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With the start of the Fall '25 semester and our programs and events in full swing, we are excited to announce our Interns and Founders in Residence.
In addition to the core Institute team, each year we bring on additional talent from the NYU community, including students and alumni who have recently completed our programs, to help in our work supporting entrepreneurship across the university. This includes a team of Founders in Residence, recent alumni entrepreneurs who help our early stage teams, and undergraduate interns, who support the Entrepreneurial Institute staff in communications and community building.
Founders in Residence provide coaching to NYU students and faculty through 1:1 coaching and through the NYU Startup Bootcamps. If you’re a current or aspiring entrepreneur and you want help on your venture, sign up for coaching with a Founder in Residence or another member of our team today.
New Founders in Residence:
Gaby Berne (Langone Clinician)
Co-Founder & CEO, Movemend
Gaby is a clinician-entrepreneur who co-founded the startup, Movemend while working at NYU Langone. Movemet seeks to transform physical therapy into an engaging, game-like experience using AI and computer vision.
Julia Kingsley (Stern '26)
Co-Founder & CEO, Context Data
Julia's venture, Context Data, is a startup automating property & casualty insurance claims. She previously worked at Blackstone Strategic Partners, where she managed multi-billion-dollar transactions and led operational improvements, and began her career at PwC as a CPA auditing Fortune 500 companies. Specialities include finance, accounting, financial modeling, people management, and B2B Saas.
Nisha Maheshwari, PhD (Tandon '25)
Co-Founder & CEO, CaroRhythnm
Nisha's venture, CaroRhythm, is a medical device company developing an imaging tool for non-invasive outpatient stroke monitoring. Nisha has participated in the Startup Sprint, Tech Venture Accelerator, Entrepreneurs Challenge, and Female Founders Fellowship. They are experienced with research commercialization, building strategic partnerships, navigating the healthcare landscape, design thinking, prototyping, human subject studies, and grant writing.
Zoey Ferguson (Tisch '25)
Co-Founder & CEO, Sheltrium
Zoey's venture, Sheltrium, provides storm preparation and resilience supplies for those living in flooding and storm prone areas in the US. Her multidisciplinary background includes working as a biologist, new media artist, and professional figure skater, and skating coach. Her experience as a Google program manager informs her advice on smooth team communications and Agile/Scrum methodology.
Returning Founders in Residence:
Britt Martin (GSAS '17)
Fmr. Co-founder & CEO of Food Period
Britt's former venture, Food Period, was a direct-to-consumer startup that helped women have great periods with its food-based supplements - whilst at NYU. Britt then went on to join a venture-backed (Seed to Series B) B2B marketplace startup, where she built the commerce layer on top of a vetting SaaS software that improved sustainability and human health transparency in the personal care space. She now works as a consultant to a number of different startups, focused on product, partnerships, and go-to-market strategies.
Drew Lederman (Tisch '20 & Stern '27)
Co-Founder & CEO, Resist Nutrition
Drew's venture, Resist Nutrition, provides doctor-recommended vegan nutrition bars with a clinically-backed stable blood sugar response. Resist bars are in 200+ retailers, have a network of 800+ recommending medical practitioners, and have sold out 4x.
Dror Margalit (Tisch '24)
Fmr. Co-Founder & CEO of Context
Karen Gordon (Tisch)
Founder of We Design Think
Karen is a seasoned startup advisor, investor, and accomplished entrepreneur with a proven business transformation track record. She has successfully built and exited four startups. As the CEO of We Design Think, Karen empowers enterprises to tackle large-scale innovation challenges with positive economic impact.
Lokesh Sharma (PhD Candidate, Tandon)
Co-Founder of CaroRhythm
Lokesh's venture, CaroRhythm, is a medical device company focused on developing a diagnostic tool for early stroke detention. Lokesh is a PhD candidate in BME at NYU Tandon.
Marcos Brisson (Shanghai '23)
Co-Founder & CEO of Kaizntree
Marcos is half Spanish, half Canadian and grew up in Hong Kong and Australia. Marcos founded Kaizntree which is an online platform that helps solo entrepreneurs scale their product business by simplifying their inventory management process. Kaizntree won Audience Choice at the 10th Annual NYU-Yale Pitchoff.
