The Yale Innovators' Prize awarded $15,000 to the student-led venture or nonprofit with the most significant potential for large-scale impact. This year Catala (James Licato YC '25, Jaehong Kim, Bob Migliorini), a catalyst-based technology venture working to destroy contaminants in wastewater, took home the prize. Meanwhile, the audience choice award went to Phigitals (Lacie Thorne SOM '23), a project that extends a fashion brand's e-commerce site into a resale marketplace.

The final day of Startup Yale 2023 ended with the Manolo Sanchez Prize, a $25,000 award for a for-profit or nonprofit that will improve the financial health of the financially underserved. The award went to Fines and Fees Freedom Fund (Alejandra Uria LAW '23, Caela Murphy SOM '23, Elena Sokoloski LAW '25, Liam Grace-Flood), a venture combating poverty-based incarceration through strategic payment of fines and fees, legal support, advocacy, and movement building. The early-stage project, Sillable (Aaron Daniels YC '23, Burton Lyng-Olsen YC '25), took the audience choice award for their platform, allowing customers to find, browse, and buy from local businesses online while enjoying the benefits of shopping locally.

In the final remarks of Startup Yale 2023, Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale director of operations and technology Abby Winslow took a moment to thank the entire pool of 126 applicants, 25 reviewers, and 32 judges for their hard work and dedication; and recognized the generous prize donors, sponsor MindTrust, and the Yale Entrepreneurship Collaborative of university centers, organizations, and programs for providing invaluable support to our entrepreneurs.

For more information visit city.yale.edu/stories/2023/4/4/startup-yale-2023-a-celebration-of-entrepreneurship