Student-led startup gains national recognition

Virginia Tech News

21 May 2026

Two men giving a presentation for Sentivity.ai with a slide reading "Sentiment intelligence for the brands that move markets." — (From left) Vishal Green and Rowan Martnishn '26 present their startup to judges at the 2026 Rice Business Plan Competition. Photo courtesy of Somiah Lattimore.

Editor's note: This story was updated May 26 to include an additional mentor who worked with the students.

After back-to-back appearances on national stages, Sentivity.ai is gaining recognition not just for its technology solution, but for what it represents: the power of interdisciplinary, hands-on, experiential learning in action.

Founded by Rowan Martnishn '26, a graduate of the College of Science, and Vishal Green, a rising senior in the College of Engineering, Sentivity.ai recently competed in both the ACC InVenture Prize and the Rice Business Plan Competition through the Apex Center for Entrepreneurs’ Incubator program.

The team represented Virginia Tech at the ACC InVenture Prize, hosted by the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, where top undergraduate startups from across the Atlantic Coast Conference pitch their ideas on a national stage and live-streamed on PBS.

They followed that performance at the 2026 Rice Business Plan Competition in Houston, Texas. Selected from more than 600 applicants nationwide, Sentivity.ai advanced to the live round of 42 teams and ultimately reached the semifinals, placing among the top 15 student ventures in the country and the first all-Virginia Tech student team to achieve the Top 15 status.

Four people standing together in front of a shelving unit displaying various university logos including Georgia Tech, Clemson, and Duke. — (From left) Sean Collins, Rowan Martnishn '26, ACC InVenture Competition emcee Faith Salie, and Vishal Green represented Virginia Tech at the ACC InVenture competition held at the University of Notre Dame. Photo courtesy of Sean Collins.

A model for the future of learning

The Apex Center, housed in the Pamplin College of Business, serves as the universitywide platform for student entrepreneurship at the undergraduate, graduate, and recent alumni level. Sentivity.ai is a clear example of the Pamplin College of Business’ Pamplin+ initiative that places experiential learning at the core of the undergraduate student experience.

Trevor Gumbril '26, a graduate from Pamplin, worked directly with startups like Sentivity.ai through his role as a startup consultant at the Apex Center. In this role, Gumbrill partnered with student founders to support key aspects of venture development — including business model design, customer discovery and validation, market analysis, and pitch preparation. The program is designed as a paid, co-op style experience, embedding Pamplin students within active startup teams from across the university, where they contribute to real business outcomes while building career-ready skills.

“Interning with student-led ventures through the Apex Center gave me the opportunity to turn classroom concepts into real outcomes,” said Gumbrill. “I built experiences for my resume and gained valuable new skills while working alongside student founders from other academic disciplines, as well as alumni mentors. It was a true learning-by-doing opportunity that prepared me to contribute in a professional environment from day one.”

The center’s portfolio of experiential programs engage students from any academic discipline in the applied practice of entrepreneurship. The Incubator program is designed to develop durable, career-ready skills including creative problem solving, strategic thinking, digital data literacy, leadership, communication, and team-based execution.

“Our goal is to prepare students for the complexity of today’s workforce,” said Saonee Sarker, dean of the Pamplin College of Business. “That means giving them opportunities to apply what they learn in real settings — working across disciplines, solving meaningful problems, and developing the confidence to lead. Opportunities for students within the Apex Center’s Incubator program blend business acumen with the technical prowess from disciplines such as science and engineering and represent one of the best student learning experiences in a Virginia Tech education.”

From technical depth to venture creation

Sentivity.ai is a predictive sentiment intelligence platform initially focused on Fortune 1000 consumer product companies, enabling enterprise customers to anticipate shifts in consumer perception before product launches, campaigns, or crises.

In a live pilot with Hamilton Beach, Sentivity’s platform demonstrated up to 97 percent accuracy in forecasting product adoption trends, and a 25 percent cost savings per product launch, providing enterprise clients with four-to-sixfold return on investment.

For Martnishn, who studied computational modeling and data analytics student who will go on to a full-time role secured at NASA, and Green, a computer science student, the venture represents the intersection of technical rigor and real-world application.

“Working with the Apex Center faculty and alumni mentors, we were constantly being challenged to think beyond the model,” said Martnishn. “It’s not just about building something technical that works — it’s about thinking like both an engineer and business stakeholder - solving a real problem, communicating value, adapting quickly, and proving ROI for the customer.”

Alumni mentors from the Apex Center — particularly those serving as entrepreneurs-in-residence — bring firsthand experience in founding, scaling, and exiting ventures, offering students like the Sentivity.ai team real-world guidance and industry networks that go far beyond the classroom. Active entrepreneurs-in-residence who worked with Sentivity.ai include: Bill Colbert '89, Daniel Lundberg '88, Donna Gibb '92, Rob Cummings '90, and Sofiat Abdulrazaaq '09. Somiah Lattimore '09, executive director at the Apex Center, also worked closely with the student team, including on-site mentorship at the Rice Business Plan Competition.

Where learning becomes doing

Sentivity.ai’s journey has been shaped by many faculty, programs and resources at Virginia Tech, including the College of Science’s Computational Modeling and Data Analytics program, College of Engineer’s Interdisciplinary Projects program, and the Startup Hokies Incubator. Through the Startup Hokies Incubator, an on-campus program led by the Apex Center, students from across Virginia Tech gain access to a robust community of peers, dedicated space, mentorship, non-dilutive funding grants, competitions, and a structured environment that supports venture development from idea to execution.

“What makes the Startup Hokies Incubator unique is that it creates a two-sided learning environment,” said Sean Collins, director of new ventures at the Apex Center, who leads the program. “We’re helping founders build companies, while simultaneously scaling paid internship opportunities for students to work inside those startups. It’s an ecosystem where engineers, scientists, business students and others collaborate in real time - developing ventures while giving students real ownership and experience that translates immediately to the workforce.”

More than a moment

For Martnishn and Green, the recognition from national competitions is meaningful — but it is not the finish line.

“These experiences change how you approach challenges, both inside the business and out” said Green. “You learn how to think, adapt, and execute in ways that stay with you long after the competition.”

Looking ahead, Sentivity.ai has secured approximately $100,000 in funding on a SAFE note from investors, applied to summer programs to accelerate their business, and remain focused on building, learning, and pushing forward — carrying the momentum from the national stage into what comes next.