McCloskey 2026 is a wrap.McCloskey 2027 starts now.
April 21–25, 2027 · University of Notre Dame
McCloskey 2026 by the numbers
Relive the week.
From the opening reception to the send-off tailgate — moments along the way. These photos are yours to keep and share.
These photos are yours to keep and share. For any questions, contact ekinzel2@nd.edu.
Congratulations to our 2026 winners
RETRN Bioworks
Awarded to the team that best demonstrates a significant market opportunity, a differentiated and defensible solution, early traction, a credible path to scale, and a commitment to making a positive impact on the world.
Accedar Salud
Awarded to the semifinalist venture that earns the most votes from the McCloskey audience.
RETRN Bioworks
Awarded to the venture demonstrating the greatest ambition in scope — pursuing a problem so large, and a solution so audacious, that success would meaningfully change an industry, a community, or the world.
Azam Health
Awarded to the venture with the strongest demonstrated connection to and positive impact on the South Bend–Elkhart region.
Lantern Network LLC
Awarded to the venture that best addresses a defense, national security, or military and veteran community need.
Petrine Properties
Awarded to the venture that most distinctively advances the Catholic character of Notre Dame — through its founding mission, model, and intended impact.
Geddit
Awarded to the top-performing venture whose founding idea and core team originated with undergraduate students at the University of Notre Dame.
Anaphero
Recognizes the founder whose entrepreneurial journey has been defined by extraordinary resilience — facing setbacks, pivots, personal hardship, or structural barriers that would have stopped most people.
Nullpoint
Awarded to the venture that demonstrates the most original and technically differentiated solution to a significant problem.
Anaphero
Awarded to the top-performing venture whose founding idea and core team originated with graduate students at the University of Notre Dame.
RETRN Bioworks
Awarded to the venture demonstrating the most innovative solution within industries relevant to Marmon's portfolio — medical devices, consumer retail, or industrial/packaging materials.
Inaugural McCloskey Alumni Awards
Student Entrepreneurship at Notre Dame is recognizing the alumni and mentors who power the ecosystem behind the entrepreneurs. These awards honor a lifetime of institution-building, hands-on program creation, social impact, and transformative mentorship.
The Lifetime Achievement Award honors an individual whose sustained contributions have fundamentally shaped Notre Dame's entrepreneurial landscape. Gigot endowed the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies in 1998, co-founded IrishAngels in 2012, and later co-founded Vennli — headquartered in downtown South Bend. His fingerprints are on nearly every pillar of Notre Dame entrepreneurship today.
The Program Builder Award recognizes those who have structurally changed how the Notre Dame entrepreneurship ecosystem works. Yurkowski, CTO and co-founder of ClickUp, proposed a hands-on experiential learning program pairing ND CS students with real-world feature development. Hintz made it work — building a curriculum that gives students genuine exposure to production codebases and professional engineering mentorship.
The Force for Good Award honors a Notre Dame family member leveraging technology to address grand challenges aligned with Catholic Social Teaching. Haarlander spent more than two decades in sales leadership and results coaching before joining the IDEA Center as a mentor — mentorship that grew into Runwayz, an AI-powered platform connecting high school graduates to employers and meaningful opportunity.
The Mentor of the Year Award honors the individual whose mentorship has had the most profound impact on Notre Dame student founders, chosen based on direct testimony from the founders themselves. Sinclair founded The Anthem Group with less than $500 in high school; it has since grown into a global enterprise operating in more than 70 markets across five continents. Multiple founders in this year's McCloskey cohort independently credited his guidance with fundamentally changing how they think about building.
2026 Finalists
Five ventures competed on the main stage at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center for $100K+ in prizes.
RETRN Bioworks
Bio-based, highly tunable polymer barrier coatings for fiber and paper packaging — fully home compostable, marine biodegradable, and recyclable.
Anaphero
A wearable device that identifies the earliest signs of a life-threatening allergic reaction, sending real-time alerts to parents and caregivers the moment it occurs — ensuring fast, life-saving intervention.
