The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has announced the seven finalists for the second annual Grainger Engineering Tech Startup Challenge. The student-led startups will pitch for a share of $200,000 in funding and prizes at the finals on Tuesday, Oct. 20, part of the Chicago Venture Summit: Future of Health 2026 — one of the city’s signature gatherings for emerging technology and entrepreneurship.
Launched last year, the Grainger Engineering Tech Startup Challenge aims to foster the next generation of entrepreneurs, providing a platform for student startups to accelerate their growth and impact. The event comes as the Landuyt Center for Entrepreneurship expands to Chicago with a permanent presence at the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI), which anchors the Urbana-to-Chicago innovation corridor.
“The Grainger Engineering Tech Startup Challenge creates a bridge between top student startups from across the Midwest and the country and Chicago’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. By bringing these founders together with investors, experienced entrepreneurs and industry leaders, we’re helping them build the relationships, gain the feedback and access the capital they need to turn promising technologies into companies with real-world impact right here in Chicago,” said Jed Taylor, assistant dean for innovation and entrepreneurship and executive director of the Landuyt Center for Entrepreneurship.
The Grainger Engineering Tech Startup Challenge received more than 100 applications from 35 universities nationwide and internationally. This year's finalists represent five universities in the U.S. and Canada. Their technologies span sustainable materials, space systems, robotics, surgical imaging, construction materials and AI.
“What an incredible showcase of entrepreneurial talent! These seven outstanding teams, together with an exceptional panel of judges, highlight the strength and excitement of university-driven innovation. Events like this reinforce Chicago’s growing reputation as a premier destination for entrepreneurship and innovation. We’re especially grateful to our terrific partners at World Business Chicago for helping us bring this talent, expertise and opportunity together,” said John Thode, director of entrepreneurship at DPI.
A panel of 17 judges will evaluate the pitches, bringing expertise that spans the full startup life cycle. The panel includes partners at Chicago and Midwest venture capital firms and angel networks, leaders of startup accelerators and innovation hubs, experienced founders, operators and a corporate attorney who advises companies from formation through exit. Together, they invest in and advise companies from pre-seed through the growth stage, across deep tech, hard tech, AI and infrastructure.
The 2026 Finalists
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Aura Life Science (University of Chicago): Engineers photosynthetic microbes to produce proteins from light and carbon dioxide with a carbon-negative footprint and projected costs up to 75% lower than conventional protein production.
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Graphonos Materials (University of Pittsburgh): Produces battery-grade graphite from domestic ethane with more than 90% lower greenhouse gas emissions.
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Kalman Space (Purdue University): Lowers the cost of the star-tracking cameras satellites use to orient themselves by shifting the hard work from hardware to software.
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Kestrel Robotics (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign): Builds the Omnidrone, an eight-rotor drone that moves without tilting and serves as a testbed for spacecraft.
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NerView Surgical (McMaster University): Develops NerveSense, a real-time, dye-free, contact-free imaging system designed to let surgeons see peripheral nerves.
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Rapid Analytix Division (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign): Gives cement and concrete producers a measurement of material reactivity in about five minutes, rather than the weeks performance tests can take.
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TopCited AI (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign): Helps brands improve how AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Gemini describe and recommend them.
This year's challenge is sponsored by Cooley, a global law firm that represents high-growth companies and the investors who back them; Caruso Ventures, the investment firm founded by Grainger Engineering alumnus Dan Caruso; and EnterpriseWorks, the U. of I. Research Park's startup incubator. All three are consistent supporters of the U. of I.’s growing entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Connect With the Founders at TechNexus
The conversation continues the morning after the Grainger Engineering Tech Startup Challenge finals at Reinventing Industry: Future of Health, an official companion breakfast to the Chicago Venture Summit. TechNexus is hosting the event in partnership with The Grainger College of Engineering and the Landuyt Center.
The breakfast brings together founders, investors, researchers, health system leaders and corporate innovators. Attendees can explore select startup showcases featuring Grainger Engineering Tech Startup Challenge teams and other founders working across hard tech, clean tech, medical tech and digital tech.
The breakfast runs from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, at TeamWorking by TechNexus. Request to join the event now.
Stay tuned to find out who will win the 2026 Grainger Engineering Tech Startup Challenge.