Startup Progress on Display at 2025 Hatchery Demo Day

University of Maryland students developing startups through the Mokhtarzada Hatchery program presented their work on April 30, 2025, during the initiative’s fourth annual Demo Day. The event marked the culmination of a year of mentorship and product development for four student-led companies focused on sectors including software engineering, education technology, media and biotech. 

Established in 2021 by UMD alumni Haroon (B.A. ’01, economics), Idris (B.S. ’10, computer science) and Zeki (B.S. ’01, computer science) Mokhtarzada, the Hatchery supports early-stage student ventures with funding, guidance and workspace in the Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Engineering. Each year, up to four teams are selected based on their ideas' originality and potential impact.

This year’s teams—Axal, Engauge, Saved and Whitebox—presented tools to streamline legacy code analysis, improve classroom communication, automate media editing for streamers and accelerate biotech data preparation.

Each team spent the academic year refining their ideas, building prototypes and receiving ongoing guidance from mentors with startup experience. One of those mentors, Arthur AI CEO and alum Adam Wenchel (B.S. ’99, computer science), said his expectations were exceeded.

“I’ve been kind of blown away by the degree of sophistication and drive students had compared to when I was in college,” Wenchel said. “Some of these teams were working around the clock while balancing school. They’ve faced real challenges—some have hit low points—but seeing them get funding or user traction was impressive given everything else on their plates.”

The Hatchery’s namesake founders remain actively involved in mentoring participants. Haroon Mokhtarzada reflected on how teams managed internal dynamics during the development process.

“We had a great startup called Saved, and during the program, they were struggling to get things done,” Mokhtarzada said. “Eventually, they realized their team was too big. Once they scaled it back, they became far more efficient. It’s a good example of how fewer resources sometimes lead to better results.”

The Hatchery’s goal is to provide students real-world experience in building companies while still enrolled in school. Projects range in focus but often align with broader industry trends in automation, artificial intelligence and user experience design. Each team received up to $10,000 in seed funding.

This year's teams shared their development since entering the Hatchery.

Axal

Led by Samai Patel (B.S. ’25, computer science) and Nand Vinchhi (B.S. ’27, computer science), Axal helps companies navigate the complexities of legacy software systems. The start-up was inspired by the founders' work on projects requiring them to navigate technologies like Java and C#. Axal decreases the risk of modernization by automating the identification of architectural tech debt in monolithic codebases and prioritizing refactoring opportunities based on business goals.

“As companies shift toward AI and cloud-native development, we ensure their software is compatible, scalable and ready for the future,” Patel said. 

The team recently completed Y Combinator and is now working with enterprise clients while raising additional funding and expanding its team. 

Patel said the Mokhtarzada Hatchery Program was instrumental during the company’s early phase. 

“The Hatchery gave us a dedicated workspace and connected us with mentors whose guidance was crucial to our growth,” he said.

Engauge 

Founded by Rodrigo Sandon (B.S. ’24, computer science) and Marie Brodsky (B.S. ’24, mathematics), Engauge addresses participation challenges in large lecture halls. The team cites research showing that roughly 70% of students hesitate to speak up in class, leaving instructors without meaningful feedback on student comprehension. Their platform uses AI-driven analysis after lectures to identify patterns of engagement and areas where students may be struggling.

“Imagine sitting in a lecture hall with 300 students when the professor asks, ‘Does this make sense?’” Brodsky said. “Most students won’t respond—even if they’re confused. We built Engauge to bridge that gap and create a feedback loop that benefits students and instructors.”

The platform has already been piloted in UMD mathematics and computer science courses. Brodsky said they plan to continue collaborating with faculty on campus to refine the tool before considering expansion to other institutions.

Brodsky credited the Hatchery for encouraging them to test ideas iteratively and approach development with a clear strategic vision. 

“We were constantly challenged to ask whether our product reflected more than just a set of features,” she said. “The mentors pushed us to identify the core of the classroom problem we were trying to solve and how to get there best.”

Saved

Developed by Aayush Gupta (B.S. ’25, computer science), Akash Moorching (B.S. ’26, computer science) and Eric Chen (B.S. '26, computer science; mathematics), Saved is a platform built for Twitch streamers looking to expand their presence on short-form video platforms. Using an emotion recognition model and Twitch engagement metrics, the tool automatically extracts high-interest moments and turns them into clips optimized for TikTok, Instagram and YouTube Shorts. 

“Saved helps creators worldwide,” Gupta said. “Our technology identifies highlights more efficiently than competitors and integrates smoothly with existing creator workflows.”

The team is onboarding creators steadily and plans to expand into a marketplace where brands can pay streamers to react to their content. Gupta will graduate this year, while Moorching and Chen plan to take a gap semester to pursue the project full time. The team recently won UMD’s Pitch Dingman Competition, earning the grand prize.

Gupta credited the Hatchery with keeping the team focused and pushing their growth forward. 

“The mentors gave us direct, consistent feedback and held us accountable,” he said. “Whenever we hit roadblocks, we had someone to turn to.”

Whitebox

Initially launched by Michael Ilie (B.S. ’27, computer science) and Northeastern University student Arav Kumar (B.S. ’27, computer science), Whitebox set out to automate the data cleaning process in drug development pipelines. The team developed an AI-powered solution to streamline the preparation of clinical datasets—an often time-consuming and error-prone aspect of biotech research.

Ilie later stepped away from the startup to pursue work that aligned more closely with his interests in AI research. He now serves as head of research at Learn Prompting, a 2023-2024 Hatchery startup that crowdsources AI security data and collaborates with major research labs. The company recently launched Hackaprompt 2.0, a global competition inviting AI red teamers to test the limits of popular models through prompt injection and jailbreak attempts.

Reflecting on his time in the Hatchery, Ilie said the program provided critical structure and support during his most intense work period. 

“I was putting in 80-hour weeks, and the Hatchery space became my home base,” Ilie said. “The mentors were invaluable with honest feedback and ensured everyone stayed accountable.”

—Story by Samuel Malede Zewdu, CS Communications