At the TIA Incubator Kickoff session in September, the three participants from the 2026 TIA Summer Accelerator had the opportunity to reflect on their time in the program. Sophie Martin ’27, Porter Comstock ’26, and Andrew Sullivan ’26 spent the first week of the Summer Accelerator on campus for a four-day intensive orientation workshop followed by six weeks of remote venture-specific progress alongside experienced mentors. The program provided these student entrepreneurs with the necessary skillset to grow their venture far beyond the confines of TIA.
Circulate, formerly known as SoundSync, is a music discovery and sharing platform founded by Martin. When she created SoundSync, the concept was a playlist sharing app that integrated music across platforms. However, once Martin was exposed to new music while studying abroad, her vision changed. She spent the summer working with mentors to seamlessly make the transition from SoundSync to Circulate. Over the course of the accelerator, Martin rebuilt her venture from the ground up to produce a fully functioning prototype. Additionally, she launched on-campus user onboarding.
“For me, on top of classes and everything, it can be really hard to make so much progress really fast. What I really appreciated about the accelerator was just the ability to [spring and the motivation] to keep going every day,” Martin expressed while reflecting on her summer.
Sullivan, who graduated in May, worked on Oasis Running during the accelerator as he prepared to dedicate his career to the venture. The company produces unique custom running gear for teams from the high school level to the Olympics. The Oasis co-founder’s goal was to restructure the venture for mass scale and revenue. Sullivan started off the summer by putting a professional touch on his venture and rebounding from operational setbacks. By August, Oasis had improved profit margins and surpassed $10,000 in monthly sales. Sullivan credited the Summer Accelerator for the valuable mentorship he received while turning his passion project into a viable business.
“Obviously, it’s nice to have a pretty promising financial future coming off of just graduating, but it’s also just so fulfilling. I love being able to make art for a living,” noted Sullivan during the kickoff Incubator session.
After taking home the grand prize at the 2026 TIA Entrepreneur Showcase in April and graduating in May, Comstock returned to ԱƵ to build momentum on his TIA venture, PLNT. His business uses drones and AI programming to identify, count, and manage nursery inventory. Over the summer, Comstock was able to build the core software MVP while working with pilot nursery partners on Long Island. He also onboarded his senior year roommate as a commercial drone pilot, expanded outreach to West Coast nurseries, and built relationships with four pilot customers. He emphasized that iteration, customer discovery, and founder persistence is critical for transforming a business.
“TIA will support you with both resources and mentorship,” said Comstock, and without it is a far more challenging road to take.
The TIA Summer Accelerator demonstrates what happens when student founders are given the runway, resources, and accountability to build daily. Moving forward, Comstock will work on PLNT fulltime, Martin will continue to build Circulate within the TIA Incubator, and Sullivan will dive into Oasis Running while still having an on-campus student representative in TIA for 2026–2027.