Our First Cohort

Cohort 1

117 participants. 4 weeks of building. 3 winners. This is what happens when immigrant students get the opportunity to build.

117 Participants
4 Weeks
3 Mentors
$1,000 Prize Pool

The Journey to Success

From bootcamp to continued learning: Here's how our Cohort 1 participants built their businesses

Phase 1

The Bootcamp

4 weeks of intensive entrepreneurship training

Week 1

Ideation, Solutions, and Business Models

Guest Mentor: Prithiviraj Logan

We led students through ideation, solution framing, and the fundamentals of business models. Our guest mentor Prithiviraj Logan supported with insights on starting with a niche market—identifying a specific group of people with a specific problem before scaling.

  • Problem discovery techniques
  • Niche market targeting
  • Solution ideation frameworks
  • Business model basics (B2B, B2C, B2B2C)
Week 1 - Ideation Workshop
Week 2
Week 2 - Finance & Marketing

Finance & Marketing

Guest Mentor: Ross Gillispie, Banker

We taught students financial planning and marketing strategy, while guest mentor Ross Gillispie shared real-world insights from banking. Students learned how to price, project revenue, and position their ideas to reach the right audience.

  • Financial planning & budgeting
  • Pricing strategies
  • Revenue projections
  • Marketing fundamentals
Week 3

Pitch Deck Development

Guest Mentor: Srinivas Maram

We led students through building their pitch decks—crafting a strong narrative, clarifying the problem and solution, and presenting their market and traction. Guest mentor Srinivas Maram provided feedback on structure, clarity, and how to tell a compelling story.

  • Pitch deck structure & flow
  • Problem-solution storytelling
  • Market & traction framing
  • Clear ask & next steps
Week 3 - Pitch Deck Development
Phase 2

The Pitch Competition

Top 10 students selected by us compete for prizes and recognition

In Week 4, we selected the top 10 students based on their dedication, progress, and business potential. These finalists presented their fully-developed business ideas to a panel of judges and mentors, showcasing everything they learned—from problem identification to financial planning.

The competition was fierce, with each team delivering compelling pitches. The top 3 winners walked away with cash prizes and validation that their ideas had real potential in the market.

  • Top 10 finalists selected by Project Origin
  • Live judging and Q&A
  • Cash prizes and recognition
Pitch Competition Audience Student Presenting Award Ceremony

The Winners

Meet the entrepreneurs who brought their ideas to life

🥇 1st Place
Roshan Arai

Roshan Arai

SwimSense

$1,000 Prize

🥈 2nd Place
Rhea Pujari

Rhea Pujari

NextDoor Digital Marketing

🥉 3rd Place
Ritika Singh & Alina Ji

Ritika Singh & Alina Ji

Sweetly Unique

Phase 3

Exclusive Webinar with Shashank Saxena

$510M exit founder provides personalized feedback

Shashank Saxena Webinar

The top 3 students plus 7 of the best immigrant student founders across America that we scouted earned an exclusive webinar with Shashank Saxena, a successful VC who sold his company VNDLY to Workday for $510 million.

During this private session, Shashank provided personalized advice and feedback on each team's business, sharing insights from his journey building and scaling a successful startup to a massive exit. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our students to learn from someone who has achieved what they aspire to.

Phase 4

Continued Learning Through Genesis

Ongoing support and entrepreneurship education

The journey doesn't end with the bootcamp. All Cohort 1 participants gained access to Genesis, our comprehensive online learning platform with 16+ lessons covering every aspect of entrepreneurship—from ideation to launch strategy.

Students can continue building their skills, access additional resources, and stay connected with the Project Origin community. Many participants are still working on their businesses, using Genesis to guide them through each phase of their entrepreneurial journey.

Explore Genesis

What Participants Said

"For the first time, I felt like my background was an advantage, not a barrier. The mentors actually understood my journey."
— Roshan Arai, 1st Place Winner
"Project Origin gave me the confidence to pursue my startup idea. The mentorship was invaluable."
— Ritika Singh, 3rd Place
"I learned more in 4 weeks than I did in a year of trying to figure it out on my own."
— Ganesh Gowda, Participant

Cohort 2 Coming Soon

Stay tuned for applications. Join our community to be the first to know when Cohort 2 opens.

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