Where Are They Now? The Continuing Impact of the 2025-2026 IIH Cohort
Innovation is a journey of constant iteration and development. Since completing their time with the Impact Innovation Hub (IIH), our student founders have moved rapidly from perfecting business models to achieving real-world milestones. We have been tracking their progress since the ideation stage, and here is an update on the significant strides these entrepreneurs have made.
Donielle Blount ’26, MS in Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Venture: EmpowerSafe
Blount has successfully transitioned EmpowerSafe from a conceptual safety tool to a functional device. By providing real-time data on environmental risks, she plans to help users move from reactive safety measures to proactive personal security.
IIH helped me translate lived experiences into a scalable business model and secure the early product validation necessary to move toward a full market launch.
Dibora Tito ’26, MS in Biomedical Engineering
Venture: MedTech Innovation
Tito has made significant technical improvements in the development of her non-invasive bone density testing device. Her work is moving toward clinical relevance, aiming to provide a critical solution for early osteoporosis detection.
At the time, I was very frightened to pitch and express my idea confidently. Since then, I have lifted the initial hesitation of pitching and improved my confidence here.
Faris Dabaneh ’29, BS in Electrical & Computer Engineering
Venture: Vocalis
Dabaneh continues to refine Vocalis, an application designed to mitigate social anxiety through vocal pattern analysis. Since his time in the cohort, he has developed the technology and focused on improving the user experience.
The progress I’ve made is a direct result of the Baiada Institute. Engaging with founders who are several levels ahead allowed me to refine my pitch and implement expert feedback into the app’s core functionality.
Parth Vaswani ’29, BS in Computing & Security Technology
Venture: SafeSpace
Vaswani is currently scaling SafeSpace, focusing on the integration of data-driven tools for mental health clinicians. His progress reflects a shift from general health tech to a specialized platform that directly improves patient outcomes through better professional resources.
It has been super helpful to get expert opinions on how to grow your business, as well as partnering with students who share similar ambitions.
Greeva Yava ’29, BS in Computer Science
Venture: GreenPrompts
Yava has reached a major milestone with GreenPrompts: the Chrome extension is nearly live for public use. Her work focuses on user acquisition and raising awareness about the ecological footprint of AI interactions.
The resources provided by the IIH have helped me deploy my app. It has been a massive learning opportunity that prepared me to speak with investors and take my innovation to the public market.
Turning Classroom Concepts into Real Solutions
Congratulations to these cohorts for their dedication, resilience and the impressive progress they continue to make. Seeing these ideas evolve from classroom discussions into tangible market solutions is a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit fostered at Drexel.
As these founders continue to scale, we encourage the rest of our community to keep a close eye out for the next round of IIH applications. If you have a transformative idea or a passion for solving complex problems, the next success story we feature could be yours. We look forward to seeing the next wave of innovation take shape.
