Founded in 2008, The Launch Pad is the University of Miami's dedicated entrepreneurship center. It supports students, alumni, and faculty in starting, building, and scaling their startups through mentorship programs, workshops, one-on-one consulting, and events—all designed to educate and inspire on key entrepreneurial topics.
The Launch Pad's latest event, the eMerge Startup Roadshow, is happening at the Lakeside Village Expo Center on Nov. 12 from 4-8 p.m. Eight University students will have the opportunity to showcase their innovative companies. This event promises an exciting look at the future of entrepreneurship, featuring a variety of groundbreaking startups. Don't miss the chance to discover these innovative companies. Register today.
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SearchOwl
Priya Francis, a junior majoring in marketing, is helping to lead a new approach in the skincare industry as the chief marketing officer of SearchOwl, a personalized shopping platform dedicated to skincare. SearchOwl was born in a Case Western Reserve University dorm room in March 2023, and Francis joined the innovative startup in October of the same year, quickly proving herself a vital asset to the team.
SearchOwl leverages insights gathered through natural language processing (NLP)-driven search, user feedback, and quick follow-up questions to refine the shopping experience and deliver accurate, unbiased recommendations. Unlike traditional platforms, SearchOwl offers vendors an ad-free, fixed-cost free environment, empowering them with advanced insights into consumer shopping behavior.
"Online shopping felt broken, so we decided to take matters into our own hands," said Francis. "We wanted to create a platform that offers users a genuinely unbiased shopping experience and allows smaller brands to compete on equal footing with the skincare industry's biggest names."
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Circe
First-year students Nishka Mishra and Kirsten Wang, both majoring in entrepreneurship, together with Catherine George, who is studying biochemistry, are the founders of Circe—a jewelry brand dedicated to enhancing women’s safety. Circe offers stylish, everyday wearable jewelry that doubles as a personal safety device, empowering women to feel secure wherever they go.
Each charm on Circe’s bracelets is equipped with advanced technology, including GPS tracking and an emergency alert system. With a simple press of a button, users can instantly alert close family members, friends, or even 911. The founders emphasize accessibility, striving to make this innovative safety jewelry affordable and available to those who need it most.
“Women rely on outdated physical protection methods to feel a sense of security, and the current market for safety jewelry is limited, primarily offering options that are either unattractive or overpriced,” said Wang. “Circe offers an alternative to safety that is simple, convenient, and independent.”
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Ultrasound Fanatic
Adam Snider graduated in August 2024 with a Master of Science in Nursing, specializing as an adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner. Drawing on his decade of experience as a critical care travel nurse, Snider launched Ultrasound Fanatic in August 2023, driven by a deep understanding of the challenges health care providers face in accessing high-quality point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) training.
Ultrasound Fanatic is a health care education company with a mission to accelerate the adoption of POCUS in patient care. The company offers a comprehensive resource hub website and is bringing ultrasound training to mobile devices through innovative, anytime-accessible simulation, with its mobile app set to launch in early 2025.
"Going through a demanding nursing program taught me the importance of networking and connecting with others in the field," said Snider. “The eMerge Roadshow provides an amazing platform through The Launch Pad, where I can connect with entrepreneurs, investors, and other professionals."
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Titl
Ori Ohayon is pursuing a Miami Global Executive M.B.A. at the Miami Herbert Business School and is set to graduate in December 2024. With many years of experience in the world of finance and emerging technology, Ohayon transitioned from his role as a banker at Goldman Sachs to entrepreneurship. During this transition, he founded OCL (On Chain Listings), now known as Titl.
Titl is an innovative platform created to transform the real estate industry, set to shape its future by harnessing advanced technologies such as AI and Web3. The company’s mission is to streamline real estate transactions through cutting-edge technology while upholding a steadfast commitment to integrity. Titl aims to create a future where property fraud is eliminated, transactions are seamless, costs are reduced, and clients can trust the security of their investments.
“When you buy a home, the verification process can take months and is often inefficient,” said Ohayon. “At Titl, we eliminate the hassle by using AI to cut down on paperwork and speed up the process. By decentralizing the real estate market, we make transactions faster, more affordable, and more accessible.”
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SmArT
As a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in chemical, environmental, and materials engineering, Shruti Choudary is working to revolutionize sustainable agriculture through SmArT (Smart Aerosol Technologies), a high-tech startup focused on precision farming solutions.
Founded by experts in farming and aerosol science, SmArT is tackling the global food security challenge by creating nanomaterial-based fertilizers that use 90 percent less fertilizer, reducing waste and environmental runoff. With agriculture's impact on NOx, or nitrogen oxide, emissions and water ecosystems growing, SmArT’s innovations aim to support farmers' productivity while cutting costs and meeting evolving environmental regulations.
“Participating in the eMerge Roadshow has been a dream of mine,” Choudary shares. “It's an incredible opportunity to showcase our technology, connect with investors, and engage with the global entrepreneurship community.”
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SimuStride
Elissa Cimino and her team of senior biomedical engineering students are pioneering a solution to address phantom limb pain (PLP) in above-knee amputees through an immersive rehabilitation technology called SimuStride. Utilizing a custom electromyography (EMG) sleeve, SimuStride allows patients to engage with a prosthesis in augmented reality immediately after surgery—months earlier than traditional methods allow.
With up to 85 percent of amputees experiencing PLP, often leading to anxiety, depression, and decreased quality of life, SimuStride aims to fill the critical rehabilitation gap following amputation. After securing more than $30,000 by winning first place in the Rothberg Catalyzer Awards, the team is now preparing for pilot testing and clearance from the Food and Drug Administration with hopes of further developing their technology through guidance from mentors and industry experts at eMerge.
“Our goal with SimuStride is to bridge the critical gap in early rehabilitation for above-knee amputees,” says Elissa Cimino. “By offering an immersive therapy option immediately after surgery, we hope to reduce the challenges of phantom limb pain and improve the quality of life for amputees from day one.”
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Netrascopy
A freshman majoring in computer science, Arshroop Saini is part of a team developing an innovative, low-cost diagnostic kit for early detection of diabetic retinopathy (DR). The kit includes a fundus camera and mobile app to help patients capture high-quality retina images, which are then analyzed by a convolutional neural network to detect DR.
With a goal of preventing vision loss, the kit addresses a significant global health issue, offering a more accessible and affordable solution compared to traditional methods. By participating in the eMerge Roadshow, the team seeks mentorship, funding, and strategic partnerships to refine their product and expand its reach, especially in the U.S. market.
“I developed this product to cater to the Indian market, but now I want to test its viability here in the U.S.," says Saini. "The eMerge Roadshow provides the perfect platform to connect with experts, gain feedback, and raise awareness to help scale our solution."
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Care Tales
Dhananjay Narayanan is a second-year medical student at the Miller School of Medicine and an M.B.A. student at Miami Herbert Business School. Narayanan is the founder of Care Tales, a company that creates personalized, story-driven books and an interactive app to help children with serious illnesses understand and cope with their health care journey.
"Our mission is to turn a child's health care experience into a story they can relate to and feel empowered by," says Narayanan. Care Tales aims to reduce stress, build trust, and make medical education more accessible for kids and their families. Narayanan is now focused on scaling the company, expanding partnerships, and increasing sales with the goal of becoming a leader in pediatric medical education.
