For the Mitchell brothers, aviation has been a part of their lives since their childhood. Raised by a pilot father, some of their earliest memories include flying in their Piper Cherokee plane from Chico to San Diego, California. “We probably were in an airplane before we could walk,” one of the brothers said. 

Co-founders Chase Mitchell, a California Polytechnic State University aerospace engineering alumnus, and Weston Mitchell, a senior accounting student at Santa Clara University, officially became student pilots during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their firsthand experience of feeling challenged by flight planning inspired them to create a better solution for pilots. 

“We grew up in it, and now we’re trying to make our mark in it,” Chase Mitchell said. 

Together, they founded Flyer Design Solutions, the company behind the flight planning platform, AviateVFR (visual flight rules), combining Chase Mitchell’s technical knowledge and Weston Mitchell’s business and financial expertise. 

“A lot of student pilots and newer pilots get discouraged by the complexity of general aviation (GA) flight planning, specifically VFR planning,” Weston Mitchell said. “We found that the tools that do exist are not sufficient, and we figured that we could make one that would be better.”

AviateVFR is designed for GA pilots, student pilots and newer pilots, helping them plan routes more efficiently while promoting safer, more informed decision-making. The platform transforms what has traditionally been a fully manual flight-planning process by introducing automation and interactive visualizations, giving pilots a clearer understanding of their current position, planned route and the overall flight before takeoff.

Their sibling partnership has brought a unique relationship to the company, the duo having a specific delegation of work and understanding of how each other works.

“I think that us being brothers is an advantage from the standpoint of we know what the other person is thinking,” Weston Mitchell said. 

Working closely with their dad, they have been able to add, test and iterate features and easily gain a pilot’s perspective without needing to search for consumer outreach repeatedly. 

“When we were still developing features, he would come up with something every week that he’d want added,” Weston Mitchell said. “He’s been really helpful by putting us in front of people that he knows that are potentially good connections for us. It’s awesome that he’s highly supportive of it.”

Flyer Design Solutions co-founders Chase Mitchell (left) and Weston Mitchell (right)

Beyond family feedback, the brothers have validated AviateVFR with certified flight instructors (CFI), GA pilots and several different flight schools. They recently launched their platform’s beta version at the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) chapter in San Luis Obispo. 

“Everyone really liked it and could see a lot of great use cases. We’ve had a substantial amount of customer interaction so far,” Chase Mitchell said. “Now that we’re in public beta, we’ll be getting feedback based on people using the app rather than people just seeing a demonstration.”

The duo entered the Cal Poly Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship’s (CIE) Innovation Quest (iQ) competition after being introduced to the opportunity by the Cal Poly Orfalea College of Business Dean, Damon Fleming. Through iQ, Chase Mitchell said it provided a key learning step for them, motivating them to create a strong business strategy. 

“Even though we didn’t win, it still was a big step for us because it forced us to sit down and say, ‘Okay, the business is what we’re working on, and the product is a part of that business,’” Chase Mitchell said. “That flipped our mentality around and forced us to think about things differently.”

Their participation and validation in iQ led them to want to continue developing their business in the CIE Summer Accelerator program. 

The Accelerator is a 10-week intensive program that provides Cal Poly students and recent graduates with resources to turn their innovative ideas into full-fledged startups. Participants receive $10,000 in seed funding, mentorship, entrepreneurial workshops, and a dedicated workspace in the HotHouse, the CIE’s downtown San Luis Obispo office.

“The Accelerator program has been a massive growth point for our business,” Weston Mitchell said. “Having a space that we can come to every day to work and be surrounded by other teams that are doing the same thing has been very motivating.”

By Demo Day, the duo is aiming to transition AviateVFR from public beta to paid beta. As they continue developing the platform, the brothers are eager to gather feedback from pilots who have seen the impact and consumers, and provide an easy-to-use solution for pilots ranging in expertise.  

“Every time someone gets on a plane, or gets a package shipped, they’re touching aviation in one way or another. We’re seeing that we’re helping to make it easier to approach; that’s something a couple steps outside of what we’d ever imagined it to become,” Chase Mitchell said. “We’re really hoping to see that it’s just going to hit the industry like a wildfire and just take off.”

To learn more about AviateVFR, click here.

As climate change intensifies, California’s water supply continues to be under pressure. Frequent and severe droughts are leaving farmers with less water to grow crops, forcing difficult decisions about how to manage a highly limited resource. 

For California Polytechnic State University alumnus William Stevens (economics, ‘25), the solution lies not in finding more water, but in using existing supplies more efficiently. He developed his startup, AquaX, to help growers transfer water to its highest value use and maximize agricultural production during times of scarcity.

“Living in California, you’re constantly faced with droughts, and the more you learn about water,” he said. “Every year the impacts become greater. So we have to deal with that in a way that makes the most sense.”

Stevens pitched an early concept in the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and  Entrepreneurship’s (CIE) Elevator Pitch Competition in 2024. He then refined the idea and committed to AquaX full-time in September 2025 through joining The Residency, a global network of hacker houses. He spent four months at its Bangalore, India, chapter from September where he continued building AquaX.

