is a customized personal data management platform that allows anyone who is concerned about their privacy and being chronically online to receive personalized insights and recommendations into their cross-platform behavioral data. We use analytics to create a simple dashboard to breakdown your data footprint, allow you to set and achieve goals, and empower users to have control over their digital experience.
Jinhee Shim, (Tisch '26) Co-Founder of Transform
Transform is the gender affirming activewear brand that eradicates the physical & emotional pain of tucking, and TRANSFORMs the body dysphoria of young pre-operative trans women into feelings of empowerment within their bodies.
Kaeja Cox, (Steinhardt '19), Founder of Mahogany Dancewear
Mahogany Dancewear is a dancewear brand that helps adolescent and pre-professional dancers of color feel seen and supported in an industry that often lacks representation. Traditional dancewear brands fail to offer inclusive and accessible options, making it difficult for these dancers to find apparel that meets their needs. Mahogany Dancewear provides high-performance pieces designed with diversity in mind, fostering a sense of belonging both in the studio and on stage.
Katherine Puntiel, (Steinhardt '24), Founder of Image Meme Search Engine
ISM (Image Search Meme) is an artificial intelligent (AI) powered image capture search engine specific to searching for memes on the internet. Targeting brand managers and social media managers at small to medium agencies looking to minimize workflow and to gain the most accurate, diverse visual expression they want to meet where their audience’ is located.
Maria Iliakova, (Stern '25), Founder of DocAnchor
DocAnchor is increasing doctor productivity through automated credentialing for fast hiring and insurance enrollment. DocAnchor allows hospitals to hire doctors faster, doctors to start taking care of patients faster, and to bill and earn for work faster.
Mona Wang, (Steinhardt '25), Co-Founder of Melomo
empowers aspiring beginner to intermediate songwriters without formal music training to turn initial musical ideas into fully developed songs. By simplifying pitch, rhythm, and chord challenges, Melomo eliminates frustration, enabling creators to transcribe their ideas effortlessly, stay inspired, and unlock their full creative potential.
Morine Cebert, (Nursing Faculty), Founder of Black Fertility Agency
BFA connects Black individuals and couples with trusted IVF, surrogacy, & egg donation providers through a free, streamlined matching service. Our target customers are those navigating fertility journeys, & we save them time while ensuring culturally competent & supportive care.
Moses Aina, (Tisch '25), Co-Founder of Transform
Transform is the gender affirming activewear brand that eradicates the physical & emotional pain of tucking, and TRANSFORMs the body dysphoria of young pre-operative trans women into feelings of empowerment within their bodies.
Olivia Lewandowski, (CAS '25), Co-Founder of Fruition
Fruition is an AI-powered platform that connects students to faculty on research projects, and centralizes research data for universities.
Sandra Cai, (CAS '26), Co-Founder of Plurall AI
Plurall AI provides homegrown AI-powered deepfake detection engine to help C-suite, account managers, talent managers in social media, content distribution, and content creation platforms from deepfake impersonation, identity theft, misinformation, and disinformation in order to boost brand awareness and protection.
Tracy Gaboyau, (Tandon '25), Founder of Ascent
Ascent is a web/mobile app that helps low income adults of color between the ages of 20-25 learn financial literacy by offering engaging resources in the form of videos and games that streamline the learning experience; improving on finance books, blogs, or podcasts that are time-consuming, containing complex language and neglecting the emotional and racial contexts of financial education.
Yulu Fu, (Steinhardt '25), Co-Founder of Melomo
Melomo is a songwriting education app that helps aspiring songwriters who have invested in songwriting resources, like courses or software, but still struggle to apply abstract concepts of songwriting in practice to create original compositions, actively seeking more hands-on practice.
Zoey Ferguson (Tisch '25), Founder of Sheltrium
Sheltrium sells affordable self-sufficiency to victims of floods and hurricanes by designing simple, off-grid, modular shelters and delivering them when they're needed most.
