Student ventures take center stage at 2026 Blaze Challenge

April 22, 2026

Group of eight participants standing on a stage in front of a banner that reads “UIC Innovation Investigating Innovation.” The participants hold oversized checks from the 2026 Blaze Venture Challenge. Visible checks include: “Audience Favorite – $500,” “Winner – $1,500,” “First Place Winner – $5,000,” and “Second Place Winner – $3,500.” The checks display the Blaze Venture Challenge logo and the date April 14, 2026. The stage has a wood floor, and the banner is white with red and blue text.
Students who won top honors in the 2026 Blaze Venture Challenge received prizes worth up to $5,000.

The fourth annual Blaze Venture Challenge — UIC’s campuswide pitch competition for early-stage, student-led ventures — took place at Student Center East on April 14.

This year, nearly 80 students across seven UIC colleges submitted 31 venture ideas, which they presented in five-minute video pitches. These semifinalist submissions were evaluated by a panel of UIC faculty and staff from UIC Business, the Innovation Center and the UIC Library. From this group, eight ventures were chosen for students to pitch live at the Blaze Finals.

Finalists were evaluated by a distinguished panel of Chicago-area founders with UIC ties, including Dr. Lyle Berkowitz (KeyCare), Brittany Chibe (Aqua Cultured Foods), Patrick Tannous (Tiesta Tea) and Raj Tank (Engenuity Fiber), alongside investor judges Nancy Harvey and Brian Hopcraft.

Top honors and the $5,000 first-place prize were awarded to LingoVerse, an immersive language-learning platform pitched by Polina Heranina (College of Business Administration, entrepreneurship). Second place ($3,500) went to CrimsonMoon, a health-tech solution developed by a team of biomedical engineering undergraduates — Swathy Ajikumar, Annette Botanga, Mereum Fernando, Sofya Kristesashvili and Aida Starr-Alarcon — focused on monitoring postpartum blood loss for timely intervention. Third place ($1,500) was awarded to Rasheedah Na’Allah (sociology and entrepreneurship) for AssistHer, a platform centered on skill-sharing and community-building among women.

The Blaze Venture Challenge marks the culmination of the 2025-26 UIC Spark Series, a campuswide initiative designed to make entrepreneurship accessible and actionable for all UIC students. The program is supported by UIC College of Business Administration and the UIC Innovation Center.

— Dan Hogan, UIC College of Business Administration 

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