“I moved to Bangalore for four months and hosted a few hackathons with some really talented young developers. I ended up hiring three of them to help build out AquaX,” Stevens said. “Being there was definitely eye-opening for me, and the experience that I had there I’ll take forward with me for the rest of my life.”

While in India, Stevens reached out and stayed connected to innovation and entrepreneurship faculty, including Thomas Katona, Cal Poly Professor and CIE academic programs director, to talk through ideas, receive feedback and stay connected to Cal Poly. 

“Sometimes when you’re building or starting a company, you don’t know the right direction to take, and there’s a lot of different paths,” Stevens said. “Having an extra person that has  more experience than you to just give you guidance, even if you don’t take it all the way, is still really helpful.”

This connection, along with hearing previous positive testimonials from friends, led Stevens to return to Cal Poly CIE for the Summer Accelerator.

AquaX founder, William Stevens

​The Summer Accelerator is a 10-week intensive program that provides Cal Poly students and recent graduates with resources to turn their innovative ideas into full-fledged startups. Participants receive $10,000 in seed funding, mentorship, entrepreneurial workshops and a dedicated workspace in the HotHouse, the CIE’s downtown San Luis Obispo office. 

“I always knew that I wanted to come back for the Summer Accelerator. There are so many connections that Cal Poly can give you, especially in this industry, so I knew that was something I wanted to do,” he said. 

Expanding this venture as a solo founder has allowed Stevens to find more confidence in leading his development team and making decisions for the company.

“You have to have confidence in yourself in order to move forward quickly,” he said. “You don’t really have specific times you’re supposed to work—it’s just you—so you have to hold yourself accountable. The biggest question is: Can you stay focused?”

During his time in the Accelerator, Stevens has been most surprised by the amount of support from mentors, guest speakers and opportunity for one-on-one meetings. He appreciates the support and freedom in developing a schedule that works for him.

“The CIE fosters curiosity, and they let you do your own thing,” Stevens said. “Having that freedom is incredibly helpful.”

To aspiring entrepreneurs, Stevens recommends focusing on the problem before immediately trying to find a solution.

“Water was a problem that I was looking at for a long time, and I didn’t know the best way to approach it,” Stevens said. “I just kept iterating, and then I eventually found my way.”

Premature babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are among healthcare’s most fragile patients, with roughly 13.4 million babies born preterm each year globally. While respiratory assistance devices are essential to their survival, they can also introduce challenges with treatment.

California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) biomedical engineering alumna Josiah Waltner was introduced to this challenge two years ago by local neonatologist Dr. Steven Van Scoy of Adventist Health Sierra Vista in San Luis Obispo. Recognizing the need for a better solution, Waltner co-founded PNOIA, a startup developing a respiratory device designed to improve care for premature infants and the clinicians treating them.

“We did a lot of outreach and found that it’s not just happening on a local level, this is happening all across the nation and potentially the world, so we felt called to advocate for those patients,” Waltner said. 

Waltner’s co-founder, Cal Poly mechanical engineering alumnus Aidan Geurts, joined PNOIA roughly a year ago through a senior project. Waltner said Geurts’ addition marked a turning point for the startup, helping transform the company with having visible momentum and growth. 

Geurts said initial curiosity motivated him to join the startup, but visiting a local NICU and seeing premature babies firsthand solidified his commitment to the project.

“It completely moved me. If my baby was right there using these devices, I would be up in arms.” Geurts said. “From that moment on, I said, ‘Okay, this is a serious problem.’” 

Waltner and Geurts said their complementary skill sets and collaborative approach have helped drive PNOIA’s development. While Waltner mainly focuses on research, development and commercialization, Geurts brings expertise in medical device design and computer-aided design (CAD). 

“Aidan and I work very collaboratively, so we’re just bouncing ideas off of each other,” Waltner said. “We have a bunch of whiteboards set up in our space, and we’re always drawing diagrams or little notes.” 

PNOIA co-founders Josiah Waltner (left) and Aidan Geurts (right)

Their collaboration even continues over their coffee breaks. “We take little breaks and work on making some lattes together, and that’s where a lot of ideas stem from,” Geurts said. “We have a very similar mindset around research and development and figuring out how to solve this problem.”

After winning the $15,000 first-place award at the Cal Poly Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship’s (CIE) Innovation Quest this spring, the team said the recognition gave them the momentum to continue building PNOIA before joining the CIE’s  Summer Accelerator program. 

The Accelerator is a 10-week intensive program that provides Cal Poly students and recent graduates with resources to turn their innovative ideas into full-fledged startups. Participants receive $10,000 in seed funding, mentorship, entrepreneurial workshops, and a dedicated workspace in the HotHouse, the CIE’s downtown San Luis Obispo office.

“It shifted our mindset from this just being a cool project that we’re working on to this being a viable business and something worth pursuing,” Waltner said. “That was the moment where I really decided that I was ready to go all in.” 