Mir Hwang (CAS '19)
Co-Founder and CEO of GigFinesse
Mir's venture, GigFinesse, is an online music booking platform that reinvents the way artists and venues connect. Prior to founding GigFinesse, Mir was a touring session drummer studying Chemistry at NYU College of Arts and Science. He was always around fellow artists who were constantly searching for a more efficient way to book shows and venues looking for ways to streamline their booking procedure. After having felt the pain from both sides, Mir decided to put his medical school aspirations aside and start GigFinesse.
Myriam Sbeiti (Tandon '18)
Fmr. Co-Founder of Sunthetics
Myriam's expertise lies in storytelling, customer interviews, value proposition definition, GTM strategy. fundraising, contract negotiation, pilotMVP development. Her main industries include manufacturing, consumer, utilities/energy, services. Her experience developing innovation strategy for large corporate clients to create new EBITDA, first at McKinsey then as an independent consultant. Prior to that, she founded and led Sunthetics, a company using AI to accelerate chemical innovaiton. She raised >$1M in non-dilutive funding (Entrepreneurs Challenge, InnoVention Competition, NSF, SBIR, etc) and entered the market through pharmaceuticals.
Nyamitse-Calvin Mahinda (Tandon '23)
Co-Founder & CEO of Vital Audio
Nyame's healthcare journey started more than a decade ago as first responder, before joining the Clinical Researcher and Clinical Management front. He has led Vital Audio through numerous critical milestones with his acute ability to strategize and implement technological solutions.
Wayne Mackey, PhD (GSAS '16)
Co-Founder & CEO of Statespace (Aimlabs)
Wayne's venture, Statecpace, combines neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and video games to improve cognitive function and motor skills. As CEO of Statespace, Dr. Mackey has raised over $100M in VC funding.
New Interns:
Emnet Tesfaye (Gallatin '27) is designing an individualized concentration around Global Education Policy, Diplomacy, and Cultural Preservation, while also pursuing an early M.S. in Global Affairs and a minor in Social Entrepreneurship. She currently serves as the Junior Class President on Gallatin's Student Council and is an Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholar. Emnet is interested in how entrepreneurial approaches can influence national policies shaping education. Emnet is a dedicated student and leader driven by a passion for educational equity, African development, and social innovation.
Jennifer Huang (Tisch '28) is the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute graphic design intern and the Marketing Lead at Tech@NYU.
Joyce Lee (CAS '26) is majoring in Economics with a minor in Business Studies. She is passionate about the intersection of finance and business strategy and aspires to one day launch her own company. Through her academic and professional experiences, she has developed strong skills in financial analysis and client engagement, building a solid foundation in both corporate and entrepreneurial settings. At NYU, Joyce is involved in Smart Women Securities, the university’s premier women’s finance organization.
Mahnoor Farooq (CAS '28) Is a sophomore studying Philosophy and Psychology on the pre-med track with a strong interest in ethics, human behavior, and decision-making. She is drawn to understanding the cognitive and emotional factors that drive people's choices. Her interdisciplinary background uniquely positions her to approach challenges through a lens of human-centered problem-solving. She is eager to explore how philosophical insights can form a unique lens in various settings including and past the scope of healthcare.
Ogechi Okafor (CAS '26) is double majoring in Computer Science and Journalism with a minor in Business of Entertainment, Media & Technology. Her work centers on the intersection of storytelling and technology, often exploring sectors of digital equity, multimedia/documentaries, inclusive design, and data visualization. Ogechi is a 3x Software Development Engineer intern at Amazon (across Ads, AWS, and Fresh/Grocery) and conducted research at NYU Abu Dhabi prototyping interactive mix-media robotics installations. Ogechi serves as a Youth Ambassador/Senior Alumni for Girl Up, having presented at the UN Headquarters and the New York Stock Exchange, co-designing inclusive campaigns advocating for youth voices in business and product development initiatives.
Tazrif Amin (CAS '26) is majoring in Biochemistry with a minor in Physics. He is passionate about cancer research and works at a cancer immunology lab at NYU Langone Health, where he leads multiple projects and mentors new students joining the lab. Alongside his research, he serves as a Teaching Assistant at NYU Tandon, supporting students in Biomolecular Science courses. Outside of academics, he is deeply passionate about soccer and plays multiple sports, which fuel his competitive spirit and love for teamwork.
Returning Interns:
