Several University of Miami student startups were awarded $100,000 grants this spring as part of the University Student Startup Accelerator (USTAAR), according to an April 7 announcement. The awards were given during a pitch competition held at the Donna E. Shalala Student Center ballroom, where eleven teams representing nine schools and colleges presented their business ideas.
The funding aims to help students develop innovative solutions in fields ranging from mental health and artificial intelligence to healthcare and data privacy. USTAAR was established in 2024 with support from alumni Angel and Victor Alvarez and has provided small-scale Ignite or Catalyst awards to nearly 70 student startups so far. This year, fourteen startups have received major investments determined by a panel that includes entrepreneurs, local business leaders, and members of the university’s Board of Trustees.
One recipient is Julia Mauro, a master’s candidate in counseling who developed Aura Insights—an app designed for quick mental health assessments that alerts university professionals when urgent help is needed. Mauro said her experience seeking mental health support inspired her work: “Often in college, there’s such a pressure to seem like you are doing well that something you’d normally pick up on doesn’t register until it’s really bad.” She added: “Universities do not need another wellness app, they need the infrastructure to make sure that no student falls through the cracks… So every student gets the right support at the right time.”
Other winning projects include Suisqua—an AI-powered automated fish tank; SkinSmart—a skin cancer detection app using phone cameras; Textile—a secure document management software; and AIDmd—an AI platform for streamlining medical documentation. Vagif Kazimli, CEO of AIDmd and an M.D./M.B.A. student at the university said: “Your data as a patient is fragmented across the years… Now imagine doing that for more than 30 patients a day.”
Joel H. Samuels, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at the university said: “It’s imperative for us as a University to be preparing our students for a world where there’s a space for creativity and an expectation for adaptation, to really take their ideas to a different level.”
USTAAR director Suhrud Rajguru described his pride in this year’s participants: “I am incredibly proud of every single one of our student startups for their diligence and professionalism as they participated in the accelerator and presented their pitches. As the U moves into its second centennial, USTAAR is committed to empowering tomorrow’s innovators today.”