Before joining the Accelerator program, both Waltner and Geurts had full-time jobs planned following their graduation from Cal Poly. Geurts planned to move to Philadelphia, while Waltner was headed to Southern California. Instead, the pair chose to put those plans on hold and committed to PNIOA full time. 

“The energy that Josiah brought into the idea of doing the Accelerator program moved me to have confidence not in just myself that I can do this, but in having such a quality co-founder,” Geurts said.  

Working in the Accelerator together, the team has appreciated the endless connections they have made so far. 

“We have made so many incredibly valuable connections; we’re being poured into from every angle,” Waltner said. “To be in this hub of entrepreneurship and excitement has really put our wheels in motion.”

As PNOIA continues to grow through the Accelerator, the team is focused on three priorities: Refining their prototype, pursuing patent protection and navigating the costly process of bringing a medical device to market, Geurts said. 

“Our healthcare system isn’t designed for it to be easy to put a medical device into rotation — we have been stretching every dollar that we’ve received,” Waltner said. 

By the end of the Summer Accelerator program, the team hopes to take the next steps towards protecting its intellectual property, begin benchtop testing and identify the appropriate FDA regulatory pathway this fall.  

“I think our mission – we have it up on our whiteboard – is saving babies,” Geurts said. “This is what we’re here for.”

San Luis Obispo is one of the least affordable places to buy a home, with only 19 percent of families being able to afford a median-priced home. As it is officially ranked the fourth least affordable county in the United States, housing affordability stems from a variety of factors; lengthy permitting processes are often cited as slowing new construction. 

Three California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) students saw this bottleneck as an opportunity. Computer engineering senior Soe Ko Ko Lin, software engineering alumna Muska Said Hasan Mustafa and computer engineering alumnus Wilson Yu founded Permi, an AI-based platform designed to help architects cut down the time it takes to submit building plans.

“One of the things that people in construction all complained about was how difficult the permitting process is, how long it takes and how it’s a waste of resources,” Said Hasan Mustafa said. “We realized that it’s a pretty big issue.” 

To address this common frustration, the team developed Permi, which allows architects to upload site plans and compare them against relevant building codes before sending an application. By identifying potential code violations early, the platform aims to reduce resubmissions and increase first-round approvals.

“Architects often submit codes to the city first to allow them to check it, and then fix the mistakes that the city provides them with,” Lin said. “We’re trying to make sure that there aren’t multiple rounds of resubmission.” 

What began as a senior class project quickly evolved into a startup with greater potential. The team entered the Cal Poly Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship’s (CIE) Innovation Quest (iQ) competition to test both their idea and business model. While they reached the finals of iQ, they did not place in the top three. However, Lin said the experience prepared them for a much bigger opportunity: acceptance into the CIE’s Summer Accelerator program. 

“It really forced us to think on the business side of things. If we didn’t go through iQ, we wouldn’t have a lot of the answers to the questions we were asked in the Accelerator interview,” Lin said. 

​The Summer Accelerator program is a 10-week intensive program that provides Cal Poly students and recent graduates with resources to turn their innovative ideas into full-fledged start-ups. Participants receive $10,000 in seed funding, mentorship, entrepreneurial workshops and a dedicated workspace in the HotHouse, the CIE’s downtown San Luis Obispo office. 

“The Accelerator felt like the proper next step because we had quite a few interests from the government side when we’re doing customer development,” Lin said. “We thought ‘let’s try this out and see where it goes.’”

Permi co-founders, Muska Said Hasan Mustafa (left), Soe Ko Ko Lin (right) and Wilson Yu (not pictured). Photo by Stephen Heraldo for Cal Poly CIE. 

Early consumer interviews have produced promising feedback, with architects expressing interest in beta testing the platform once it becomes available. For the team, the positive feedback has been both validating and motivating as development continues.

“It shows us that what we’re working on is something that actually interests people, and could be useful for them,” Said Hasan Mustafa said. “Being able to see the start of that positive impact makes you feel really good as a founder.”

Before working with the CIE, the three founders had little experience with common business practices. Through the Accelerator’s mentorship, workshops and collaborative environment, they’ve developed both business skills and relationships with fellow founders. 

“Having the mentors around, the advice that we hear and the workshops has been super helpful in thinking about how this can become a legitimate business,” Lin said.

Beyond developing the business, Said Hasan Mustafa said the CIE has helped her grow professionally by improving her networking skills and showing her the value of building meaningful connections. 

“A common phrase that we hear in the business world is ‘your net worth is your network’. The better that you know how to network and who your network can connect you with, will take you a long way into being able to be successful in whatever field you’re pursuing.” Said Hasan Mustafa said.  

Ahead of Demo Day, the Permi team aims to gather performance metrics on their software to show their platform’s effectiveness with architects. Long-term, they aim to grow their user base and overall aid the housing crisis. 

“To see that we were even able to help make an affordable housing process come back a little bit faster, which allowed maybe even one family to like get affordable housing. I would say that’s a mission success in my eyes,” Lin said. 

