NYU Entrepreneurial Institute

We help NYU founders start and scale their startups.

Our mission is to create a diverse, inclusive culture that facilitates & celebrates entrepreneurship campus-wide, supporting students, faculty & researchers creating scalable solutions to meaningful problems.

By guiding entrepreneurs, inspiring would-be entrepreneurs, and cross-pollinating students and faculty from different disciplines, we are at the center of a startup ecosystem designed to transform brilliant ideas into successful commercial solutions. Since the founding of the NYU Innovation Venture Fund in 2010, we have accelerated the pace of technology commercialization and helped launch successful startups founded by our talented community of students, faculty, and researchers through our award-winning programming and support.

About the Institute
What We Do
The NYU Entrepreneurial Institute leads University-wide initiatives to launch successful startups and commercialize technology created by NYU’s 60,000 students, faculty and researchers. We are a team of startup experts that offers funding, training and guidance to current and future NYU entrepreneurs. Learn more about what we offer throughout this website, including:
- Startup workshops, events & team building activities
- Startup coaching & mentorship
- Connect with others & work on your startup at the Leslie eLab
- Startup grants, training & award winning accelerators for students & faculty/researchers
- Seed capital via the NYU Innovation Venture Fund
Our Divine Principles
- Experiential: Our founders learn by doing – interviewing, prototyping, testing, gathering evidence, validating.
- Multidisciplinary: Successful startup teams, and a rich entrepreneurial ecosystem, draw on varied experiences, skills and perspectives from all 20 NYU schools and colleges.
- Diverse, Equitable & Inclusive: We value racial, religious, gender, sexual orientation, and other forms of diversity and are committed to providing our community with equitable experiences and safe spaces.
- Connected to NYC: Because we are integrally in and of the city, our founders have unrivaled access to veteran and rising star entrepreneurs and investors who speak, teach and mentor here.
Team

NYU Entrepreneurial Institute Staff

Frank Rimalovski

Executive Director

Heads the Entrepreneurial Institute and is the Managing Director of the NYU Innovation Venture Fund which invests in early stage NYU startups. Frank also provides coaching to NYU startups. He is a member of the national teaching team for the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps program and an Adjunct Faculty at the NYU School of Engineering. He has been a venture capitalist for over 23 years.

Rebecca Silver

Director

Serves as the Director of the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute, where she leads operations and major programs, and supports entrepreneurs focused on socio-environmental challenges. Rebecca is also adjunct faculty at both the School of Visual Arts and Parsons School for Design, teaching entrepreneurship, design and sustainability.

Dee Dao, PhD

Venture Principal

Leads investments on behalf of the NYU Innovation Venture Fund in life science and healthcare and provides coaching. Prior to joining the Fund, Dee did product development and intellectual property strategy in therapeutics and diagnostics for Ludwig Cancer Research. Dee holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics /Developmental Biology from Columbia University.

Darren Yee

(Tandon '16)
Venture Associate

Leads investments on behalf of the NYU Innovation Venture Fund in Information Technology and Consumer Products and provides coaching. Prior to joining the Fund, Darren co-founded a startup in construction tech (Summer Launchpad 2016). Darren later went on to participate in the Techstars NYC accelerator and moved on to operations in startups in real estate tech, mental health, and online education.

Jen Curtis

(Wagner '24)
Assistant Director of Operations

Manages the Leslie eLab, the Institute's finances, and leads events & operations, including the Entrepreneurs Festival, as the Institute's Assistant Director. She is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer and previously worked at the UN World Food Programme. Jen holds an MA in International Relations from St. John’s University and is pursuing her MPA at NYU Wagner.

Ashley Garrett

Marketing Communications Coordinator

Heads marketing and communications for the Institute’s events and initiatives. Previously, she worked as a writer, editor, and digital content creator for news organizations and nonprofits. She holds a degree in print/digital journalism and Africana studies from the University of Central Florida.

Zainab Babikir

(Tandon '21)
Programs Coordinator

Supports programs and operations at the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute. Previously, Zainab worked as a fashion stylist across commercial, editorial, and e-commerce. She has contributed works to Vogue Korea, Nike, Vice, and other publications. Zainab graduated from NYU Tandon with a bachelor’s in Science, Technology, and Society. She is a former Leslie eLab intern and participant in the NYU InnoVention Prototyping Competition.

