Summertime Innovation at Tsai CITY: Meet the 2024 Summer Fellows

We’re turning up the heat at Tsai CITY this summer with thirteen teams participating in our Summer Fellows program to continue innovating after the semester ends. The Tsai CITY Summer Fellowship is a multi-week, full-time accelerator program to help new companies, nonprofits, and initiatives design, refine, iterate, and launch their vision. Summer Fellows come to the program to address a range of venture development topics for products in sustainability, medical technology, immigration, and more. Each team receives a $15,000 grant as well as tailored mentorship advice and high-quality training in key areas like lean startup methods, design thinking, and adaptive leadership.

For ventures like Matcha Scrubs, the Summer Fellowship offers an opportunity to delve deeper into complex market challenges that arose during the semester. “Matcha Scrubs is in a unique position, combining the worlds of healthcare and consumer products,” shared founder MiChaela Barker, SOM ’24. “Blending these worlds has unique challenges, and the Tsai CITY Summer Fellowship would be instrumental in allowing me to explore and overcome these complexities, and deliver an amazing product to the community and beyond.” Other ventures, like TaeSun, are using momentum from the Fellowship to officially launch their product:

“The Summer Fellowship would be a pivotal turning point for TaeSun. It would provide us with the focused time, resources, and mentorship to address several vital steps we cannot execute as a bootstrapped startup. This fellowship could transform TaeSun from a promising concept into a ready-to-launch product, ultimately saving lives.”

With ventures spanning multiple industries and backgrounds, we’re excited to experience the breadth of innovation represented by this summer’s cohort. Meet the 2024 Summer Fellows below (in alphabetical order):

Crew Dog
Constantine Polychronopoulos (YC '25)
An affordable and more fashionable clothing brand for college campuses

EV.com
Joel Li (SOM '25)
a marketplace dedicated to all things Electonic Vehicles

EVident Battery
Jinqiang Ning (SOM '25)
EVident Battery reveals the truth value of EVs for buyers and sellers.

Guideli
Oyebade Adepegba (SOM '24), Daniel Jayeoba
Guideli is solving the frustration immigrants face in navigating complex immigration processes and settlement hurdles in their new countries.

LeanCon
Ziv Levi (SOM '24), Sapir Tubul
LeanCon is an AI powered software, assisting construction companies in automating project planning and management, cutting down both costs and time.

Matcha Scrubs
MiChaela Barker (SOM '24)
Matcha Scrubs is an inclusive scrub cap line that creates satin-lined scrub caps to protect all hair textures while celebrating cultural hairstyles and backgrounds in the healthcare world.

PartsMatch
Griffin Wilson (YC '25), Skyler Wilson (YC '23), Marisa Shorrock (YC '24)
PartsMatch address companies' challenges with parts procurement, distribution and inventory management, especially obsolete and slow-moving inventory.

Replica
Mauricio Chiong (SOM '24), Rhys Hamilton-Davies (SOM '24), Jacopo Lazzarin (SOM '24)
Replica is an AI-powered platform enabling brands to create ads with legally licensed celebrity images, streamlining ad production and offering a cost-effective alternative to traditional photo shoots and marketing processes.

Stealth Startup (TBA)
Working on an exciting tech-enabled solution that has a definable go-to-market strategy... stay tuned!

Taesun
Chandra Fincke (YC '24), Dr. Jeanie Chung
The TaeSun device is an innovative, portable solution for detecting fentanyl in substances, offering quick, reliable results. Designed for use in various settings, it simplifies drug testing, promotes safety, and aids in overdose prevention by integrating crushing, solvent dispensing, and test strip reading into one user-friendly apparatus.

Whiskey Bravo
Benjamin Barkoff (YC '27), Rhia Gupta
Whiskey Bravo works to improve the lives of military families while teaching youth about service and leadership.

Win Number
Nicole Morrison (SOM '25)
Win Number blends advanced analytics and persuasion science for progressive campaigns.

Xiao's Social Media
Xiao Xue (SOM '24)
Xiao's Social Media concentrates on course development for young people.

*If a venture listed requires changes or updates, please email Sean, Assistant Director of Digital Communications at Tsai CITY, at sean.plummer@yale.edu.