Every student learns differently, yet most classrooms still rely on a one-size-fits-all approach. Inspired by a loved one’s experience, California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) business administration alumna Lily Bryan is developing Hopscotch, a personalized learning platform designed to support students with different learning styles.

“It’s really hard for teachers to meet every student where they are and provide them personalized support that they need,” Bryan said. “That’s where Hopscotch came about — the belief that different ways of thinking deserve different ways of learning.”

Hopscotch supports students by allowing them to upload their homework and by translating the learning process into their preferred approach, catering to a variety of ways to engage with the material.

“As students interact with our platform, Hopscotch learns as they learn, and we get a better idea of the type of learner they are and what kind of representations would make most sense for their brain,” Bryan said. 

As Bryan developed her entrepreneurship senior project, she attended the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s (CIE) Summer Accelerator information session to seek the technical expertise needed to bring her idea to life. There, she met Liam Hyde, a Cal Poly computer science alumnus who will return this fall to pursue a master’s degree in quantitative economics.

“Liam also had a very personal connection to the problem, and he hopped on board that same day. He helped us make moree technical progress than we had all year in the span of two weeks,” Bryan said. 

Hyde immediately connected with the mission, having seen firsthand the learning challenges many students face. Confident he could build a solution, he joined Bryan and together applied to the Summer Accelerator program, expanding both the platform and the startup’s vision. 

The Accelerator is a 10-week intensive program that provides Cal Poly students and recent graduates with resources to turn their innovative ideas into full-fledged startups. Participants receive $10,000 in seed funding, mentorship, entrepreneurial workshops, and a dedicated workspace in the HotHouse, the CIE’s downtown San Luis Obispo office.

“Twenty-one percent of California 11th graders are proficient in math, and that’s a complete disaster. Anything we can do to start bumping those numbers up would be a good thing,” Hyde said. “The education system in this country has failed a lot of people, and we’re hoping to start to turn that around.”

Hopscotch co-founders Lily Bryan (left) and Liam Hyde (right)

The Hopscotch team has said one of the Accelerator program’s biggest strengths has been the network of mentors, who offer workshops and one-on-ones for teams. “Regardless of their industry, they’re always able to apply their expertise to our situation,” Bryan said. “Hearing from people who know what it’s like to take that risk when your friends are in comfortable nine-to-five jobs is reassuring.” 

After speaking with their target audience, the Hopscotch team decided to focus on algebra initially, with plans to expand the platform to include other areas of math, physics and other STEM subjects. 

“We have discovered from parents and teachers that algebra is where parents aren’t able to help their students with their homework anymore,” Hyde said. 

Teacher feedback also broadened Bryan’s vision for Hopscotch beyond individual students. She learned this platform could cater to an entire class, supporting students who have foundational education gaps needing greater assistance, while also supporting students needing accelerated learning. 

“Hopscotch not only adapts those representations horizontally, but we also take a vertical approach and really allow students to focus on where they need to be,” Bryan said. 

By Demo Day, the duo aims to narrow down their customer segment and launch an algebra-focused pilot program and begin helping students who are looking for a simpler, more engaging way to learn. The team plans to use feedback from the pilot to refine the platform before expanding to several classrooms this fall. 

“We are really making sure that the experience isn’t just helpful but also engaging for students at the end of the day. Math has the stereotype of being boring, but we really want to make it an engaging experience for students,” Bryan said. 

The Accelerator has given the Hopscotch team an opportunity to grow their startup alongside student entrepreneurs experiencing similar challenges, creating a supportive community, as they work to generate real businesses. 

“We’re all in the same classes, taking this risk together,” Bryan said. “Even though we’re in different industries, we’re facing many of the same challenges, so being able to help each other has been a really great experience.”

Learn more about Hopscotch and how it works—those looking for an algebra refresher, or learning algebra for the first time, can join Hopscotch’s pilot program here.

Watch Hopscotch and our six other Accelerator startups pitch live at Demo Day.

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About the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship:

The CIE opens a world of entrepreneurial opportunity to Cal Poly students, faculty and community members and promotes entrepreneurial activity and dialogue across the university and throughout San Luis Obispo County. For more information, visit cie.calpoly.edu.  

For California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) agricultural business alumni Joshua Van Tassel and Alex Pope, giving up dessert was never an option. Instead, the pair set out to reinvent it by creating Nibble Foods, a company that produces healthier, protein-packed versions of indulgent desserts.

​After being assigned the category “impulsive indulgers” for a dairy-based entrepreneurship class project, Pope and Van Tassel set out to create a sweet treat that wouldn’t carry the same guilt as traditional desserts. The result was Nibble’s first product: a bite-sized, healthy, protein-packed cheesecake bite formulated with clean ingredients. 

“We wanted to eat something that tastes like the real thing, one of our favorite desserts, cheesecake, but actually feel guilt-free about what we were putting into our bodies,” Pope said. 

Pope and Van Tassel’s friendship began during Cal Poly’s Week of Welcome, when the two met as neighbors in the Yosemite Tower Three dorm building. From sharing at least one class every quarter to building a business together, Van Tassel said they “worked well from the start.”

