The best AI companies don’t start in boardrooms. They start with founders who can’t let a problem go.
In Q1, we brought the Mayfield AI Garage to UC Berkeley, WashU, and HumanX. We saw over 500 applications and spent time with an exceptional group of founders. The level of technical depth, ambition, and clarity of thinking stood out.
It’s a reminder of why we built the AI Garage in the first place: to meet founders at day zero and help turn early conviction into real companies.
Meet the 2026 winners!
TradeForm (Berkeley)
Manufacturing is slowed by fragmented systems. TradeForm uses AI agents to run sourcing and procurement, keeping hardware programs moving without constant coordination.
Aryan Mishra, Kedaar Rentachintala, Ankur Senapati
Working Memory (Berkeley)
Teams lose context across tools. Working Memory creates a structured, queryable layer so engineers can retain decisions and jump back into workflows seamlessly.
Gary S., Mihir Sharma
SKUNet.ai (Berkeley)
AI shopping agents are only as good as the data behind them. SKUNet cleans, standardizes, and distributes product data so agents can actually discover and transact.
Animesh T.
Modo (HumanX)
Modo helps teams use the right AI tools at the right time and gives leadership clear visibility into adoption and productivity impact.
Johnny Chang, Angelina You
NeuroMap (WashU)
NeuroMap helps neurosurgeons access millions of research findings in the context of their patient’s specific surgical target, bringing the best available evidence to the point of care.
Eli Abdou, Jeffrey Chen
Huge thank you to our partners at NVIDIA for Startups, Microsoft for Startups, Orrick Tech, and the teams at WashU Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Berkeley SkyDeck, UC Berkeley College of Computing, Data Science, and Society, KITE Scouting, and HumanX who made this possible.
To everyone we met along the way, we’re excited to keep following what you build!
