Miller Prize
The Miller Prize awards a $25,000 cash prize to a student-led venture working on innovative high-growth tech or tech-enabled solutions with a definable go-to-market strategy for for-profit ventures.
This prize competition also provides quality feedback from professional judges, extensive mentoring from faculty, and opportunities for participants to meet and pitch their ideas to top venture capitalists and leading industry professionals.
The Miller Prize is open to any team led by a currently enrolled Yale student. This prize is managed by Tsai CITY and is possible due to the support of Brian Miller, the Chief Investment Officer of North Sound Partners.
Judging Criteria
- Viability: There is a clear solution to the problem and a realistic path for getting the solution to the end user. The team can continue to deliver the solution in a way that is financially and operationally sustainable.
- Pitch: Clarity and quality of the pitch.
- Team: The overall team composition, including knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to move the venture forward.
- Sustainability & Catalytic Potential: The team has a plan to use grant proceeds to advance the venture effectively.
Important Dates
January 27, 2026: Startup Yale Application Fest
February 2, 2026: Startup Yale application opens
February 12, 2026 at 5:00 pm EST: Startup Yale application deadline
March 6, 2026: Finalist announced.
April 10, 2026: Finalists participate in a live pitch event as part of Startup Yale.
Contact
Janelle Stevenson
Assistant Director of Development for Yale Engineering
Janelle.stevenson@yale.edu
Past Winners
- 2025: Sourcerer
- 2024: Catala (James Licato, YC ’25, and Claire Chouinard, ENG ’27) offers a sustainable water membrane technology which enables a one-stop, drop-in solution for industrial water treatment at a fraction of current costs.
- 2023: Banofi Leather (Jinali Mody YSE ’23) is a material science startup that is creating a plant-based leather alternative by upcycling banana crop waste.
- 2021: Floe, (David Dellal GRD ’24, Hector Castillo GRD ’26, and Mitch Guillaume) is an environmentally-friendly, safe, and cost-effective solution to prevent extensive water damage caused by ice dams on roofs in the winter.
- 2019: Prepared (Michael Chime YC ’21, Dylan Gleicher YC ’21, and Neil Soni YC ’22) is a one-touch mobile alert system that is placed in the hands of trusted faculty at schools. PREPARED allows the school’s emergency response to be instantaneous and decentralized, while also streamlining the process of contacting authorities. In an emergency situation, seconds are lives, and clear, dynamic communication is vital.
- 2018: Snackpass (Jamie Marshall YC ’19, Kevin Tan YC ’17, and Jonathan Cameron) is an app that lets you order food from local restaurants and skip the line when it’s ready. And then they battled for our attention to try to get us to use their referral codes.
