University of Cincinnati
10/28/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/28/2025 12:43
Meet the young talent reshaping Cincinnati’s startup scene
Meet the young talent reshaping Cincinnati's startup scene
UC students are making waves as they ignite regional entrepreneurship
By Stephen Kenney Email StephenEmail Stephen
6 minute read October 28, 2025 Share on facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Reddit Print StoryLike
The University of Cincinnati is a hotbed of entrepreneurship, with a 2024 report showing that graduates are 3.3 times more likely than average to found a billion-dollar unicorn startup.
According to the Cincinnati Business Courier's Inno Under 25 list, today's Bearcats are equally passionate about launching successful businesses.
Join us in celebrating UC's breakthrough entrepreneurs as they successfully balance classwork with building their own innovative startups. Whether they're seeking mentorship through UC's Venture Lab business accelerator or pitching for funding at the 1819 Innovation Hub, these students are the new face of entrepreneurship in Cincinnati.
Amelia Wares: Founder of TissuTrak
Wares, on the right, leading the UC Women in Entrepreneurship club. Photo/Amelia Wares
Innovation often comes from necessity, and it certainly did for 21-year-old Amelia Wares, a biomedical engineering student at UC and the founder of the mobile healthcare app TissuTrak.
In her later years of high school - while being recruited to play college softball, no less - Wares started facing devastating and hard-to-explain conditions. These included severe allergic reactions, joint dislocations, heart rates of more than 200 beats per minute and chronic pain and fatigue.
Life began to turn around as Wares chose to forego her potential athletic scholarship to enroll at UC. She began diligently tracking her lifestyle choices and how they affected her health, leading to a fourfold diagnosis in 2023: rare connective tissue disorder Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, along with mast cell activation syndrome, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome and gastroparesis.
I built this [app] selfishly, in the moment, for myself... Now, my hope is to help others.
Amelia Wares Founder, TissuTrak
Wares doesn't want others to go through the pain and uncertainty she experienced, and that led to TissuTrak. This app allows patients with connective tissue disorders to better manage their health and reduce diagnostic times by tracking symptoms, identifying health correlations and connecting with others in similar situations - all in one place.
"I built this [app] selfishly, in the moment, for myself," Wares told the Business Courier of TissuTrak's beginnings. "Now, my hope is to help others."
TissuTrak has raised about $26,000 in nondilutive funding so far, and Wares recently took first place in the college student division of the annual U.S. Entrepreneurship Competition for it. The event, held at Ohio Wesleyan University, is the nation's largest entrepreneurship pitch contest.
Wares also knows the importance of women helping women. She leads UC's Women in Entrepreneurship club, empowering Bearcats to pursue startup dreams. TissuTrak was born out of adversity, and Wares now turns her journey of perseverance and success into an inspiration for others.
Gavin Weiss: Founder of Woove
At just 22, Gavin Weiss is no stranger to innovation. He's invented a wide range of creative solutions to everyday challenges, sometimes through projects in the industrial design program at UC's College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) and other times during his co-op experiences at Procter & Gamble.
Weiss presenting during Venture Lab Demo Day at 1819. Photo/Gregory Glevicky
His most ambitious project yet, however, is 3D-printed shoe startup Woove. Weiss has already received over 100 preorders of the company's first model, the R1 mule, and hopes to print 10,000 pairs before the end of 2026.
Woove stands out in the crowded shoe space due to its supportive cushioning, distinctive look, recyclable design and greater lifespan than competitors like Crocs. The company has received $10,000 from the 1819 Venture Lab NEXT accelerator to scale up production, which he plans to keep in the U.S.
Weiss hopes to transform footwear manufacturing through his fused diffusion modeling process, enabling faster production, zero waste at the end of a shoe's life and fully personalized designs. As Woove races toward its lofty goals, it's a startup to follow - if you can keep pace.
Joshua Jerin: Developer of Nila
Founders Inc., a San Francisco-based entrepreneurship accelerator, saw promise in 21-year-old Joshua Jerin long before his inclusion in the Cincinnati Inno Under 25. The selective program, which offers early-stage founders a place to build and invests between $100,000 and $250,000, backed Nila, Jerin's custom-built, autonomous in-home drone.
Back in Cincinnati, the computer science major earned a software engineering internship with 1819 partner company Tembo and served as an associate with Bearcat Ventures, UC's student-led venture capital fund.
Noelle Scheper: Co-founder of Motiv
Motiv co-founders Noelle Scheper and Jaden Walton. Photo/Motiv
As a 22-year-old marketing major at UC's Carl H. Lindner College of Business, Noelle Scheper has already mastered the art of capturing the attention of both investors and customers. That's one reason high school sports communication app Motiv, which she co-founded alongside fellow Bearcat Jaden Walton, has attracted attention from coaches and athletic directors across the U.S.
The startup streamlines communication channels between high school students, their parents and coaches through a secure platform in compliance with statewide transparency laws. Motiv has earned nearly $40,000 in funding to date, including $10,000 from the Venture Lab NEXT accelerator, as it begins its nationwide rollout. Credit the app's innovative approach and Scheper's marketing efforts for the app's widespread attention and early success.
Grace Shorter: Founder of The Culture Connection
Shorter presenting during Venture Lab Demo Day at 1819. Photo/Gregory Glevicky
Black professionals craving networking opportunities turn to The Culture Connection, an innovative app from 22-year-old mechanical engineering student Grace Shorter. Fueled by a desire to build genuine business relationships within the Black business community, she created a space for support and mentorship, both in the personal and professional spheres.
Along with mentorship matching opportunities, The Culture Connection helps users discover career workshops, social gatherings and nearby networking events. Through her new app, Shorter has nurtured a safe, respectful and vibrant community for those desiring deeper purpose in their careers.
Innovation Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Featured image at top: Cincinnati skyline at night. Photo/Rudolf Balasko
Tags
- Innovation
- 1819 Innovation Hub
- Innovation Agenda
- Cincinnati Innovation District
- Entrepreneurship
- Next Lives Here
- Venture Lab
- City of Cincinnati
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University of Cincinnati published this content on October 28, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on October 28, 2025 at 18:43 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]