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For Riya Bhatia ‘26, the was more than a source of healthy produce and staples during her student days.  

The pantry also inspired a spark of entrepreneurial creativity: What if students could use smartphones and AI to check inventories? How about personalized information for favorite recipes?

“We needed it,” said Bhatia, referring to an app that could help students plan their pantry visits. “Let’s build it.”

This is the origin story for Bhatia and her team, NourishU AI, among the finalists for the 2026 Sunstone Innovation Challenge. The Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship hosts the annual competition to inform students how an idea can become the basis for a new business.  

Participants receive expert mentorship while drafting business plans, thus strengthening proficiencies that can be applied to starting new companies or becoming a creative contributor to an existing firm. The competition is embedded into the Day-Time MBA program, emphasizing ������’s commitment to promoting entrepreneurial thinking.

The contest originated from collaboration between the colleges of The Arts, Business and Hung Family College of Engineering. Past winners have triumphed with pitches for physical goods like injection-molded violins, fashion-forward prosthetic sleeves and deliveries of cold-brew coffee.

More recently, high-performing teams like NourishU AI have focused on commissioning technology in the service of health and well-being.

“The trend is to social impact,” said Wade Martin, director of ������’s Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. “When you’re looking to improve the lives of people, there are a lot of opportunities in the healthcare space, broadly defined.”

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AI recipes 

In addition to Bhatia, the NourishU team includes Amit Kumar '26 and Naveen Palanisamy '25. Bhatia and Kumar both completed Master of Science in information systems degrees, and Palanisamy earned a Master of Science in engineering. Together, they propose an app using AI to help food pantry clients prepare healthy dishes and avoid the financial and physical tolls of fast-food diets. NourishU AI would also alert users to dietary conflicts and allergy risks, serving individuals who could conceivably be members of a large customer base.

“We want AI to help us,” Bhatia said. “Somewhere down the line, you cannot do everything. It’s so difficult. The market is huge.”

Additional 2026 finalists proposed using tech for human-centered innovations. The top prize went to Aurascan, also pitching AI as a tool for nutrition. Aurascan proposed a smartphone app that would show how packaged food and drinks can affect shoppers’ bodies.

Consumers can have a hard time finding reliable nutritional information, said Aurascan’s Christopher Carrillo ‘24, ‘26. Aurascan would enable users to scan barcodes and get reports showing what a product’s ingredients can do to specific organs and systems, say, by warning how a sugary snack may affect heart health.

“People are starting to do more research on their own,” said Carrillo, who just completed his Master of Business Administration degree.

‘Completely intensive’

The Sunstone Innovation Challenge culminates with finalists appearing before panels of experienced professionals to pitch their ideas. Sunstone Management, a Southern California investment firm, has sponsored the competition since 2019.

"The Sunstone Innovation Challenge reflects our commitment to advancing innovation, entrepreneurship and community," Sunstone Chief Executive John Keisler said. "Together with the Sunstone Community Fund, we're proud to support ������ students as they transform bold ideas into solutions and strengthen the next generation of entrepreneurs."

For this year’s challenge, Aurascan and NourishU entered the track for teams that are relatively close to bringing a product or service to market. The other two finalists in this group, Upgraded and VoiceBridge, respectively pitched ideas for using AI to help high school students select colleges and to operate computers via natural speech.

The challenge has a second track for students whose ideas are in a more conceptual stage. They also get an in-depth experience.  

“It was completely intensive,” said Brendan Nelson ‘26, a newly minted Master of Business Administration graduate. “We did everything from topics on design to a lot of customer research and really understanding what they want.”

Nelson’s team, Speek, pitched eyeglasses that would help people living with speech impairments. The glasses would employ eye-tracking technology to help users select words to sound through a speaker, replacing assistive handheld devices.

Another health-focused team in this group, MyCycleSync, proposed an app connecting to wearable devices to help women track hormonal health. Alessia Bothorel ‘26 said the technology industry has yet to meet the need for services focused on women’s health, and she enjoyed researching potential customers’ needs.

“That was all very rewarding, to prove that I could make a whole business plan,” Botherel said.