Advocate LLC
Partners with employers to give every employee direct access to a personal Patient Advocate — experienced clinicians who help patients understand their care, make informed decisions, and advocate for themselves.
Geddit
Building the digital addressing infrastructure African economies never had — assigning every building a locally contextualized and verified digital identity usable across logistics, banking, and government systems.
Lantern Network LLC
Develops advanced passive sensors that detect and track drone activity in real time, equipping public safety agencies and security teams with the situational awareness needed to protect people and critical infrastructure.
2026 Semifinalists
Meet all 16 ventures that competed at Notre Dame this April.
Accedar Salud
A social venture in Guadalajara offering families access to 25 medical and 7 dental specialties through an annual membership model — a sustainable alternative to overwhelmed public systems and unaffordable private insurance.
Armada Fleet Systems
Software that automates military maintenance planning, saving millions of man-hours per year while increasing fleet operational readiness and enabling US forces to operate effectively in high-tempo environments.
Azam Health
An AI-first telehealth platform combining electronic health records, telehealth, and a personalized patient app into a single integrated experience — bridging the gap between patients, providers, and health histories.
CrossPaths
Rethinking how college students meet by replacing swipe-based dating with algorithmic matchmaking based on values, interests, and personality — already matching 3,500+ Notre Dame students and expanding to 10 additional universities.
DineND
A mobile app that helps Notre Dame students view dining hall menus, track nutrition, and plan balanced meals — built on live dining data and used by hundreds of students daily.
Irish Nostalgia
A veteran-owned, student-founded retail enterprise and one of fewer than 200 vendors worldwide holding official licensing from both Notre Dame and Fanatics — specializing in handcrafted premium memorabilia with a portion of proceeds funding veteran and student scholarships.
Kineura
A wearable EMG device that captures real-time muscle activity and translates complex biometrics into simple, actionable insights — helping athletes at every level optimize training and proactively prevent injury.
Nullpoint
A remotely controlled, small-form-factor GPS jammer that straps to any drone or UGV in seconds — creating a precisely localized denial zone without the costly delays and collateral interference of current DoD testing methods.
Petrine Properties
Uses creative legal and financial instruments to provide high-quality, affordable, scalable housing for young Catholic men — addressing the lack of faith-based co-housing while generating sustainable financial returns.
Qura
A quantum-enhanced drug discovery platform shattering the computational ceiling across every stage of drug development — from compound structure to patient outcome — to reduce the $400B annual cost of Phase I clinical trial failures.
Rapid Bolus
A single-use, CO₂-powered handheld device that boosts any standard IV bag to 300 mmHg in under five seconds — giving trauma bays, operating rooms, and military teams a fast, simple tool for life-saving fluid resuscitation.
Our students need you. Here's how to get plugged in.
There's no single path — involvement looks different for everyone.
Engage students directly
No matter how much time you have, there is a spot for you.
- An hour a yearSpeak to a student group. A fireside chat, a case study, or an honest conversation about your journey. We handle the rest.
- An hour a monthNeeds & leads sessions. A standing remote session where founders share a venture and a need. Mentors respond. No prep. Just show up.
- An hour a weekMentor a top team. Paired 1:1 with a founder in McCloskey, Race to Revenue, or our Pre-Accelerator. Time-bounded. High-impact.
Engage your network
Bring the right people in. Connect students to opportunities out.
- Refer & recruitKnow someone who should be here? Judges, mentors, speakers, partners — the best introductions come from people already in the room.
- Community groupsJoin or help lead an affinity group. Irish Founders. Female Founders. Life Science. Defense. Help build the community around the founders who need it most.
- Corporate partnershipInternships, hackathons & more. Connect students to careers. Co-host a hackathon. Sponsor a track. Build something lasting with your organization and ours.
Engage on campus
Some things are better in person.
- Football weekends (Fall)If you're already heading to Notre Dame for a game, we'll arrange a 60–90 minute connection with students or founders that fits your visit.
- McCloskey Competition (Spring)Notre Dame's 26-year-old national venture competition brings together student founders, judges, mentors, and the broader entrepreneurial community each April. Mark your calendar: April 21–25, 2027.