Keith Mauppa

Programs Manager

Leads Institute programs and provides coaching. Keith has over 12 years of experience covering Management Consulting, Asset Management, Private Equity and Venture Capital. Most recently, Keith was COO of Flat World Partners, an impact-focused investment & advisory firm. Keith has led the execution of over nine dozen private market transactions on four continents. He has a double major in Economics & Politics from the University of Cape Town (South Africa), and received his MBA on scholarship at Hult Business School (San Francisco) in 2014.

De-Ann Abraham

Programs Manager

Leads the Institute's Female Founders events, sponsorships, and Startup Bootcamps. Previously, De-Ann was a management and corporate innovation strategy consultant in the public, private, and social innovation sectors working with clients such as the Sumitomo Corporation, GAF, World Bank, Omidyar Network, and Lab@OPM. De-Ann is also the Chief Strategy Officer at I Have A Right Foundation, a girls' leadership nonprofit. She is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer. She holds a M.S. in Nonprofit Management with a concentration in Social Innovation from The New School.

Founders In Residence

The NYU Entrepreneurial Institute welcomes several startup founders who are alumni of NYU Summer Launchpad, to serve as mentors and advisors to up and coming NYU startups. Meet the Founders In Residence:

Mir Hwang
(CAS '19)
GigFinesse

Jonas Günther
(Tandon '18)
We Are The New Farmers

Hilary Dubin
Jones

Drew Lederman
(Tisch '20)
Resist Nutrition

Gabe Warshaw
(Tisch ITP '23)
Baton

Erica Ramos
(Stern '23)
Trousso

Adriana Letorney
(GSAS '21)
Visura

Christopher Mitchell, PhD
(Courant '15)
Geopipe

Kyleigh Russ
(Wagner '20)
Govern for America

Britt Martin
(GSAS '17)
Phases

Marcos Brisson
(Shanghai '23)
Kaizntree
NYU Entrepreneurial Institute Interns

Savannah Cribbs

(Steinhardt '24)

Is a senior majoring in Songwriting and Contemporary Production. She was born in North Carolina and transferred to NYU in fall 2021. Savannah is passionate about music-related entrepreneurship. She is driven in her creative works and has recently released an EP. She is currently writing an album, but in her free time, you can find her reading or exploring NYC parks.

Katie Wan

(CAS '24)

Is a senior majoring in Economics with a minor in Business Studies. She is from Shanghai, China, but she would also call New York home. Katie is very interested in learning and helping small businesses, so she is actively involved in related consulting clubs and activities. She also runs a podcast with friends to share various personal growth stories. During her free time, she loves visiting art museums, and she has even tried oil painting before.

Nicole Natal

(Steinhardt '24)

Is a senior studying Media, Culture, and Communications, with a minor in Psychology. She was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, but comes from a Peruvian, Spanish-Puerto Rican family, and has moved around the world 10 times. Nicole speaks English and Spanish fluently, and is currently working on her French. She loves to travel and try new things, and carries a wanderlust for life and the world. She is a singer who is passionate about music, entrepreneurship, fitness, and social impact.

Karen Xu

(Tisch IMA '25)

Is a junior majoring in Interactive Media Arts and minoring in Psychology. Her passion lies in the creation of immersive experiences through design and technology. She is interested in the unique blend of psychology and design, which enables her to understand and cater to human behavior. Karen's design approach draws inspiration from the nuances of daily life, with the ultimate aim of creating practical and business-aligned designs that establish deep emotional connections with users.

Maitri Choksey

(Stern '25)

Is a junior majoring in Business, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (BTE) with a minor in Computer Science. Her experience working with several startups across fintech, edtech, and AR/VR technologies has equipped her with a diverse range of skills. Her academic journey has blended finance, design thinking, and programming, giving her a multifaceted perspective. Driven by an unwavering passion for startups and innovation, Maitri aims to lead transformative projects that result in innovative solutions and positive change. Outside of her academic interests, she is part of the NYU Dillagi dance team and is an adventure sports enthusiast.

