Record-Breaking $435,000 Awarded at 19th Annual Global New Venture Challenge; Phinorm, Morton Labs Tie for First Place
Phinorm provides on-device drone detection software for defense sensors, while Morton Labs is building computational infrastructure to accelerate fusion energy research.
The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation today announced the winners of the 19th Annual Global New Venture Challenge (GNVC), where a record $435,000 was awarded to ventures led by Chicago Booth Executive MBA students. All participants received some investment.
This year’s first-place winners are Phinorm, which provides on-device drone classification and location software for defense sensors, and Morton Labs, a computational science venture building digital infrastructure for fusion energy research.
Phinorm and Morton Labs were awarded $185,000 and $150,000, respectively, as part of this year’s record investment pool. After voting concluded, additional investments were made, so dollar amounts are not indicative of placing.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the support we’ve received from the faculty, our advisors, the Polsky Center, and the other students and teams who participated in this challenge,” said Zachary Hinek, cofounder and CEO of Morton Labs. “It’s clear that the University of Chicago has one of the best accelerators for startups and entrepreneurs to build their businesses.”
“This is especially close to my heart, having family in Ukraine,” said Philipp Gschoepf, CEO of Phinorm, which develops on-device drone classification and location software for defense sensors. “Every bit of support for our enterprise helps address a situation that none of us want to see and none of us want to experience in reality. We are deeply grateful for this overwhelming support.”
Now in its 19th year, the GNVC is a track of the top-ranked New Venture Challenge and is designed exclusively for Chicago Booth’s Executive MBA students. It debuted in 2008 to accommodate the growing entrepreneurial aspirations of Booth’s Executive MBA students across each of its three global campuses — Chicago, Hong Kong, and London.
“The Global New Venture Challenge is where our Executive MBA students rigorously test their entrepreneurial ideas, not just in concept, but in terms of market need, business model, founder readiness, and more,” said Alyssa Rapp, faculty lead for the GNVC and adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. “This year’s finalists showed impressive range, with ventures addressing challenges in healthcare technology, advanced energy, skilled trades education, aged care, consumer technology, wellness, and security. It has been exciting to see these teams sharpen their thinking, respond to feedback, and build more compelling businesses throughout the process.”
The seven finalists were selected to participate in the classroom portion earlier this year and presented their business plans to a panel of judges for a chance to win part of the record $435,000 investment pool.
The winners and finalists of the 2026 GNVC are:
*After voting concluded, additional investments were made, so dollar amounts are not indicative of placing.
FIRST PLACE (TIE)
Phinorm ($185,000) // Phinorm provides on-device drone classification and location software for defense sensors that allow warfighters to detect drones significantly earlier and with greater accuracy. Rather than requiring more computing power, the technology reduces the compute burden on radar systems on the battlefield and in civilian settings.
Morton Labs ($150,000) // Morton Labs is a new venture specializing in computational science for fusion energy research. Its mission is to reduce the time and cost required to design, validate, and optimize fusion systems by building and maintaining the digital infrastructure that connects legacy and next-generation physics codes into usable, well-validated multiphysics workflows.
SECOND PLACE
Aura Interactive ($40,000) // Aura Interactive develops an AI-powered interactive character platform, transforming licensed IP into physical companions that educate children and engage collectors through conversation and personalized interaction.
THIRD PLACE
TradeCampus ($30,000) // TradeCampus partners with community colleges to create college-owned skilled trades schools housed in purpose-built facilities. It delivers an end-to-end platform — from feasibility and site strategy through facility construction and opening, curriculum frameworks, and post-opening support — enabling colleges to expand workforce education beyond traditional degree pathways.
FOURTH PLACE (TIE)
Flex ($10,000) // Flex is an AI-powered running coach that builds training plans around real-life constraints — not the other way around. Unlike rigid apps that assume perfect weeks, Flex starts with actual availability, adapts proactively when life intervenes, and honestly tells users what goals are achievable.
KLIQ Ventures ($10,000) // Two out of three patients who see a surgeon for a joint replacement don’t need one — they need a different doctor entirely. KLIQ screens and quickly matches patients to the right doctor at the right time, before wasting visits. Joint replacements first, orthopedics next, then all of medicine.
Lumana ($10,000) // Lumana is a privacy-first, non-intrusive mmWave and thermal sensing system for the aged-care sector that detects unwitnessed falls, nighttime risks, and hygiene-related events without cameras or wearables. It delivers continuous, room-level monitoring to support safer and more dignified aging in senior living communities and home-health environments.
The GNVC is one of four tracks of the New Venture Challenge, a top-ranked business school startup accelerator. The overall program has supported more than 500 still-active companies that have raised more than $2 billion in funding and achieved more than $11 billion in mergers and exits. Household names include Tovala, Braintree, Simple Mills, and Grubhub.
The Polsky Center also runs three additional tracks of the NVC. These serve distinct University of Chicago audiences, including undergraduates, graduate students, and social impact entrepreneurs. The winner announcements for those competitions can be found below: