Uplift Mentorship Summit

Uplift Summit 2026

The Uplift Summit is the culminating celebration of TechUnited's 2026 Uplift program.

After a summer of mentorship, education, and momentum, founders, mentors, and the TechUnited community will come together to celebrate everything this summer's program has accomplished. With multiple cohorts running simultaneously, this has been our largest and most connected Uplift program yet, bringing together entrepreneurs from across New Jersey to learn from one another, build lasting relationships, and move their businesses forward.

The Summit is a celebration of the progress made over the past several months and an opportunity to strengthen the relationships that will continue long after the program ends.

We've also invited mentors, TechUnited members, regional ecosystem partners, board members, angel investors, and supporters from across New Jersey to celebrate alongside the cohort and continue building connections with the founders shaping the state's innovation ecosystem.

What to Expect

4:00–5:15 PM | Arrival, Networking & Interactive Stations
Check in, grab a slice of pizza and a drink, reconnect with the Uplift community, and meet founders, mentors, TechUnited members, regional ecosystem partners, board members, angel investors, and supporters from across New Jersey.

During this hour you'll be able to:

Record your 60-Second Pitch Challenge video at the TechUnited Pitch Booth.

Grab a Table Topic for a prompt to help break the ice - discuss fundraising, AI, customer discovery, go-to-market strategy, hiring, founder wellbeing, and more.

Visit the Thank You Card Station to write a handwritten note to your mentor, a fellow peer, or someone who made a meaningful impact on your Uplift journey.

Connect with mentors and fellow founders through intentional networking designed to spark meaningful conversations.

5:15–6:30 PM | Founder Pitch Showcase & Send Off

We'll gather for the evening's featured program.

Founder Pitch Showcase
Three Uplift founders will take the stage to showcase their companies in a live pitch competition.

Each founder will have:

Five minutes to pitch their business

Five minutes of audience Q&A

At the end of the showcase, attendees will vote to select the Audience Choice Award winner.

Graduation Celebration
We'll recognize the commitment of this year's founders, celebrate the mentors who dedicated their time and expertise throughout the summer, and officially graduate the 2026 Uplift cohort.

6:30–7:00 PM | Community Celebration & Final Networking

Stick around for one last chance to connect before the evening concludes.

The 60-Second Pitch Challenge will reopen for anyone who didn't get a chance to record earlier, and you'll have time to continue conversations, exchange contact information, and celebrate the end of an incredible summer together.

FAQs

What is the 60-Second Pitch Challenge Station?
Every founder deserves a chance to tell their story.

Throughout the evening, founders can step into the TechUnited:NJ Pitch Booth to record a 60-second video introducing their company, product, or mission. A member of the TechUnited team will be there to help guide the conversation, ask questions if needed, and make the experience feel more like a founder interview than simply speaking into a camera.

What are Table Topics?
Networking doesn't have to start with small talk. Throughout the venue, themed discussion cards that make it easy to start a conversations around important topic including fundraising, AI, customer discovery, go-to-market strategy, hiring, operations, founder wellbeing, and building community.

What is the Thank You Card Station?
Mentorship is at the heart of Uplift, but gratitude extends far beyond the program.

Throughout the evening, we'll have a station with cards and supplies where anyone can write a handwritten note to someone who has made a difference in their journey.

For founders, that might be a mentor, fellow founder, speaker, or someone from this summer's cohort. If you're joining us as a mentor, guest, investor, or member of the broader community, we invite you to participate too. Think about the person who changed the trajectory of your career, offered a piece of advice that reshaped your thinking, opened a door when you needed it most, or believed in you before anyone else did.

Too often, those people never hear the impact they had.

Whether you hand them your note at the Summit or mail it afterward, we hope you'll take a few minutes to tell someone, "Thank you." Sometimes the most meaningful thing you can leave an event with isn't a new connection—it's the chance to recognize someone who made your journey possible.

Looking Beyond the Program

While the Summit marks the conclusion of this summers's program, we hope it's only the beginning of each founder's connection to the TechUnited community.

