UDC Capital Cup Entrepreneurship Competition
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2026 UDC Capital Cup Entrepreneurship Competition
2026 Qualifier Top 10
1
Neurolink
Raina Swaminathan, South Forsyth High School, Cumming, GA
Anishva Manikandan, South Forsyth High School, Cumming, GA
2
BloodConnect Offline
Ananya Desai, William Mason High School, Mason, OH
3
Tech Buddies
Medha Lalani, Hempfield High School, Landisville, PA
Reshma Lalani, Hempfield High School, Landisville, PA
4
AeroVein
Karim Fawzy,
American International School of Kuwait (AISK), Kuwait
5
Whale Safe Ai
Aditya Raja, Holliston High School, Holliston, MA
Ishan Kasam, Mass Academy, MA
Dhruv Vashista, Malden Catholic, MA
6
RiceRoot
August Garadi, Keller High School, Keller, Texas
Carson Peters, Keller High School, Keller, Texas
Gavin Lao, Keller High School, Keller, Texas
7
DREVN
Aiden Jacob, Allen High School, Allen, TX
8
VIGIL
Jonah Cohen, Lycée Français De New York, New York, NY
Theophile Lepeu, Lycée Français De New York, New York, NY
Theodore Chane, Lycée Français De New York, New York, NY
9
Astrapath
Yutong Cai, BASIS Bilingual School Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
Yiran Gui, Beijing City International School, Beijing China
Arianne Zhang, Shanghai American School Puxi, Shanghai, China
10
AquaLoop
Anika Sikka, Winston Churchill High School, Potomac, MD
Adya Bhardwaj, Winston Churchill High School, Potomac, MD
When we launched the UDC Capital Cup Entrepreneurship Competition, we envisioned creating a platform where high school students could transform innovative ideas into real business opportunities.
This year, that vision reached an exciting new milestone.
The 2026 UDC Capital Cup Entrepreneurship Competition attracted:
🌍 436 registered teams
🌎 Participants from 30 countries
🇺🇸 Teams representing 32 U.S. states and the District of Columbia
📈 337 teams from the United States and 99 international teams
Our largest participating states include:
• Texas – 65 teams
• California – 31 teams
• New Jersey – 29 teams
• North Carolina – 20 teams
• Virginia – 19 teams
Even more inspiring is the global diversity of this year's competition. Students from North America, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia are bringing their entrepreneurial ideas to UDC.
These students represent the next generation of innovators, founders, business leaders, and changemakers.
What makes me especially proud is that the UDC Capital Cup is more than a competition. It is an educational experience that encourages students to identify real-world problems, develop innovative solutions, and communicate their ideas with confidence. Entrepreneurship is not only about starting companies—it is about developing creativity, leadership, resilience, and a mindset for solving society's most important challenges.
On behalf of the School of Business and Public Administration at the University of the District of Columbia, I would like to thank our faculty, judges, sponsors, volunteers, and partners whose dedication makes this competition possible. Their support has helped build a truly international platform for aspiring young entrepreneurs.
Most importantly, congratulations to every student who submitted a business idea. Regardless of the competition results, you have already taken an important step by transforming an idea into action.
We look forward to welcoming our finalists to Washington, DC, this August and celebrating the remarkable talent of young entrepreneurs from around the world.
#UDCCapitalCup #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #FutureLeaders #HighSchoolEntrepreneurs #BusinessEducation #YouthInnovation #UniversityOfTheDistrictOfColumbia #SBPA #GlobalEducation #Startup #Leadership
The followings are the Past Final Competition Results.
2025 Champion Team: Roger Vincent Shi (Canyon Crest Academy, CA); Aadi Jariwala (Canyon Crest Academy, CA); Daniel Cho (Canyon Crest Academy, CA)
2025 2nd Place: Pranav Gadde (Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, IL)
2025 3rd Place: Angela Dong (Poolesville High School, MD)
2025 4th Place: Anivarth Parthasarathy (Trumbull High School, CT)
2024 Champion Team: Eric Zhou (Bullis School, MD);Evan Kim (Bullis School, MD);Noah Margolis (Bullis School, MD)
2024 2nd Place: Sophia Ge (Montgomery Blair High School, MD); Doris Wang (Montgomery Blair High School, MD)
2024 3rd Place: Faris Faizal (Triangle Math and Science Academy, NC); Dinesh Satyavolu (Triangle Math and Science Academy, NC); Maulik Verma (Apex High School, NC)
2024 4th Place: Matthew Choi (Fort Lee High School, NJ); Evan Ng (Fort Lee High School, NJ)
2024 5th Place: Soham Sarkar (Trumbull High School, CT)
2023 Champion Team: Nathan Chen (Bullis School, MD); Ryan Tanenholz (Bullis School, MD); Ashley Hays (Bullis School, MD)
2023 2nd place: Puraav Karnavat (Lambert High School, GA)
2023 3rd place: Yidi Zhao (Urbana High School, MD); Dylan Guo (Winston Churchill High School, MD)
2023 4th place: Selena Yining Li (Richard Montgomery High School, MD); Kyle Li (Thomas S. Wootton High School, MD)
2023 5th place: Henry Yang (Richard Montgomery High School, MD); Emilia Zhang (Walter Johnson High School, MD); Arianna Sun (Boston Latin School, MA)