Learn about some of the amazing student startup companies at the University of Utah. Students from all departments are inventing new products and starting businesses.
Browse photos from Demo Day 2026. At this annual event, the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute welcomed dozens of student entrepreneurs at the University of Utah to celebrate the end of the year by showcasing their products and services. Learn more at lassonde.utah.edu/demo.
In 2018, Kelby Gatrell was approached by his brother-in-law, Abraham Bedard, about starting a golf company. Even though Gatrell had never played a round of golf in his life, he decided to take the risk and launch Yatta Golf. As co-founder and vice president of sales, Gatrell watched the company grow but also noticed critical […]
Pretend is building a platform designed to help teams keep up with the demands of content creation without relying on the slow, complex structure of traditional creative work. Michael Potter, a filmmaker and creative entrepreneur, brings years of experience in film production and client work to Pretend. Potter joined the University of Utah’s Master of […]
When Princess Bombyck was 9 years old, a civil war forced her family from their home in Liberia. In the chaos, a young American public health student showed up to help. She provided basic health care to families who had nothing, and though she may never know the impact of that one act, it changed […]
As the founder of Gilded, Annika Stacey didn’t set out to make just another coffee table book. She set out to create something that mattered. After moving into a new home, she placed a handcrafted oak table, built by her father-in-law, at the center of her space. As she searched for a book to place […]
James Larkin and Luca Schneider, both first year students at the University of Utah, have a vision for making the average coffee trip high quality, convenient, affordable and time efficient. They have been pursuing this goal through their business Summit Cafe. Both entrepreneurs come from a background in catering which is where they had the […]
University of Utah entrepreneurship student Aiden Leone launched Leone’s Barbershop, a mobile business serving the campus community, with a simple question: “What if I got good at this?” Leone first became interested in barbering during high school after his barber moved away from California. Left without a barber, he started seeing his mom’s hairstylist. She […]
As a kid growing up in Salt Lake City, Garrett Petersen was always building something. In addition to his creativity, Petersen has always had a drive to help others. Over the past decade, Petersen has translated these passions into video and photo production, and now into Visibylity, a creative marketing partner for small- to medium-sized […]
When former Navy rescue swimmer Ryan Siner found himself depending on unreliable equipment during high-risk missions, he set out to fix the system that failed him. Years later, his experiences drove the creation of Aldrich Dynamics, a company dedicated to ensuring government agencies, hospitals, and essential workers will always have access to dependable equipment. “We […]
Growing up in a farming household in Nigeria, Gabriel Eze saw how the livelihood of Nigerian farmers has decreased over time as food prices have skyrocketed. Determined to help farmers maximize the potential of their soil and better support themselves, Eze created Rural Farmers Hub: Decision-Ready Data and Insights for Farmers. In developing a solution to […]
