The Jacobson Global Venture Awards at The Lauder Institute

Ātrevida is a luxury candle venture inspired by ancient Persian apothecary traditions. Drawing from its founder’s Persian heritage, Ātrevida’s scents offer unique blended fragrances that evoke warmth, nostalgia, and sophistication. Each handcrafted candle is made from high-quality, eco-friendly materials. The debut collection features seven scents, from the tea-infused warmth of Samovar to the calming and resinous notes of Azadi. The initial production run, featuring 500 large hand-poured concrete candles and 300 mini-samplers, will launch online and via curated pop-ups in Philadelphia, New York, and London.

Djavaneh Bierwirth is a second-year MA/MBA student in Lauder’s Global Program. Prior to Lauder, Djavaneh worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in NYC and as a VC investor for Greyhound Capital in London. Djavaneh earned a BS in Economics and a BA in International Studies through the Huntsman Program’s dual-degree at Penn.

Ātrevida plans to utilize the Jacobson money to fund the production of its debut collection, refine its signature scents through continued testing of fragrance suppliers, and support grassroots marketing efforts, including curated brand activations and initial retail partnerships. The funding will also help optimize packaging and supply chain logistics.

Daisy AI is an AI copilot that reimagines Utilization Management to transform the way clinical document reviews are conducted, streamlining the assessment of costly inpatient stays.  It applies Large Language Models to extract key clinical indicators from complex medical charts, freeing up nurse attention to focus on strategic case management decisions. By automating a traditionally manual and error-prone process, Daisy AI has significant impact on patient quality-of-life as well as insurer and hospital bottom lines. With results delivered in under 15 seconds and seamless compatibility with raw clinical notes—without requiring EHR integration—Daisy AI provides fully traceable and highly precise decision guidance that supports experienced clinicians in making the compassionate, evidence-based judgment calls that have been the foundation of medical practice for decades.

Michael Yuan (CTO) is a second-year MA/MBA student in Lauder’s East and Southeast Asia (Mandarin) Program. After completing undergraduate studies in Electrical Engineering at Princeton University, he gained professional experience in consulting and private equity, most recently at Warburg Pincus’ healthcare group. Thomas Startz (CEO) is a second-year MBA student at the Wharton School in the Healthcare Management (HCM) program. Thomas has an academic background in economics and business and most recently worked at Redesign Health, helping jump-start new healthcare ventures through strategic and operational support.

Daisy AI will use the Jacobson funding to bridge themselves to a full fundraise over the summer, focusing on solidifying their working prototype into a cybersecure, HIPAA-compliant, and EMR-integrated working product deployed at 1-2 pilot partners.

Lengua is an AI-powered language maintenance app that helps users sustain and refine their second-language speaking skills without the need for a live practice partner. By offering realistic, immersive conversational practice, available 24/7 with real-time corrections, Lengua helps users retain speaking confidence and avoid language decline. Every conversation on the app moves users closer to their goal, as Lengua creates and adapts a custom curriculum based on each user’s objectives, skills, and available practice time. Lengua also incorporates cutting-edge psychology and linguistic science to save time and supercharge practice effectiveness, making it easier and more engaging to sustain speaking proficiency over time.

Abigael Bamgboye is a first-year MA/MBA student in the Latin America (Spanish) program. Prior to Lauder, Abigael worked on global transformation projects at Bain and Company and founded an online adult language learning community. Born and raised in London, England, Abigael studied materials science and engineering at Imperial College London and completed an exchange program at MIT.

Lengua will use the Jacobson funding to build the initial app feature set and launch a beta version for testing with users.