On the evening of the 2026 President's Innovation Challenge Awards Ceremony, Harvard University President Alan Garber took the stage at Klarman Hall to welcome a global audience of in-person and virtual attendees and present awards to winning ventures founded by Harvard students, alumni, and affiliates.
In his remarks, President Garber highlighted the remarkable growth of Harvard's entrepreneurial community. He also shared the story of Will Ahmed ’12, founder of WHOOP, the health technology company that did its early prototyping at the Harvard Innovation Labs and is now valued at $10 billion.
Read Garber’s full remarks below and watch the awards ceremony here.
Welcome, everyone, to Klarman Hall for the 2026 President's Innovation Challenge.
I love this event. Turning an idea into a pitch, a pitch into a contender, a contender into a finalist, and a finalist into a prize winner. The excitement is palpable.
Congratulations to all of you. Your curiosity and drive moved you to action, and we are eager to see where your ambition leads.
It is no wonder that this year's competition saw some of the most diverse student ventures in the program's history. Entrepreneurship at Harvard was once the province of the few. It now attracts and nurtures the many, drawing on outstanding talent from across the entire University.
You're here from medicine, engineering, business, public policy and the arts – proof that great ventures draw from every corner.
And you are among the nearly 3,000 students – 3,000 students! – representing every School who are members of the Harvard Innovation Labs. That’s a record-breaking number that I hope and expect we will keep breaking in the years to come.
The desire to create a better product or a better service, better prospects and better futures, is alive and well in our community.
Entrepreneurship at Harvard was once the province of the few. It now attracts and nurtures the many, drawing on outstanding talent from across the entire University. You're here from medicine, engineering, business, public policy and the arts – proof that great ventures draw from every corner.
Alan M. Garber Harvard University President![]()
What moves you? It's more than the question that framed this year's competition. It's a way of approaching challenges.
Take, for example, the work of Will Ahmed, member of the Harvard College Class of 2012 and founder of WHOOP. A varsity squash player, Will became interested in measuring the body. What it means to be fit, to peak on a given day, to crash on a given day. He wanted to understand what his body was trying to tell him.
During his senior year, Will began developing his idea inside the Harvard Innovation Labs. Today, WHOOP is a health technology leader, valued at 10 billion dollars.
The New York Times: Whoop, a Wearable Health Device Maker, Raises $575 Million
The company is based in Boston, and its wearable device is trusted by elite athletes, including Patrick Mahomes, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Aryna Sabalenka.
Will started where you are standing tonight: at Harvard, with a problem he cared about, and the audacity to believe he could solve it. He faced what you have faced: skepticism, uncertainty, rejection. But he kept going, undeterred by what might stop him, emboldened by what moved him in the first place. Harvard is proud to be the place where you started moving and where you gained momentum.
I want to thank Ernesto Bertarelli and the Bertarelli Foundation for supporting your efforts and the efforts of many other entrepreneurs. I also want to thank the members of the Harvard Innovation Labs team for working without fail to make the year a success and this evening unforgettable. Thank you.
Congratulations again to our finalist teams. Let's get started.