Rohan Sanghrajka

(CAS '25)

Is a junior studying Data Science and Business. His interests lie at the intersection of Finance and Technology, striving to uncover meaningful insights to drive informed decision-making. Actively involved in Scholars of Finance, Rohan is dedicated to serving the greater good using the greatest lever in the world: Finance. Prior to joining NYU, he co-founded a startup in media. Outside of his academic pursuits, Rohan is an avid reader and cricket fan.

Sofía Pecchio

(Nursing '27)

Is a Global Public Health and Nursing student. She is passionate about merging healthcare and technology through entrepreneurship. She believes using technology to improve healthcare services and outcomes will advance global health and ensure equitable access to care for all. With a strong passion for patient care and nursing, Sofía understands the importance of trust and commitment in healthcare platforms. She is interested in finding solutions that enhance the collaboration and trust between patients, healthcare teams, and providers. As an intern at the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute, Sofia is eager to explore and leverage her skills to impact healthcare entrepreneurship significantly.
Diversity Mission
New York University’s mission is to be a top quality international center of scholarship, teaching and research. NYU seeks to take academic and cultural advantage of its location and to embrace diversity among faculty, staff and students to ensure a wide range of perspectives, including international perspectives, in the educational experience.

NYU students come from nearly every state and 133 countries, and the university draws upon the diverse backgrounds of our faculty, staff, and students, ensuring its scholarship and teaching benefit from a wide range of perspectives. NYU takes seriously its role as an engine of social mobility, and stands out among the top US universities in its representation of low-income and first-generation students within its community.

Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Mission:

The NYU Entrepreneurial Institute is committed to creating a robust culture of diversity, equity and inclusion for the entire entrepreneurship community at NYU. This commitment led to the creation of Female Founders programming in 2017 and the launch of numerous Inclusive Entrepreneurship programs since. These initiatives provide extensive programming, expert coaching, and dedicated resources to help guide our uniquely global and diverse community toward startup success and a more inclusive future.

Learn more about NYU’s University-Wide Diversity Statement and Policies Here.

Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy:

The NYU Entrepreneurial Institute sees diversity, equity and inclusion as crucial to our mission and critical to ensuring the well-being of our community. To that end, we commit to:
- Help to ensure equity within our policies, programs, and services.
- Continually improve on and deliver culturally competent and bias-free programming, especially for application-based programs.
- Help to redefine and broaden understandings about what it takes to be a strong entrepreneur.
- Commit time and resources to ensure our boards create an inclusive culture where diverse leadership and gender equity are supported and valued.
- Advocate for and support board-level discussions about how systemic inequities impact our organization’s work so we can continuously improve.
- Pursue cultural competency throughout our organization through substantive training opportunities and formal, transparent policies and training requirements for Institute staff.
- Pool resources and expand offerings by collaborating exclusively with other organizations committed to DE&I across NYU and externally.
- Lead with respect and compassion. We expect all employees to embrace this notion and to express it in workplace interactions and through everyday practices.
- Report transparently on progress toward our DE&I goals on a semesterly basis.
Home: The Leslie eLab
The Mark and Debra Leslie Entrepreneurs Lab is a 6,800 sq-ft space where entrepreneurs from across NYU can connect, collaborate, and explore how to turn ideas and inventions into startups. The Leslie eLab offers a vast array of resources available to the NYU community, including:
- Open co-working space
- Meeting rooms for booking
- A wall for posting startup ideas and finding team members
- and more!
Learn more about the Leslie eLab.
Annual Report

See our impact through the years!

2021 Annual Report

2019 Annual Report

2018 Annual Report

2017 Annual Report

2016 Annual Report
Faculty Advisory Board

Our Faculty Advisory Board helps us address the needs of NYU faculty and researcher entrepreneurs. We thank them for their continued support of entrepreneurship at NYU!

Andre Fenton
Arts & Science Faculty

Andre Taylor
Tandon Faculty

Arun Sundararajan
Stern Faculty

Ashish Bhatia
Stern Faculty

Chris Dickey
Public Health Faculty

Dan O'Sullivan
Tisch Faculty

David Hollander
School of Professional Studies Faculty

David Heeger
Arts & Science Faculty

Debra Laefer
Tandon Faculty

Evan Korth
Courant Faculty

Ken Perlin
Courant Faculty

Kris Gunsalus
Arts & Science Faculty

Kurt Becker
Tandon Faculty

Larry Miller
Steinhardt Faculty

Louise Harpman
Gallatin Faculty

Luke DuBois
Tandon Faculty

Mattia Gilmartin
Rory Meyers Faculty

Michael Weinberg
Law Faculty

Nigel Bunnett
School of Dentistry Faculty

Richie Karaburun
School of Professional Studies Faculty

Scott Taitel
Wagner Faculty
Executive Advisory Board

We thank the fantastic group of experts in our Executive Advisory Board for their continued guidance and support of NYU entrepreneurship.

