The Polsky Center Announces the Inaugural AI Research Commons Midwest Fellows Program Cohort

The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation today announced the inaugural cohort of startups selected to participate in the AI Research Commons (ARC) Midwest Fellows Program, a highly selective initiative designed to support inception-stage artificial intelligence companies emerging from leading Midwest research universities.

Launched in collaboration with the AI Research Commons (ARC), Microsoft, and NVIDIA, the program connects high-potential AI founders with infrastructure, mentorship, and national investor networks to help accelerate commercialization and company growth.

The selected startups represent a range of AI sectors, including motion intelligence, machine learning infrastructure, AI verification and quality control, and performance engineering for AI infrastructure and agentic systems.

The cohort includes:

INRTL – Karan Ahuja, Northwestern University // Building the first foundation model for inertial data, transforming motion sensors in billions of devices into a universal intelligence layer for XR, robotics, defense, and health.

Perforated AI – Rorry Brenner, Carnegie Mellon University // Empowers ML engineers to build smarter, smaller, more efficient AI models.

SAI Labs – Chenhao Tan, University of Chicago // SAI builds the quality layer for scientific and financial knowledge work.

Stealth – Arnab Nandi, The Ohio State University // Human-in-the-loop AI infrastructure for enterprises.

Stealth – Rakesh Kumar, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign // AI-powered performance engineering platform that generates high-performance code for AI infrastructure and agentic AI systems.

“The Midwest is producing some of the most promising AI research and technical talent in the world, but founders often need more than strong technology to build successful companies,” said Samir Mayekar, managing director of the Polsky Center. “This program gives startups direct access to the infrastructure, mentorship, and investor networks needed to accelerate commercialization and build industry-defining companies.”

As part of the program, selected companies receive:

• Up to $350K in Startup credits on eligible services through Microsoft for Startups, access to leading AI models through Azure, 1:1 technical guidance from Microsoft experts, and discounts on essential tools like GitHub, Microsoft 365, and LinkedIn Premium.
• Benefits from NVIDIA’s Inception Program for Startups, including access to the latest developer tools and training, preferred pricing on NVIDIA hardware and software, exclusive offers from partners, and exposure to a global ecosystem of investors.
• Hands-on mentorship from experienced AI operators, researchers, and investors.
• Co-working space at Third Coast Foundry, located in San Francisco’s AI corridor.
• An invitation to present to AI Pathfinders at Mayfield, an exclusive community of leading AI founders, operators, and industry executives.
• An opportunity to showcase at Mayfield AI Start, a curated gathering of emerging AI-focused venture capital managers.

Participating startups will also gain direct access to Bay Area investors, technical advisors, and commercialization support.

“The companies selected for this inaugural cohort reflect the depth of AI innovation emerging from Midwest research institutions,” said Ajay Singh, cofounder, AI Research Commons. “These founders are tackling important challenges with the potential for real-world impact across industries. By combining university research strength with hands-on support from experienced operators, investors, and technical partners, we look forward to helping these teams move more quickly from breakthrough innovations to scalable companies.”

The program is open to faculty, students, and researchers from the eight Midwest research universities that are part of Third Coast Foundry, including Carnegie Mellon University, Northwestern University, The Ohio State University, Purdue University, University of Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Washington University in St. Louis. Announced earlier this year, Third Coast Foundry is a new San Francisco–based hub designed to strengthen the Midwest’s collective presence in one of the world’s most active venture ecosystems.

“This cohort reflects the next generation of AI entrepreneurs tackling meaningful problems across industries,” said Vijay Reddy, general partner at Mayfield AI. “We’re excited to help connect them with the mentorship, infrastructure, and investor networks needed to scale.”

Working alongside university innovation and entrepreneurship teams across Third Coast Foundry institutions, ARC and partner universities selected the inaugural cohort through a competitive review process focused on technical innovation, commercialization potential, and founding team strength.

Learn more about the ARC Midwest Fellows Program.