Student Builders to Watch: The Ventures Shaping What's Next at Yale
Across labs, dorm rooms, rehearsal spaces, and late-night work sessions at Tsai CITY, students are building, not just for class credit, but in response to real problems, real communities and real questions about how the future should look.
Some are launching climate solutions and AI platforms. Others are creating new models in healthcare, fashion, finance, and the arts. Together, they represent a generation of student builders turning ideas into ventures and experimentation into impact.
From early-stage innovations to ventures already gaining traction, these are the student builders shaping what’s next, and the ones you’ll want to be watching.
Studio B-Du
Founder(s): Brenton Duhan (ARC ’26)
What they’re building:
Studio B-Du is a ceramics and design venture that combines handcrafted functional pottery, instructional templates, and digital content to make high-quality craft more accessible.
Why it matters:
Ceramics is often seen as a specialized craft that requires expensive equipment, formal training, and access to studio space. Lowering these barriers allows more people to participate in making and expands who gets to shape contemporary craft and design culture.
Why they’re one to watch:
Studio B-Du is bridging craft and creator economy. With more than 356,000 followers and products that regularly sell out, the venture shows how design expertise, community learning, and digital platforms can transform traditional craft into a scalable creative business.
SkySoil
Founder(s): Luke Schubert (YSE ’27), Andrew Saah (YSE ’27)
What they’re building:
SkySoil develops digital monitoring tools that help farmers measure regenerative agriculture practices and verify soil carbon impact.
Why it matters:
Farmers play a critical role in climate solutions, but verifying regenerative practices is costly and complex. Without reliable measurement tools, farmers often struggle to access carbon markets and sustainability incentives that reward climate-positive agriculture.
Why they’re one to watch:
By helping farmers verify soil, SkySoil could unlock carbon markets that financially reward regenerative agriculture, creating incentives for climate-positive farming at scale.
BridgePath Technologies
Founder(s): Chloe Yu (SOM ’28)
What they’re building:
BridgePath is a mentorship platform designed to help students and early-career professionals navigate transitions from education to meaningful careers.
Why it matters:
Access to mentorship and professional networks often determine who learns about opportunities and who gets left behind. When that access is uneven, talented students, especially first-generation and underrepresented individuals, can struggle to navigate early career decisions.
Why they’re one to watch:
BridgePath is exploring how mentorship can move beyond informal networks by building systems that make career guidance more accessible and scalable for students who need it most.
Rosetint Community Theatre
Founder(s): Charlotta Lebedenko (MED ’32)
What they’re building:
Rosetint Community Theatre is a student-led production company creating immersive theatrical experiences that blend performance, community engagement, and social storytelling.
Why it matters:
The arts remain one of the most powerful ways to explore social questions and bring communities together. Expanding opportunities for experimental, student-led theater opens space for new voices and storytelling approaches.
Why they’re one to watch:
Rosetint is experimenting with new performance formats, including immersive productions and community-centered performances that brings audiences closer to the storytelling process.
QuarterMill
Founder(s): Keith Pemberton (YC ’27)
What they’re building:
QuarterMill is a multi-agent AI orchestration platform that helps organizations deploy and coordinate complex AI workflows.
Why it matters:
Companies are rapidly adopting AI tools, but most operate independently. Without systems that coordinate how these tools interact, organizations struggle to move beyond isolated experiments and fully integrate AI into real workflows.
Why they’re one to watch:
QuarterMill is working on infrastructure designed for multi-agent AI systems, an emerging area focused on enabling multiple AI models to collaborate within coordinated workflows rather than operating as standalone tools.
KarinaJ Denim
Founder(s): Karina Johnson (SOM ’26)
What they’re building:
KarinaJ Denim is a fashion venture focused on custom denim pieces designed to celebrate individuality and craftsmanship.
Why it matters:
In a world of mass-produced clothing, bespoke fashion offers a way for consumers to reconnect with craftsmanship and personal style.
Why they’re one to watch:
KarinaJ Denim is building a brand around customization, creativity, and wearable art.
Safari Strives
Founder(s): Elie Imani (GRD ’27)
What they’re building:
Safari Strives is a nonprofit venture in Rwanda focused on transforming precarious labor into stable employment through workforce training and entrepreneurship support.
Why it matters:
Unstable employment can trap individuals and families in cycles of economic insecurity, limiting opportunities for long-term financial stability and community development.
Why they’re one to watch:
Safari Strives is building a community-driven model that connects job training, economic opportunity, and local entrepreneurship. This approach is designed not only to create jobs, but to help communities generate their own economic opportunities.
C:HET
Founder(s): Kal Leung (SOM ’27)
What they’re building:
C:HET is a credit card designed to automatically invest a portion of everyday spending into long-term investment portfolios.
Why it matters:
Many young adults want to build wealth but feel overwhelmed by traditional financial tools and complex entry points. When people delay investing, they miss years of potential long-term financial growth.
Why they’re one to watch:
C:HET is exploring how investing can be integrated directly into everyday spending habits, lowering barriers for younger generations to begin building wealth.
Solaris
Founder(s): Jon-Michael Taylor (MUS ’27), Hirad Moradi-Lakeh (MUS ’27)
What they’re building:
Solaris is a student-led chamber ensemble built around collaboration, leadership, and vision-driven performance.
Why it matters:
Classical music is often structured around established institutions and traditional pathways, which can make it difficult for emerging artists to experiment and lead their own creative projects.
Why they’re one to watch:
By building a musician-led performance platform, Solaris is modeling a new path for emerging artists, one where musicians shape their own artistic communities rather than waiting for traditional institutions to define them.
Havn
Founder(s): Bhavya Chauhan (SOM ’26)
What they’re building:
Havn is a digital health platform embedded in electronic health records that uses clinical and demographic data to match patients and caregivers with financial assistance, education, and support programs they qualify for.
Why it matters:
Millions of patients qualify for pharmaceutical and nonprofit support programs but never access them because navigating healthcare resources is complex and time-consuming.
Why they’re one to watch:
By embedding support discovery directly into clinical workflows, Havn could transform how patients access critical resources that would connect people to assistance automatically rather than leaving it to chance.
From climate technology to creative performances, these ventures reflect the range of ideas taking shape across the Tsai CITY ecosystem. Some are preparing to pitch at Startup Yale this spring, while others are still experimenting, building and growing their communities. Together, they offer a glimpse of the many ways students at Yale are turning ideas into action and shaping what comes next.