Our goal has always been bigger than delivering educational sessions or matching mentors. We hope every founder leaves Uplift with stronger relationships, greater clarity, new resources, trusted mentors, and a community they'll continue to lean on as they grow their business.

Entrepreneurship can be challenging, but it doesn't have to be built alone. We're excited to continue cheering on this cohort long after graduation and remain a small part of their entrepreneurial journey.

Get a Look Into Who the Mentees Are

One mission, to build something that matters. From a first-ever laundromat in Princeton to AI-powered legal tech, genomics platforms to CPG beauty discovery, our Uplift cohort represents some of the most diverse and driven early-stage founders in the region. Engineers, clinicians, students, veterans, professors, and career-pivoters — all in the same room, building toward something real.

⭐ Gifty Anane · Wash Lodge · Opening the first ever laundromat in Princeton (historic bylaws just changed) · Born in Ghana
⭐ Annalyce D'Agostino-Gavin · Focus Posters · At the intersection of parent tech, ed tech, and health tech · Graduating from a Nasdaq cohort tomorrow
⭐ Bejan Moers · United Solution · Pivoted to a mixed-use renewable energy development site on the east coast · Currently raising
⭐ Alisha Sharma · Undecided · Software engineer in fintech by day building iOS apps on the side
⭐ Ekaterina Kashkina · Stealth molecular diagnostics startup · Spinout from Rowan University, IP secured, looking for first financing
⭐ Elaf Mahmoud · Elune Health · NJIT electrical engineering student building in the femtech space
⭐ Emilia Savich · AnatomyQuest · Co-founder democratizing anatomy and physiology education · Just graduated from NJIT
⭐ Han Nguyen · Ox Group · Doing roll-up acquisitions in plumbing, electrical, and HVAC · Princeton senior · Former Marine Corps veteran
⭐ Lianna LaRiccia · EduTrend · Co-founder of autism data tracking platform that started as a Stevens capstone and went full-time
⭐ Justin Savage · STEAM FOR ME · Ed tech company with NSF funding · Self-taught electrical, mechanical, and software engineer
⭐ Pearl Gabel · TBD · Aspiring founder in branding, storytelling, and education · Created the viral Voice of New Jersey social media identity as the governor's comms person
⭐ Tosca Marleen · Tend to Belle · CPG discovery platform for pre-retail emerging beauty brands
⭐ Shounak Thaker · Arnex Solutions LLC
⭐ Adeola Adeoye-Davids · Local Window · Hyper-local confirmed-impression advertising platform · Nigerian · Has been intentionally leaning into in-person connection over digital
⭐ Alok Rai · Dumroo.ai · Education intelligence layer working with 3 NJ school districts
⭐ Angela Aricatt · Get Empathix · Clinical psychologist turned tech founder at NJIT · Proficient classical dancer
⭐ Debbie Douglas-Henry · 3DHR Consulting · Made her 5-to-9 her 9-to-5 after a 2024 layoff
⭐ Evan Peneiras · Nooriva · Smart glasses for glaucoma patients · Rutgers medical student · Speaks Portuguese
⭐ Neha Chopade · Meta · Researcher with a solid new idea brewing · Previously taught Hindi and math in NYC after being inspired by a French film
⭐ Paula Machado Jackler · Ozzie · Personal finance platform for Latino immigrants · From Brazil
⭐ Pierre Girgis · Veriflo LLC · Trusted layer for AI content access and monetization
⭐ Rachel Hayes · Ravel Genetics · Health intelligence platform built on genomics · Has a PhD in genetics
⭐ Radha Ratnala · Rekogni AI · Agentic platform giving time back to software engineering teams · AWS and DoorDash alum
⭐ Shell Bobev · Disrupt The Gap · Compensation equity platform
⭐ Stephanie Cwynar · Pinterest
⭐ Pradeep Kumar Gohil · World Micro Stock Vinimay USA LLC
