Forge 2026

March 28-29, 2026Chicago

The Midwest's largest student-run startup weekend. Meet VCs, founders and top student startups, pitch for prizes, go to workshops, and leave with a sharper idea.

Forge 2027 dates coming soon. Follow us on Instagram to hear first.

Forge 2025

The podium

1st

InstaEnglish

A pocket English-speaking coach that gets learners to conversational fluency in about 10 months. Launched in Japan in 2024 and broke into the top 50 education apps on the App Store, with a team fluent in 7 languages now going global.

2nd

LaneTrax

Fewer than 5% of bowling alleys have tracking systems. LaneTrax turns any phone into one, so every bowler can analyze their game and improve.

3rd

VeriGuard

An AI platform that helps media and PR teams catch deepfakes in real time, protecting brands from misinformation, fraud and reputational damage.

Forge 2025

Speakers, judges and mentors

Keynote speakers

Priya Shah, The Simple Good
Abin Kuriakose, World Business Chicago
Bob Okabe, Discovery Partners Institute

Judges

Nick Arnett, 1517
Lynette Correa-Velez, HACE
Ilan Pragaspathy, TDS
Catrina Patton, Rise8
Nadia Vedhapudi, Culligan ZeroWater
Liz Yuhas, Chicago Blend
Brittany Canty, Inciteful

Mentors

Advay Gupta, PathLit AI
Joshua Love, Zite AI
Alex Kosyakov, Natrion, 30u30
Nick Militello, Omnipher
Eric Mills, BlackInk AI
Marshall Budin, Pharus
Jake Marmulstein, Janover Connect
Josh Jay James, Other.OOO
Peter Pellizzari, Threadable
Catrina Patton, Women in Product
Nadia Vedhapudi, Culligan ZeroWater