Students from the eLab Student Startup Accelerator, the Runway Startups Postdocs Program at Cornell Tech and BioVenture eLab at Weill Cornell Medicine made their annual trek to San Francisco for the Cornell Silicon Valley: Student Startup Showcase to pitch their innovative startups at Autodesk Gallery on March 26.

Stephen Hooper, EMBA ’24, Senior Vice President for Operations and Solutions at Autodesk, provided introductory remarks on behalf of the hosts, emphasizing the role of diversity and storytelling in building successful ventures. 

“One thing that's always stuck with me about Cornell is the founding statement about it being a place where any person can find instruction in any study,” Hooper said. “I firmly believe that you get the best ideas through diversity; the more diverse the opinions and the people you can bring together, the more likely you are to have creative ideas. So, I absolutely love Cornell.”

Hooper shared his journey as a lifelong learner, beginning with a background in mechanical engineering before returning to study computer science, and ultimately pursuing an EMBA at Cornell University as his growing interest in startups and entrepreneurship took shape.

“Entrepreneurship is a really important thing, right? How do you pitch to a VC to get funding? How do you convince people to invest in your idea?" he said. "Now, really, a lot of that is about storytelling. It's about being able to kind of build some conviction behind your idea to take it to market.” 

Hooper shared that many of the products at Autodesk have come through acquisitions, often from entrepreneurs like those in the room. He went on to share that the skill set for entrepreneurship is fundamental and valuable to both startups and corporations.

“It's not just something for small, independent companies; it's also something we value greatly at much larger organizations, because it's difficult to tap into that entrepreneurial spirit," he said. "I just mentioned that so you understand the affinity that we have for what it is that you're doing.”

Hooper’s encouragement set the stage for the student entrepreneurs who followed, ready to showcase their ventures.   

eLab startup LUCRA was one of the teams that pitched at the showcase. Founded by Kate Barclay ’26, LUCRA is a patent-pending casino table game that provides casinos with a new, fast-paced way to generate table revenue through engaging and easy-to-learn gameplay.

“I appreciate how much time the advisors give to help students prepare and perfect their pitch throughout the program; it's absolutely incredible how many people are dedicated to your success," Barclay said.

Following pitches, the student entrepreneurs had the chance to network with guests attending the showcase. The event brought together the student entrepreneurs, Cornell Silicon Valley and Entrepreneurship at Cornell to highlight innovation across the Cornell community.

“The most valuable part of the showcase was the networking portion, being able to talk to so many different people, whether it was Cornell alumni or a person who was just interested in LUCRA. It was really fun to hear different suggestions,” Barclay said.

Applications for the 2026-27 eLab cohort are now open. Attend an upcoming information session at 4 p.m. on May 1 at eHub Collegetown to learn more and apply.

Read the full story on the eLab blog.