Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge Finalists with QEDC Deputy Executive Director Sarah Liu (left) and Director Ben Guttmann (right).
Photo by Victor Prado
The Queens Economic Development Corporation held a special ceremony where they announced the 15 finalists for the 2026 Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge on Tuesday, March 31, at Flushing Town Hall, located at 137-35 Northern Blvd. in Flushing.
The 15 finalists were selected from a group of 350 people enrolled in the Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge this year. This five-month program, offered via a partnership with Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, provides several dozen borough-based contestants with technical assistance, business training and face-to-face consultations, while also attending monthly networking events.
Participants then had the opportunity to submit their own applications to a panel of judges after they have attended four events and received training. Three finalists were then chosen by the judges for each of the five categories: Community, Consumer Tech, Enterprise Tech, Food and Sustainability.
Each finalist will submit a “Final Pitch” activity related to their submissions on Tuesday, April 28, at the New York Hall of Science, with the panel of judges, comprised of local entrepreneurship and industry experts, selecting a winner for each of the five categories. The winners will receive grants valued up to $20,000 to help them grow their businesses. The grants are provided by Resorts World New York City.
Community finalists include Anna Savittieri and the Sunnyside Literacy Lab, Queens Village resident Magdala Noel and the bilingual pediatric Hand in Hand Speech Therapy LLC and Michael Cruz and Leigh Lotock, who have the Astoria Farmers Market.
Finalists in Consumer Tech are Ahad Ali of Forest Hills and the AI-powered bookkeeping company Tabby, Erich Molina of Richmond Hill and Cmpo, an app that helps organize adult recreational leagues, and Yaroslav Kharkov of Long Island City and SpotLink LLC, an app for navigating parking regulations.
The Enterprise Tech finalists include Rohan Ramnarain and Kevin Guillermo of Oakland Gardens, who have the pay-by-bank checkout service for independent pharmacies Pharmachute, Kew Gardens resident Echo Wu and the AI system for engineering ThunderGraph and Daniel Khalighinejad and Hesam Shams of Long Island City, who have the real estate feasibility platform Dwellci AI.
In the Food category, the selected finalists are Woodside resident Laura Dadap and the Filipino hot sauce Djablo, Thau Bui, also from Woodside, and Vân Vân, a Vietnamese ingredients provider, and Rathan Yogi of Long Island City and fruit-and-nut purveyor Sivaro Snacks.
The finalists for the last category, Sustainability, are Kelly Tigera of Long Island City and Orbit Exchange LLC, a marketplace for reclaimed construction materials, Veena Jayadeva of Jackson Heights and the Southeast Asian clothing rental company Kareena’s Closet and Dan Connors of Whitestone and Sustainable Buildings Data, LLC, a green technology platform.
Photo by Victor Prado
“Congratulations to this year’s finalists and best of luck as you pursue your entrepreneurial business dreams,” Queens Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Ben Guttmann said. “I’d like to remind those who didn’t advance that they can try again next year. I’d also like to thank all of the entrants for participating, the expert judges for volunteering their time, Borough President Donovan Richards Jr.’s Office, lead QTIC sponsor Resorts World New York City and Silicon Valley Bank, which sponsored the ceremony on March 31. And for those who didn’t make it to the finals last week, I look forward to seeing them apply again next year!”
Now in its 20th year, the Queen Tech + Innovation Challenge, formally known as the Queens StartUP! Business Plan Competition, has distributed over $900,000 worth of investments to early-stage companies in the borough.