Ash Ashutosh

Is the founder and CEO of Actifio, a provider of storage software solutions. A serial entrepreneur and founder AppIQ and Serano Systems, Ash was previously a partner at Greylock Capital and served as VP and Chief Technologist at HP.

Clayton Bryan

(Stern '15)
Is an early stage venture investor and operator. Clayton has spent time at some of the most innovative companies in Silicon Valley. He has built expansive online communities, scaled marketplace businesses, and facilitated million dollar deals. At Yahoo he worked on award winning products and helped lead a team pioneer a new set of tools that started the social commerce movement. With Diversity as a guiding principle, Clayton has spent the entirety of his career within venture capital focused on supporting underrepresented founders.

Jeffrey Dachis

Is the founder and CEO of One Drop, a precision health company that's combining continuous diagnostics, predictive analytics, and machine learning in an award-winning digital solution to deliver cost-saving outcomes for people living with diabetes and other chronic conditions. Prior to that, Dachis co-founded digital marketing solution Razorfish and bootstrapped through it's $55 million IPO. He also founded social marketing and analytics startup Dachis Group, which was venture growth funded and sold to Sprinklr.

Di-Ann Eisnor

(Steinhardt '94)
Started the US office in 2009 and is now the CEO at byCore, where she is supporting the construction workforce of the future. Previously, she was the Director of Growth for crowd-sourced navigation and real-time traffic application at Waze (acquired by Google 2013).

Rich Fulop

(SPS '07, Stern '14)
Is the co-founder and CEO of Brooklinen. Prior to Brooklinen, Rich spent four years in the finance industry. He believes in responsive manufacturing, authentic customer service, supporting small-scale entrepreneurs, and giving back, for example by donating all Brooklinen returns. Rich is also a first-generation American, an avid skier, and a huge Arsenal fan.

William Grabe

(Heights '58)
Serves as an Advisory Director at General Atlantic LLC, a leading global private equity firm. Previously, he was a Managing Director at the firm, and before that was a VP and corporate officer at IBM.

Dr. Stacie Grossman Bloom

Is Vice Provost of Research at NYU. As Vice Provost, Dr. Bloom works closely with the president, provost, deans, faculty, and senior administrators to facilitate, energize, and grow the University's research enterprise and its impact.

Dr. Paul M. Horn

Is a Distinguished Scientist in Residence at NYU, and previously served as NYU's Senior Vice Provost for Research and Senior Vice Dean for Strategic Initiatives and Entrepreneurship, Tandon School of Engineering. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of the NY Academy of Science and is a founding partner of Venly Corp. He previously served as Senior VP and Director of Research at IBM.

Alex Iskold

(Courant '90)
Is a VC and managing director at 2048 Ventures. Previously, he was founder/CEO of Information Laboratory (acquired by IBM) and chief architect at DataSynapse (acquired by TIBCO). An engineer by training, Iskold has deep passion and appreciation for startups, digital products and elegant code.

Rajiv Khemani

(Courant '90)
Is co-founder & CEO of Auradine, a leader in web infrastructure solutions including blockchain, AI, and security. He has an accomplished record over 25+ years, building multiple billion-dollar businesses in the technology infrastructure area as co-founder/CEO of Innovium (acquired for $1.3B), COO of Cavium (IPO, followed by acquisition for $6B), and GM Intel (INTC). His focus areas include Cloud, Data Infrastructure, Web3, SaaS, and AI. Rajiv has served on the Management Board of the Stanford Business School. He holds an MBA from Stanford, an MS CS from NYU, and a BS in CS & Engineering from IIT Delhi.