“Once you start building an idea full-time, it becomes more than just a group project. This experience is definitely going to push our friendship to places it’s never gone before, but it’s only made us stronger and better for the long run,” Pope said. 

​The team learned more about the Cal Poly Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) through their senior project course, where agribusiness professor Dr. McGowan  suggested that they participate in the CIE Elevator Pitch Competition. The experience led them to continue participating in CIE programs, including Builder Bootcamp, Innovation Quest and, most recently, the Summer Accelerator. 

​The Accelerator is a 10-week intensive program that provides Cal Poly students and recent graduates with resources to turn their innovative ideas into full-fledged start-ups. Participants receive $10,000 in seed funding, mentorship, an entrepreneurial workshop, and a dedicated workspace in the HotHouse, the CIE’s downtown San Luis Obispo office. 

​“I would say one of the things that we struggled with in the very beginning, especially myself, was presenting in front of people, being able to talk to others and being more open and willing to connect with people,” Van Tassel said.

​Not knowing what to expect initially from the Accelerator program, the team has enjoyed the amount of resources and connections they have made so far.

“In just the first two weeks, the speakers and mentors we’ve been introduced to have already been incredibly helpful,” Pope said.  “One of the co-founders of Yerba Madre was an amazing person to talk to and get help and insight, and that’s just one of the many.” 

Nibble co-founders Alex Pope (left) and Joshua Van Tassel (right)

​Both coming from an agricultural business background, the team initially did not have experience in food formulation or cooking in general. Creating their recipe involved extensive trial and error, with roughly 15 different iterations of the recipe before landing on their final formulation, highlighting Greek yogurt as their hidden win.

“It was hard to create a formulation that actually tasted like the real thing, so once we found it, we stuck with it,” Van Tassel said.  

Growing Nibble in the Summer Accelerator, the founders have agreed that the program has helped them accomplish more work in less time. 

“We’ve accomplished more in the last three weeks than we have in the past two months,” Van Tassel said. “It’s been nothing but beneficial, and has really pushed us to our absolute limits to bring out the best results.”

​By Demo Day, Nibble hopes to launch California-wide shipping and secure local retail partnerships. Looking beyond the Accelerator, the pair plan to grow beyond cheesecake bites by reinventing more classic desserts with healthier ingredients. ​“I think the sky’s the limit in establishing Nibble really as Nibble Foods,” Pope said. 

“The biggest thing we’ve learned is that so many startups fail — they tell us that all the time,” Van Tassel said. “But for us, we don’t fail until we give up. As long as we keep showing up every day, learning, improving, and working toward our goals, we consider that success.”

Watch Nibble and our six other Accelerator startups pitch live at Demo Day here.

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About the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship:

The CIE opens a world of entrepreneurial opportunity to Cal Poly students, faculty and community members and promotes entrepreneurial activity and dialogue across the university and throughout San Luis Obispo County. For more information, visit cie.calpoly.edu.  

A decision to stop drinking while studying abroad in Italy inspired California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) agricultural business senior John Piro to create Tango, a mocktail mixer designed to bridge the gap between social presence and physical well-being. 

​“I was desiring a drink that I could have in social gatherings that would match my energy without making me feel like garbage the next day,” Piro said. 

Tango is a low-sugar, sparkling mocktail and mixer, formulated with clean ingredients and electrolytes. 

Piro first developed the formula for the lime jalapeño margarita-flavored beverage while studying abroad, using ingredients from local Italian grocery stores for preliminary taste tests. “When I got back to the States that winter, I got advice from different flavor houses, sourced ingredients from suppliers and started putting real work into the formula,” he said. 

Around the same time, Piro was seeking a business partner. He decided to reach out to a highly entrepreneurial Cal Poly business administration senior, Nate Donovan, who also happened to be one of his best friends. 

Doubling as business partners and roommates, the Tango team said they have enjoyed the constant drive to continue growing their startup. “It’s awesome,” Piro said. “We always get to hang out, whether we’re in the office or at home, and the ideas are constantly flowing.” 

​The team decided to apply to the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s (CIE) Summer Accelerator because of the available resources and financial support to help develop their business further. 

The Accelerator is a 10-week intensive program that provides Cal Poly students and recent graduates with resources to turn their innovative ideas into full-fledged startups. Participants receive $10,000 in seed funding, mentorship, an entrepreneurial workshop, and a dedicated workspace in the HotHouse, the CIE’s downtown San Luis Obispo office.

“You get the entire summer to focus without any other obligations,” Donovan said. “The environment of working with other people who are doing similar things is the best space to create a company in.”

Tango co-founders John Piro (left) and Nate Donovan (right)

Piro said he is “very new” to the entrepreneurial scene at Cal Poly and has appreciated all the guidance available to help start a business through the CIE.

“To be honest, I’m 21 years old. I don’t know a lot about what goes into starting a business, so having these resources as a foundation is a blessing,” Piro said. “The CIE offers everything you would need.”

