Beyond the classroom, some Northwestern students step into the role of an entrepreneur, translating passion into tangible solutions, like for the outdoors, school safety or finding love.
Three of the eight honorees on Chicago Inno’s 2025 Under 25 list advanced their startups at The Garage, NU’s hub for students passionate about entrepreneurship.
Ali Lee
After discovering her love for entrepreneurship through a clothing company she founded in high school, Ali Lee (Weinberg ’25) created Swarm at NU, an insect repellent and fragrant moisturizing lotion.
Lee first saw bug repellent double as lotion in Southeast Asia, after which she built the brand as part of The Garage’s Little Joe Ventures Fellowship and Jumpstart Pre-Accelerator programs, where entrepreneurs can receive financial support and guidance for their business. Lee said The Garage became an incredible network and professional launchpad to grow her business.
“I was bootstrapping (my company) in high school, and I’m just so grateful for (The Garage) because it’s made my experience so much better and more successful,” she said.
Lee earned $100,000 as the winner of VentureCat 2025 and has raised over $500,000 for the product.
Ohm Vyas
Ohm Vyas (McCormick M.S. ’25), co-founder and chief operating officer of ShotHawk, is developing a system to subdue active shooters in the time between a 911 call and police arrival.
“We thought it was our prerogative to take action on this, to confront the situation and do something as students, because, as a student, we don’t feel safe in these environments,” Vyas said.
When activated, ShotHawk’s AI camera detection system locates the assailant and neutralizes the threat by deploying pepper gel or another nonlethal spray.
After founding ShotHawk as an undergraduate student at Bradley University, Vyas continued to grow the product at NU with The Garage. He credits The Garage in helping to shape his company’s vision and providing guidance with business operations.
The team successfully deployed 25 units across Illinois with a $75,000 grant from the Illinois Innovation Voucher Program. They are currently fundraising to continue growing the business.
“We want to be those trendsetters and move the needle to the point where schools become safer, buildings become safer and there is a little bit of intervention before police arrive on the scene,” Vyas said.
Nandan Dhanesh
Weinberg junior Nandan Dhanesh founded Northwestern.Love to help students find dates by fixing “gaps” in traditional dating apps. He started the project with his twin brother, Amal Dhanesh, a junior at Yale University.
“Our whole thing is trying to bring dating and online matchmaking back into the real world and give people the opportunity to actually meet new people in person and hopefully spark something,” Dhanesh said.
Northwestern.Love matches users then ensures the pair meets in person. Rather than personality-based matches, the app solely relies on mutual attraction.
Launched through The Garage’s Jumpstart Pre-Accelerator program last summer, Dhanesh said roughly 600 students at NU, 300 at the University of Chicago and 300 at Yale University have used the app. For Dhanesh, The Garage is a space to tap into the wisdom and passion of like-minded peers.
Dhanesh said founders like him sometimes internalize their company’s performance, but moments of recognition like this highlight his progress.
“I think stuff like this is a good opportunity to just look up for a second, take a break and look back and sign post that you’re actually doing pretty well,” Dhanesh said.
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Related Stories:
— Northwestern alum’s bug repellent ‘Swarm’ gears up for 2026 release with $100k VentureCat boost
— NU student startup HaptE recognized on Chicago Inno “Under 25” list
— Turbocharged by initial success, NU students leave Evanston behind to pursue AI startup full-time
