Hoosier entrepreneurs share innovations with the world
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IU PhD student Kaitlin Pet talks about PetsAloud at the 2025 GEC in Indianapolis. Photo: Liz Kaye/Indiana University
The 2025 Global Entrepreneurship Congress went down at the Indiana Convention Center this week, and two Indiana University student inventors benefited in particular.
Why it matters: This was just the second time it was held in a U.S. city in the event's 16-year history, putting Indianapolis in an exclusive club and making downtown the (temporary) home of international entrepreneurship.
Driving the news: The event brought global titans of industry, including IU alum Mark Cuban, who delivered the keynote address.
- A crew of IU students with bold startup ideas were also in attendance to share their innovations with policymakers, investors and support organizations from around the world.
Zoom in: Meet two of the students who presented during the event.
🏒 Alex Kaluzna: The business student created Capshock, a mouthguard designed to protect athletes against concussions, alongside friend and West Virginia University mechanical engineering student Benjamin Landolina.
- As former high school hockey teammates, the duo was inspired to make Capshock after an undetected concussion ended Landolina's hockey career early.
- "It's just incredibly personal to both of us as Alex was there when I got my injury," Landolina said. "It really drives us to do what we're doing."
How it works: Unlike competing products that rely on electronics, Capshock uses a mechanical dye capsule that changes color if a player experiences an impact large enough to put them at risk of a concussion.
- Kalunza said Capshock will retail for about $50 per unit compared to electronic solutions that sell for hundreds of dollars.
- "Being two founders who are still new to the entrepreneurial journey, we went in with open ears," Kaluzna said. "Just being able to attend the speaking sessions and listening to Mark Cuban speak on the main stage was an incredible learning experience."
🎵 Kaitlin Pet: The PhD student in music informatics is the co-founder of PetsAloud, a startup launched alongside sister Nikki, a professional classical musician and soon-to-be visiting scholar at IU.
- Their tech combines music, animation and machine learning to craft video visuals that synchronize with the movements of musicians as they perform.
- The idea was born in the pandemic after Nikki made a series of videos pairing her music with animation that gained popularity online.
Fun fact: Her take on "Peter and the Wolf" has more than 1 million YouTube views.
Between the lines: The founders say their goal is to make classical music feel fresh and exciting for younger audiences.
- The platform also makes integrating custom multimedia into live shows more affordable and less labor intensive for musicians.
Yes, but: While their technology uses AI, it doesn't mean the visuals are generated. Musicians can use PetsAloud to apply motion and synchronicity to static works produced by human artists.
What she's saying: "I felt like kind of a culmination of a lot of my work here at IU," Kaitlin Pet said of attending the entrepreneur event. "It was amazing to go and be able to show the world that this is what we worked on."