Donovan described the Accelerator as fast-paced but rewarding, saying guest speakers with expertise across industries have helped the team identify potential problems before encountering them on their own.

Currently navigating user feedback, the Tango team has focused on identifying its target audience. “Not everyone is going to love the product or the branding, but it’s all about finding the segment of people who do love it, focusing on them, and scaling it beyond them,” Donovan said.

Developing their product with long-term goals in mind, Piro describes Tango as a “safe haven,” eager to help others facing similar challenges in their relationship with alcohol or social environments where drinking can feel expected.

“The more our company grows, the more people we can help who are struggling with the problem that we are tackling,” Donovan said.

​As the Tango team continues building its business, Piro and Donovan agree that the Accelerator has provided guidance while giving them room for trial and error. By Demo Day, they aim to have their actual product in customers’ hands.

​“A truth of business and life is to just take it one day at a time,” Piro said. “It’s important to plan, but if you’re not focused on what you can do today, you won’t be able to get to tomorrow.”

Watch Tango and our six other Accelerator startups pitch live at Demo Day here.

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About the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship:

The CIE opens a world of entrepreneurial opportunity to Cal Poly students, faculty and community members and promotes entrepreneurial activity and dialogue across the university and throughout San Luis Obispo County. For more information, visit cie.calpoly.edu.  

For developers, one of the biggest headaches isn’t writing code, but keeping Application Programming Interface (API) documentation up to date. Creating clear, accurate instructions for users can consume up to 20% of a developer’s time, costing companies as much as $45,000 a year per developer. This tedious and repetitive work pulls focus from building the product itself.

Devscribe, a startup founded by California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) business administration graduate Gianni Hart and computer engineering graduate Samuel Solano, aims to solve that persistent challenge.

Their platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically generate and maintain documentation directly from a company’s codebase. Their software helps developers reclaim valuable time, reduce costs and give end users access to documentation that is always accurate and up to date.

08/13/25 – SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA: Samuel Solano of Devscribe works in the HotHouse Cal Poly’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) Summer Accelerator photoshoot on August 13, 2025 in San Luis Obispo, California. Photo by Ruby Wallau for CIE

Solano, the technical mind behind Devscribe, never saw himself solely as a coder. In high school, his first taste of entrepreneurship came not through technology, but through music. As a member of a band, Solano has extensive experience throwing shows, selling merchandise and handling marketing for his group. “With that experience and my time in Thomas Katona’s entrepreneurial senior project, it’s been insightful learning skills that will help me start my company outside of my engineering background,” he said. 

At his previous internship at Amazon, Solano encountered the inefficiency of documentation firsthand. He spent days of his internship not building, but writing and rewriting instructions, leaving him frustrated with why developers were stuck doing something that could be automated—planting the seed for Devscribe.

Hart’s entrepreneurial spark was fueled by a lifelong passion for building. Throughout his childhood, he was constantly creating, whether it was assembling Lego sets or taking apart his mom’s toaster and figuring out how to put it back together. “I always wanted to move into coding or web development, but I didn’t yet have the technical skills,” Hart said. “With advances in AI and the support of a technical co-founder, Devscribe became the perfect way to bring my ideas and aspirations to life.”

Working on Devscribe during their senior project, Hart often found himself immersed in the work for hours without noticing the time fly by. “That was my green light moment—realizing this is what I want to do with my life,” he said.

Their journey as co-founders began in Thomas Katona’s entrepreneurial senior project class, where Devscribe first started to take shape as they discussed challenges they had encountered in previous internships experiences. Once their initial idea took off, Solano and Hart decided to apply for the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s (CIE) Innovation Quest (iQ), a high-stakes competition where Cal Poly students pitch their innovative business ideas and prototypes to a panel of judges in hopes of winning thousands to fund their startup. 

Their experience at iQ gave them critical feedback on their pitch and validation from industry experts that their product was genuinely needed, encouraging them to move quickly in building their startup. “We knew that the CIE had the resources and people in charge to make that happen,” said Solano. 

The team then applied for the CIE’s Summer Accelerator, an intensive 12-week program that provides Cal Poly students and recent graduates with the resources necessary to turn their innovative ideas into full-fledged startups. Participants in the Accelerator receive $10,000 in seed funding, as well as access to expert mentorship, entrepreneurial workshops and a dedicated workspace in the HotHouse, the CIE’s office located in downtown San Luis Obispo.

“The CIE has helped us by giving us a blueprint foundation to start our company,” said Hart. “Creating a company can be very lonely and confusing, and the Accelerator gives you the structure to start and send you on your way.” 

Together, Solano and Hart form a complementary partnership. Solano leads product development and manages a team of six interns working on the platform’s architecture, while Hart takes on customer discovery and development and marketing.

The key to their partnership, they explained, is trust. “From the start, we’ve trusted each other completely,” said Hart. “Since we work in two areas that don’t overlap much, we know that what needs to get done will be completed on time and with high quality.”

Devscribe is now focused on launching its platform and product line in the coming weeks. The team hopes to get the base platform fully operational, allowing users to connect their codebases, generate documentation automatically and deploy it seamlessly for their customers. 