Mark Leslie

(Heights-UCAS '66)
Is a Trustee at NYU and the Managing Director of Leslie Ventures, a private investment company. Previously, he ran three Silicon Valley startups, including Veritas Software where he was founding CEO. He is also a lecturer in management at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Jeff Levick

(CAS '93)
Is a a 20+ year veteran leading media, marketing and digital growth companies from early stage through IPO. He is currently the Executive Advisor and former COO of Redesign Health, a venture studio firm focused on the health and wellness vertical. Jeff was most recently the CEO of The Players’ Tribune, a new media company founded by Derek Jeter that provides athletes with a platform to connect directly with their fans.

Mike Montero

(CAS '96)
Is the Founder of Montero Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm for outstanding founders and businesses. Prior to this, he was VP of Global Mobile & Web Engineering at American Express, and the co-founder and CTO of Resy.

Kate Mulling

(Gallatin '06)
Is a co-founder and VP of Context and Brand at Thrive Market. Along with her co-founders, Mulling is creating a simple and affordable solution for democratizing access to healthy products and food — a membership-based wholesale buying club for the top natural brands. She leads the creative, content, marketing, and giving teams at Thrive Market, which went live in 2014 and has seen explosive growth since its launch. Previously, Mulling held positions at Condé Nast, Who What Wear, and Refinery29. She also founded The Chalkboard Magazine.

Nobu Nakaguchi

(Tisch '10)
Is the Chief Design Officer and Co-Founder of Zola, the wedding company reinventing the wedding planning and registry experience. Prior to Zola, Nobu worked in user experience design and product management for over 15 years.

Theo Nissim

Is a recognized Silicon Valley entrepreneur, expert and thought leader. He has a proven 20+ year track record of leading both pre-IPO startups and established companies, to growth and successful exits. He’s built and mentored dozens of top technical teams, designed strategies, and driven innovative products and solutions to market. His latest company, Gemini Solutions, was acquired by Thoughtworks, Inc., the world leader in high end software engineering consulting.

Vivek Ragavan

Is currently serving as the President & CEO of Airvine. Prior to that, he served as CEO at The Nalanda Project - Education Technology for underesourced Schools in India. Vivek has been a member of the Advisory Council at Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering since 2000. Other past roles include acting as the President, CEO, & Co-Founder of Siaras, a Board Member at PureWave Networks, President & CEO of Actelis Networks, CEO of XORP Inc., and CEO of Atrica.

Dr. Nedal Shami

(CAS '00)
Is a Co-Founder and the Chief Strategy Officer of CityMD Urgent Care. He has served in several academic and administrative roles, with appointments at both Saint Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital and The Valley Hospital. He continues to serve as an associate professor at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Sophie Stenbeck

(CAS '04)
Is an anchor LP and Senior Advisor for Max Ventures, an early stage venture fund that focuses on digital health, digital media, and digital commerce. Sophie has extensive experience investing globally for over a decade. She also co-founded Imperative, a company focused on bringing purpose to the work environment for the millennial generation. Additionally, Sophie is a dedicated philanthropist through the Sophie Stenbeck Family Foundation, focusing on child rights, education, and the fight against trafficking.

Dr. Jessica Swartz

(CAS '00)
Is a biopharmaceutical executive with 7+ years of experience in strategic advising, R&D, commercialization, and business development. She is a leading expert in regenerative medicine, neurology, psychiatry, and pain, and has previously served as a member of NYU's Board of Trustees.

David Tisch

(Law '06)
Is the Managing Partner of BoxGroup, a New York City-based early-stage investment fund. He is also the co-founder and Chairman of Spring, director of the Startup Studio at CornellTech and co-founder of TechStars NYC.
Partners & Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors and partners who make our work possible! Interested in becoming a partner and supporting our founders? Reach out to Frank Rimalovski at frank.rimalovski@nyu.edu.
Contact Us

Get in touch with us!

Interested in meeting with one of our coaches? Schedule a startup coaching appointment.

Interested in supporting our work? Make a charitable gift or reach out to Frank Rimalovski at frank.rimalovski@nyu.edu for partnership opportunities.

Want to spread the word about an opportunity or event to our audiences? Requests for content inclusion in our newsletters can be sent to entrepreneur@nyu.edu. You can review our newsletter inclusion policy here.

For all other inquiries, email entrepreneur@nyu.edu.

Back to Spaces & Community

NYU Entrepreneurial Institute Staff

Founders In Residence