Alumni
What they went on to do.
SharkMakers alumni have gone on to earn internships, launch ventures, build careers in technology and business, and return as mentors, carrying their experience forward as innovators, leaders, and changemakers.
Alumni Highlights
Once a SharkMaker, always a SharkMaker.
SharkMakers alumni continue to turn their experience into real-world impact, earning competitive internships, launching businesses, advancing into technology, finance and engineering careers, leading research, and returning to give back as mentors. Their journeys demonstrate what happens when young people are given the opportunity, network and confidence to step into their superpowers and become the CEOs of their lives.
Cassandra Bernard
A USF marketing graduate and founder of Casico Creative, helping businesses grow through branding and creative strategy.
Alex Kranias
A Georgia Tech graduate now working at Apple as a Machine Learning Engineer.
Christian DeNapoli
Went on to build a career as a VoIP Engineer and later returned to SharkMakers as a mentor.
Marcin Plaza
A University of Florida Computer Science and Engineering graduate now working as a hardware engineer at Midjourney.
Matthew Werneken
After undergraduate and graduate studies at Columbia University, a Harvard Astronomy PhD student who led a team that secured a $300,000 NASA grant for the LIONESS CubeSat.
Tanvi Garg
A University of Florida student who interned with Accenture through its Learning to Earning (L2E) Summer Internship.
Lauren Churchill
Interned with SharkMakers for three years, Intern MVP twice, later inducted into the SharkMakers Hall of Fame. Now a college student doing freelance work with SharkMakers and other companies.
Nia Balieva
A University of Florida Finance senior who became a Private Banking Intern at Bank of America.
Zacharie Cobbs
A Hillsborough College Business Administration student, legal intern and co-founder of CivicForward FL.
Akshita Kumar
An Indiana University Finance student who became a Business Development Intern at AEJ Consulting.
Nitya Padmanabhan
A University of Maryland Computer Science student who became a Backend Software Engineering Intern at PayPal.
The record
Eleven seasons of finalists.
Every team we can evidence, newest season first, back to the second season the program ran. Teams are listed by team name rather than by student, and student names go in when we have written permission for them.
| Season | Team | Result | What it was |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 | Pathable | First place | Also first at the Grant Cardone Foundation 10X Kids Pitch Off in Miami, and a Trident Award winner |
| 2025–26 | NAVA | Second at the 10X Kids Pitch Off | |
| 2025–26 | Rhova | Joint third at the 10X Kids Pitch Off | Also a Trident Award winner |
| 2025–26 | Haptyx | Joint third at the 10X Kids Pitch Off | |
| 2025–26 | ClearVision AI | Trident Award | |
| 2024–25 | DexGate / Mobixx | First place | A smart glove and app that tracks hand mobility and offers personalized rehab exercises. Sunlake High School |
| 2024–25 | Dyscover | Second place | A career support app designed for Gen Z and Millennials with dyslexia. Palm Harbor University High School |
| 2024–25 | AllwaysAccess | Joint third | Uses AI and community input to enhance public accessibility. Largo High School |
| 2024–25 | Neurobility | Joint third | Helps autistic job seekers with personalized career tools. Blake and Strawberry Crest |
| 2024–25 | CookAbel | Reached its fundraising goal | |
| 2023–24 | New2Fit | First place | For people walking into a gym for the first time. $10,000 award and a pitch to Kevin Harrington |
| 2023–24 | College Knowledge | Second place | Puts high schoolers in touch with current college students |
| 2023–24 | Shelf Sense | Third place | AI camera tech for instant supermarket stock info |
| 2023–24 | Teens Next Door | Bold Innovator | |
| 2023–24 | Cultural Insights | Finalist | |
| 2023–24 | Sunbrick Studios | Finalist | |
| 2022–23 | HighKey | First place | Offered a place at the TiE Youth Global Entrepreneurship Competition in San Diego |
| 2022–23 | Logic Calendar | Second place | |
| 2022–23 | Ninja Tax | Third place | |
| 2021–22 | Hydrodisk / ThemaBottle | First place | Maintaining healthy hydration habits. Two of our own documents give the team two different names |
| 2021–22 | HealthShare | Second place | Connecting patients' families to doctors |
| 2021–22 | Cash Cart | Third place | Grocery budgeting |
| 2021–22 | HERo | Mission Driven | Built against assault and harassment |
| 2021–22 | Code Horizon | Best Team Synergy | |
| 2021–22 | Speed Search Digital | Most Innovative Use of OCR Technology | |
| 2021–22 | Money Watch | Resiliency | |
| 2020–21 | Blooming Inspiration | Grant winner | |
| 2020–21 | Green Print | Grant winner | |
| 2020–21 | Magnifind | Grant winner | |
| 2020–21 | Grade Stream | Award of Distinction | |
| 2020–21 | ESCape | True Grit | |
| 2020–21 | Survivalists 101 | Resiliency | |
| 2019–20 | ClimaTrek | First place | Bluetooth atmosphere monitoring. Kevin Harrington called it an amazing concept with potential |
| 2019–20 | PerfectFetch | Second place | Pet adoption app |
| 2019–20 | BARCC | Third place | Pet ownership app |
| 2019–20 | PrepareNow | Award of Distinction | |
| 2019–20 | Rentathon | Congressional App Challenge, FL–12 | Renting products from a phone |
| 2019–20 | EZcamp | Congressional App Challenge, FL–13 | Camping app |
| 2018–19 | Insite | First place | |
| 2017–18 | Project Sway | First place | |
| 2016–17 | Scanned | First place |
Alumni, we want the next line
If you competed in any season, tell us what you are doing now - it is the most useful thing a prospective student can read. If your name, your team or your placing is wrong on this page, tell us that too and we will fix it.