“Our goal is to one day make Devscribe so autonomous that the only time teams interact with it is the very first time they sign up,” said Hart. 

Watch Devscribe and our six other Accelerator startups pitch live at Demo Day here.

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About the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship:

The CIE opens a world of entrepreneurial opportunity to Cal Poly students, faculty and community members and promotes entrepreneurial activity and dialogue across the university and throughout San Luis Obispo County. For more information, visit cie.calpoly.edu.  

For 12% of Americans, chronic insomnia means endless nights of restlessness and fragmented sleep. For California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) biomedical engineering graduate students Rex Walker and Jeremy Laufer, that statistic hits close to home. 

Neurostimulation, an emerging and largely untapped area of research, caught the attention of Laufer and Walker for its potential to create new solutions to health challenges. Motivated by this passion, they created NeuRelief Medical, a startup developing innovative technology to improve sleep quality for those suffering from insomnia. 

The two founders first connected at Cal Poly, bonding over their mutual interest in pursuing entrepreneurship through the intersection of medical devices and neurostimulation.

“When we decided we wanted to take a stab at this, we started looking through different ways to stimulate the nervous system and what issues could benefit from it,” Walker said. “Insomnia was something that was close to both of our hearts, so we felt compelled to find a better solution.”

06/18/25 – SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA: Rex Walker and Jeremy Laufer of Nervana pose for a portrait during Cal Poly’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) Summer Accelerator photoshoot on June 18, 2025 in San Luis Obispo, California. Photo by Ruby Wallau for CIE

Their mission at NeuRelief is to help those suffering from insomnia fall asleep faster, get deeper sleep and minimize mid-night awakenings. To achieve this, the team is developing a non-invasive vagus nerve stimulator—a device designed to safely and gently stimulate the vagus nerve to induce relaxation. 

Unlike many wellness products that rely on marketing claims, NeuRelief is committed to proving its effectiveness through rigorous testing. The team is planning to pursue FDA approval and will be conducting clinical trials to demonstrate measurable benefits for people with insomnia. “We’re going the extra mile to actually show the benefit,” Walker said. “A lot of other companies skip all of that, but we want our product to be proven effective so people can trust it will help them sleep.”

The founders’ complementary academic backgrounds have played a crucial role in their progress. Laufer’s undergraduate studies in psychology and neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley, provide deep insight into the neural mechanisms behind vagus nerve stimulation, while his biomedical engineering expertise helps ensure the device is both functional and user-friendly.

Walker’s biomedical engineering background has equipped him with the skills to design medical devices that are not only effective but also practical and appealing for the people who will use them.

Walker first learned about the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s Summer Accelerator through one of his biomedical engineering classes. Excited by the opportunity, he connected with Laufer, and together they decided to apply to the program, marking the start of their intensive journey to turn NeuRelief into more than just an idea, but a real company. 

The CIE’s Summer Accelerator is an intensive 12-week program that provides Cal Poly students and recent graduates with the resources necessary to turn their innovative ideas into full-fledged startups. Participants in the Accelerator receive $10,000 in seed funding, as well as access to expert mentorship, entrepreneurial workshops and a dedicated workspace in the HotHouse, the CIE’s office located in downtown San Luis Obispo.

“My experience in the Summer Accelerator has been amazing, from start to finish. Having an opportunity to interface with experienced entrepreneurs who have gone through the entire journey and are able to tell us about their experiences has been invaluable,” said Laufer. 

Throughout the Accelerator, the team has been guided by their mentor, Jan Haynes, who is a dedicated medtech business professional and startup advisor and has been instrumental for NeuRelief. “Going through this program as two people with engineering backgrounds, she has been able to give us valuable expertise in business and FDA regulation, and help us connect with the right people to build a successful business,” said Walker. 

Looking ahead, NeuRelief’s next steps include refining their prototype, expanding testing to more users and continuing to validate the device’s effectiveness. Long term, they aim to develop additional products targeting various causes of insomnia, broadening their impact on sleep health.

Beyond the technology, what drives NeuRelief is the hope to profoundly improve the lives of people whose daily routines are disrupted by sleeplessness. “We hope that for someone suffering from insomnia, whose day-to-day is affected by poor sleep, our device can help them finally get the restful night they need,” said Laufer. 

Watch NeuRelief and our six other Accelerator startups pitch live at Demo Day here.

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About the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship:

The CIE opens a world of entrepreneurial opportunity to Cal Poly students, faculty and community members and promotes entrepreneurial activity and dialogue across the university and throughout San Luis Obispo County. For more information, visit cie.calpoly.edu.  

When Eli Lazar’s mother had surgery, she left the hospital with multiple prescriptions from different doctors. Each bottle had dense, confusing labels, and none of her physicians seemed fully aware of what the others had prescribed. Though careful about her health, she often skipped days of medication because she didn’t know how the drugs might interact.

