Peer-to-Peer Payment App Paytera Takes First Place at the 2026 College New Venture Challenge

Published on Friday, March 6, 2026

Luis Carrillo, Paytera founder, at the 14th Annual College New Venture Challenge.

The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation has announced peer-to-peer payment app, Paytera, as the winner of the 14th Annual College New Venture Challenge (CNVC), with judges awarding $330,000 to finalists.

Taking first place and $85,000, Paytera is aiming to change how people send money in Mexico – enabling users to easily split bills, request money, and manage group expenses.

“Definitely in shock. I didn’t think I’d make it to the finals originally… but here we are,” said Luis Carrillo, Paytera founder, who is graduating this year from the College. “We’re working hard. This is my life now, and the only thing left is to make this go and scale.”

The seven finalist teams presented their business plans to a panel of more than 20 judges composed of investors, entrepreneurs, alumni, and faculty on Friday, March 6.

“What stands out about this year’s CNVC finalists is the breadth and depth of the problems they are tackling,” said Starr Marcello, AM ’04, MBA ’17, deputy dean for MBA programs at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and professor of the CNVC. “From construction and healthcare to accessibility, defense, fintech, and sports performance, these teams are applying cutting-edge technology to complex, real-world challenges. Their hard work and vision made this year’s competition especially compelling. We are incredibly proud of what they’ve done and excited to see how they continue to build beyond the CNVC.”

Each of the seven finalists received investment. Final placements and dollars invested:

First Place

Paytera ($85,000) // Paytera is a peer-to-peer payments app for everyday transactions between friends in Mexico. It enables users to send, request, and split money in under 20 seconds using usernames instead of bank account numbers, with group-native features designed for frequent, real-world shared expenses.

Second Place

HandsIn ($65,000) // HandsIn is an AI-driven American Sign Language (ASL) e-learning platform designed to eliminate the tradeoff learners face between accessibility and live feedback. Powered by proprietary Sign Language Correction (SLC) technology, HandsIn uses real-time computer vision and 3D avatar feedback to analyze handshape, movement, and spatial accuracy — transforming passive learning into active, muscle-memory-based practice.

Third Place

Haldune ($40,000) // Haldune builds debriefing technology that enables organizations across the military and private sector to systematically transfer experiential knowledge. Its platform structures and captures lessons learned across the full lifecycle of debriefing, knowledge management, and planning, enabling teams to systematically transfer what worked, what didn’t, and why.

Fourth Place (tie)

Hafestus ($50,000) // Hafestus is an AI platform that automates the most tedious parts of construction bidding. The platform helps contractors win more projects by identifying costly mistakes, decreasing drafting time, and cutting material costs.
Roony ($20,000) // Roony is an AI-powered claims resolution platform that recovers lost revenue for healthcare providers with autonomous voice agents that call insurance companies to resolve denied medical claims and clear A/R backlog. Its AI navigates phone systems, speaks with payer representatives, and learns from every call to improve future outcomes.

Fifth Place (tie)

Kinetide ($10,000) // Kinetide is a sports technology company developing a wearable analytics platform for competitive athletes. By combining motion sensors with performance analytics, Kinetide provides objective feedback on athletes’ technique and performance during training and competition, starting with competitive swimming and expanding into other technique-intensive sports.
Scout ($60,000) // Scout is a private markets infrastructure platform that connects emerging private fund managers with individual accredited investors through financial advisors. By standardizing manager discovery, diligence, and distribution, Scout enables RIAs to confidently allocate to differentiated private funds — expanding access and modernizing private markets distribution.

*After voting was concluded, additional investments were made, so dollar amounts are not indicative of placing.

The CNVC is the undergraduate track of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business’ New Venture Challenge – one of the top-ranked accelerator programs in the nation – and is open to returning undergraduate students from UChicago.

The program consists of a credit-bearing course at Chicago Booth during the winter quarter that culminates in a venture launch competition.

Thank you to CNVC’s executive sponsor Adarsh Sarma, MBA ’01, and Charu Sarma. Other sponsors of the program included Caruso Ventures, Denton’s, David A. Daigle, MBA ’94, and Elizabeth Daigle, Paul Marushka, AB ’90, MBA ’93, and Carl Meyer, AB ’91, MBA ’92, and Kristin Meyer.

Learn more about the CNVC >>