NYU Summer Sprint & Summer Launchpad 2026

Application Draft — copy-paste ready for Typeform

Last updated: 2026-03-24 • Submit at: nyuei.typeform.com/sap-app

Program Selection

C. Both Summer Sprint & Summer Launchpad
Sprint: May 18 → May 29 | Launchpad: Jun 9 → Aug 6

Venture Basics

Venture name*

Celoria

Previously applied to Leslie Institute?*

Yes (Startup School)

Previously renamed?*

No

Brief venture description / business thesis*

What is your product/service, who is your initial target customer, and what is the benefit? 300 characters max.

AI-powered operations platform for multi-location nail salon chains. Replaces 3-4 fragmented tools with one system where AI agents automate scheduling, payments, marketing, and daily operations. Owners save 15+ hrs/week on admin and standardize SOPs across all locations.

~273 characters

Venture Stage*

Select up to two choices.

✅ Product in Market
✅ Revenue

Venture Sector*

✅ SMB software

Venture website

https://celoria.ai

Demo or video URL

⚠️ TODO: Record a 2-3 min demo video (Loom or YouTube unlisted)

Social Media links

⚠️ TODO: Add company LinkedIn page URL if available

Team

How long have you been actively working on this venture?*

More than 6 months

What have you accomplished so far?*

MVPs & Prototyping, Revenue, Awards and other accolades. 300 characters max.

35 stores live in production with zero churn. $523 ARPU/store/month (SaaS $299 + payments $224), 91% gross margin. 5 synchronized endpoints (web, iPad kiosk, POS, employee app, manager app). 832 automated tests. Full bilingual EN/ZH platform. Built by 1 person in 3 months.

~277 characters

NYU faculty/staff reference*

Someone who is not part of the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute.

First name: Monica Last name: Raffelli Email: [查 NYU 邮箱]

IDM professor, followed Celoria project throughout the semester, critiqued at midterm.

Number of people on venture team*

1

Joey (co-founder, 30% equity) not listed as team member — cannot attend in-person program.

Team Member 1 — Xuchen He

Basics

First name: Xuchen Last name: He Email: xuchen@celoria.ai

Role*

What are you responsible for on your team? 50 characters max.

Founder & CEO — Product, Engineering, AI

~41 characters

Bio*

Highlight relevant experiences, skills, or connections. 300 characters max.

NYU IDM + Georgia Tech CS dual master's. Built Celoria from zero to 35 live stores solo in 3 months using AI-assisted development (1B+ tokens/week). Prior exposure to service industry AI at Meituan and enterprise systems at Yonyou. Combines technical depth with in-store customer insight.

~287 characters

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-he-celoria/

Previously associated with another NYU venture?

No

Currently enrolled student?*

Yes

NYU Affiliation

NYU Net ID: xh2815 Academic Affiliation: Masters/MD/JD student School/College: Tandon Graduation Year: 2026 Graduation Semester: Spring

Diversity Information (optional)

Gender Identity: Man Pronouns: He/Him/His Race/Ethnicity: Asian American

Team Skills

What specific relevant skills/knowledge does your team have?*

Professional background as it relates to your venture idea. 300 characters max.

Full-stack engineering (Node.js, React, Flutter, PostgreSQL), multi-agent AI systems (LLM orchestration, SOP state machines), interaction design. Co-founder (not in program) brings 18 years running 50 nail salons + 100-salon supply network — combining technical capability with ground-truth industry knowledge.

~304 characters — trim if needed

Will all team members participate full-time?*

Yes

Venture Details

Initial target customer*

Which beachhead segment of early innovators are you focused on? 300 characters max.

Chinese-American nail salon chains with 2-50 locations in the NYC metro area. These owners juggle multiple stores using expensive tools (Zenoti at $1000+/mo) or patchwork of spreadsheets and WhatsApp groups. Our co-founder's 50-store chain and 100+ salon supply network provides direct access.

~291 characters

Scale target customer*

What do you envision to be your startup's main market? 300 characters max.

All appointment-based service chains (nail, hair, spa, medspa, pet grooming) with 2+ locations across the US. The core value — AI agents that standardize SOPs and replicate best practices across stores — applies to any service business where delivery is tied to the person, not the product.

~288 characters

How do you know these people need what you're making?*

Have you spoken to them or conducted customer discovery? 300 characters max.