“That’s when it really clicked for me,” said Lazar, CEO and co-founder of One Fountain Health. “If someone as cautious and intentional as my mom could feel lost and abandoned by this process, then it shows just how big the problem really is.”

Medication management affects millions of Americans, especially older adults. Taking five or more prescriptions at once, a condition called polypharmacy, often leads to skipped doses, harmful side effects and, in severe cases, hospitalization.

Lazar, a recent California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) business administration graduate, teamed up with Victoria Asencio-Clemens, a recent computer engineering graduate, to take on this challenge. Together, they founded One Fountain Health, a startup building an accessible medication management system designed to preserve independence for people juggling multiple prescriptions.

“At One Fountain Health, we are striving to help people maintain complete independence through flawless management of their medication,” Lazar said. “When you start experiencing polypharmacy, keeping track of five, six or more medications becomes overwhelming. That’s where so many problems arise—and it’s where we want to make a difference.”

The team is developing a device that scans a prescription bottle, gathers the relevant information sorts the medications for the user. Unlike most pill dispensers, which are built for caregivers and packed with screens, apps and complex technology, One Fountain Health is designed for the patient.

“One Fountain Health is different because it’s simple,” said Asencio-Clemens, CTO of One Fountain Health. “We want patients themselves, not just their caretakers, to feel confident managing their own medications. That’s the big value we’re bringing to people.”

Lazar and Asencio-Clemens first teamed up through Cal Poly’s interdisciplinary entrepreneurial senior design project class, where Lazar pitched the idea of helping the elderly population and Asencio-Clemens saw an opportunity to pursue her interest in medical devices.

Eli Lazar and Victoria Asencio-Clemens of One Fountain Health. Photo by Ruby Wallau for CIE

“We thought there probably weren’t a lot of other college students who would want to tackle something like this,” Lazar said. “But we were excited to jump into something we knew nothing about. That says a lot about our personalities—and why, almost a year later, we’re still meshing and solving problems together.”

Asencio-Clemens and Lazar bring distinct strengths to their partnership. With her computer engineering background, Asencio-Clemens leads the technical side as CTO, focusing on prototyping and product development. Lazar draws on his business and marketing experience to guide customer development and strategy as CEO.

For Asencio-Clemens, the transition from engineering into entrepreneurship has been both challenging and rewarding, sparking new interests she hadn’t previously considered. “It’s been a lot of learning,” she said. “I kind of got thrown into this world, but luckily, the classes, programs and mentors have helped me put it together and realize just how interested I am in it.” 

After senior project, the team entered the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s (CIE) Innovation Quest (iQ), a high-stakes competition where Cal Poly students pitch their innovative business ideas and prototypes to a panel of judges in hopes of winning thousands to fund their startup. 

“Innovation Quest really prepared our mindset,” Asencio-Clemens said. “We got told what we were doing wrong a lot—which was actually good. It made us critical of ourselves in a constructive way and helped us ask the harder questions.”

Their experience in iQ set the stage for the CIE’s Summer Accelerator, an intensive 12-week program that provides Cal Poly students and recent graduates with the resources necessary to turn their innovative ideas into full-fledged startups. Participants in the Accelerator receive $10,000 in seed funding, as well as access to expert mentorship, entrepreneurial workshops and a dedicated workspace in the HotHouse, the CIE’s office located in downtown San Luis Obispo.

Connected through the Accelerator, the team is mentored by Marketing and Commercial Operations leader Brendon Keiser, whose guidance has been instrumental in their startup’s growth. 

“Working with our mentor in the Accelerator has been huge,” Asencio-Clemens said. “It’s been so helpful to have someone who understands our mission and can push us in the right direction.”

Lazar added that the community of startups in the Accelerator has been just as valuable as the mentorship. Even though each team is tackling a different problem, they’re united by the same process of building solutions. For him, the ability to casually turn to a peer for feedback or advice has created a supportive, collaborative environment that makes the challenges of entrepreneurship feel less daunting.

Looking ahead, the team hopes to finalize a prototype by the end of summer and conduct extensive customer development to refine their product. Long-term, they hope One Fountain Health will become the go-to medication management system for people across the country.

“We want to be that one pill dispenser that doctors recommend to their patients and that you can buy in big-name stores,” Lazar said. “When people hear about it, we want them to immediately think: ‘That would make my life so much easier.’”

For both founders, the impact they hope to achieve goes beyond managing pills—it’s about restoring autonomy and broadening lives. Their ultimate goal is to give users the confidence to manage their medications independently, allowing them to stay in their homes and live life on their own terms, said Asencio-Clemens.

“Aging is often described as a shrinking circle of life. If health challenges keep you from managing your medications, that circle stays small. But if we can remove that barrier, people can broaden their experiences, strengthen relationships and live with more purpose,” Lazar said. 

Watch One Fountain Health and our six other Accelerator startups pitch live at Demo Day here.

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About the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship:

The CIE opens a world of entrepreneurial opportunity to Cal Poly students, faculty and community members and promotes entrepreneurial activity and dialogue across the university and throughout San Luis Obispo County. For more information, visit cie.calpoly.edu.