⭐ Idongesit Obeya · Altruistic Scribe
⭐ Jean Guerdy Paul · TETHRRA
⭐ Abhi Ray · Freelance Software Engineer
⭐ Shanthi Viswanathan · Infivista Inc
⭐ Aliya Laliwala · Campus Marketplace · Student buy, sell, and services platform · Just graduated NJIT last week · Won first place in her capstone · Black belt in martial arts
⭐ Andrea Vernengo · TrueSkin · Beauty tech company · Chemical engineering professor at Rowan · Core technology originated from lab research she did studying abroad in Switzerland
⭐ Ebunoluwa Adenekan · KLA Corporation · Engineer by day building toward designing his own hardware, emulator, or game IP
⭐ Kevin Navarro · MechSense Labs · Semi-autonomous surveying rover for hazardous and contaminated sites · NJIT team of three
⭐ Naveen Kumar · Truxt · AI ROI platform for enterprise · 11 years in devops and software engineering · Wrote, composed, and performed a brand new original song in just 2 days for a community gathering
⭐ Nina Mladenovski · Zenia Graph · Ethical AI with knowledge graphs for insurance, fintech, and wealth management · Co-founded with her father · Visiting her 50th country, South Korea, later this year
⭐ Parminder Singh · DeepInspect.ai · AI security and compliance platform · Competed in his first official powerlifting meet earlier this year
⭐ Rajesh Ivaturi · SekurAI · Agentic penetration testing platform · 15 plus years in infosec, ex-Citibank CISO · Solo founder · Certified meditation trainer
⭐ Maab Iqbal · TBD
⭐ Logan Jones · ticker
⭐ Sharon Joseph · CREWASIS.AI
⭐ Abhaya Pawar · Ilika LLC
⭐ Mehul Sompura · Diamond Hedge
⭐ Harshil Thakkar · Newyorklife
⭐ Britney Medich · Brooklyn Navy Yard · Workforce development background · Also owns a bar and restaurant in Jersey City Heights
⭐ Daniel Lee · Bruce AI (OnwardJustice Inc.) · AI legal tech company · Just wrapped an accelerator in Brooklyn
⭐ Eliana Zebro · Freelance Audio (Pre-LLC) · 11 years in freelance audio across podcasting, film, and video games
⭐ Stephanie Scott-Bradshaw · First and Last PR · 14-year-old firm obsessed with how brands show up in AI and GEO · Former beauty editor · Also co-founded Double Love to celebrate blended parenthood with pop-ups
⭐ Jeremy Ruiz Villavicencio · Menti · Early stage idea connecting local tutors with an AI layer · Lives in Linden
⭐ Kima D'Anjou · The Keenly Group LLC · Strategy and management consulting for founders and CEOs · Ridgewood, NJ · Started her career as a software engineer before pivoting into consulting
⭐ Lina Escobar · Sweet Aurora Soap & Candle · Started formulating candles and bath products during her autoimmune diagnosis in 2020 lockdown · Slogan is a little pampering now and then doesn't hurt
⭐ Mohammad Saleh Nikoopayan Tak · TasteTwin AI · Next generation food and restaurant discovery platform connecting people by culinary taste · PhD candidate at NJIT
⭐ Natalie Kitts · The Zigzag Flow · Autism therapy services in an emerging neurodiversity-affirming market
⭐ Priyal Levine · Wisdom & Wonder Wellness · Yoga teacher studying to become a yoga therapist · Once worked for Oprah's production company Harpo in college
⭐ Soheil Khosravinejad · DRIFTLANE · Creative and design services as an extension of client teams
⭐ Angie Tirado · Fluenci · B2B micro-influencer marketplace · NJIT rising sophomore · Has been freelancing in social media since high school
⭐ Elisa Charters · Juegos AI Lab
⭐ Andrea Ferguson Peterson · Everyday Unstoppable
⭐ Saurabh Gandhe · Creative Sprouts Inc
⭐ Jasmin Jones · JP Morgan Chase
⭐ Chandni Patel · BOA (startup name undecided)
⭐ Daniel Patton · DreamEngine AI
⭐ Jordan-River Samuel · tapyoca
⭐ Chirag Shah · Crestwood Digital
⭐ Gunjan Aggarwal · Virre

Date: Tuesday, August 4, 2026
Time: 4-7pm
Location: Antique Lofts, Hoboken, NJ