Our co-founder Joey has run a 50-store nail chain for 18 years — she IS our target customer. I embedded in her stores for months, watching employees struggle with dashboards, managers fail to enforce SOPs, and GMs present data without insights. We built for pain we witness every day.

~282 characters

Most surprising thing from customer interviews?*

A unique insight from your customer discovery. 300 characters max.

Employees couldn't use complex dashboards — low digital literacy meant they'd call me instead of clicking buttons, while customers waited. This killed our "better Zenoti" thesis. The answer wasn't simpler UI — it was AI agents that execute tasks FOR them, turning SOPs into automated reminders.

~293 characters

How did you find your interviewees?*

Which outreach channels? How did you know you were talking to the right people? 300 characters max.

Through our co-founder's 18-year network — she owns 50 salons and supplies 100+ more. I spent months working in-store daily, observing operations and talking to owners, managers, and nail technicians. Also visited competitor stores as a customer to map the full service experience firsthand.

~289 characters

Problems or needs for your initial target customer?*

300 characters max.

1) Employees can't use complex management tools — low digital literacy creates bottlenecks. 2) SOPs exist on paper but aren't enforced — service quality varies wildly across stores. 3) GMs cost $120K/yr but only present data, never actionable insights. Multi-store management is chaos.

~283 characters

What is your solution/technology?*

What benefits does it provide to your initial target customer? 300 characters max.

AI agents that autonomously handle reversible operations (reconciliation, marketing, anomaly alerts) and assist humans on irreversible decisions (scheduling, staffing). The system learns from each store's patterns and replicates best practices to new locations — standardizing what took years.

~290 characters

Who are your competitors/substitutes?*

How is your product/service substantively better or different? 300 characters max.

Zenoti ($200-400/mo, 30K+ locations) added 6 AI agents but they don't coordinate or learn. Boulevard ($188M raised) focuses on booking UX, not operations. GlossGenius targets solo practitioners. No competitor serves Chinese-American chains with bilingual AI-native operations management.

~285 characters

How do you see this venture growing or scaling?*

What's your bigger vision? 300 characters max.

Nail → hair → spa → medspa → all appointment-based services. Playbook: AI-standardized SOPs that replicate across stores. Per-store economics improve as chains grow. Long-term vision: become the Toast of relationship-based service industries — SaaS + integrated payments + AI operations agents.

~292 characters

Key milestones achieved?*

300 characters max.

35 stores live, zero churn. $523 ARPU/store/month. 91% gross margin. 5 real-time synchronized endpoints (web dashboard, iPad kiosk, POS terminal, employee app, manager app). 832 automated tests. Full EN/ZH bilingual platform. AI agent auto-reconciliation running in production.

~276 characters

Revenue model?*

How do you make money? 300 characters max.

SaaS subscription ($299/store/month) + payment processing fee (2.3% per transaction). AI capabilities included in SaaS — no separate AI charge. Average store generates $523/month total (SaaS $299 + payment margin $224). 91% gross margin. Payment revenue scales with transaction volume.

~289 characters

Is this venture generating revenue today?*

Yes

What percentage of your venture do the founders own?*

50 characters max.

70%

Have you received any outside funding?*

No

Program Fit

Do any founders have other obligations during program dates?*

No

What specific milestones do you hope to achieve by the end of the program(s)?*

300 characters max.

1) Launch AI agent MVP to 10 pilot stores with measurable automation metrics. 2) Validate cross-store SOP replication with 3+ independent chain owners. 3) Close first customer outside co-founder's network. 4) Refine pitch and begin pre-seed fundraising conversations with target of $500K.

~287 characters

What do you hope to learn/accomplish? Why do you want to participate?*

300 characters max.

I've built product solo — 35 stores, zero churn — but need structured mentorship on GTM strategy, fundraising, and team building. NYU's founder network would help me transition from solo builder to CEO. I want to pressure-test go-to-market assumptions before raising a pre-seed round this fall.

~293 characters

What other startup programs/resources at NYU have you utilized?

✅ Startup School

Submission Checklist

ItemStatus
All text answers drafted✅ Done
Monica Raffelli email⚠️ Need to look up
Demo video URL⚠️ Recommended but optional
Company LinkedIn⚠️ Optional
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