What began as an idea at a Duquesne-hosted startup event has grown into an award-winning company using technology to address food waste.
Founded by Duquesne alumni and students Nolan Sulpizio B’24, Daniel Oldak B’23, Diego Lopez B’25 and Ashton Jell B’26, Clean Plate Innovations is helping organizations measure and reduce food waste through an AI-enabled tracking platform. The company’s smart camera system uses computer vision to identify and calculate plate waste in real time, giving operators and consumers actionable insights through a personalized dashboard.
From Startup Weekend to DNVC Champion
Clean Plate Innovations began in February 2024 at Techstars Startup Weekend Pittsburgh, hosted by Duquesne’s Center for Excellence in Entrepreneurship. The team placed second overall and earned six months of free office space at Avenu Workspaces. Later that year, the company entered the 2024-25 Duquesne New Venture Challenge. After earning third place in the Best Pitch Video Competition, Clean Plate Innovations advanced through each stage of the competition and was named the DNVC’s first-place winner in April 2025.
The award provided $20,000 in funding, legal services through Duquesne University’s Thomas R. Kline School of Law, consulting support from Duquesne University’s Small Business Development Center and a six-month LivePlan license from Palo Alto Software.
Building Momentum
Since then, Clean Plate Innovations has continued to grow its platform, partnerships and visibility.
The company was selected for Innovation Works’ Robotics Factory Program in 2024, where the team refined its prototype using Innovation Works facilities and resources. In 2025, Clean Plate Innovations joined the Innovation Works AlphaLab Hardware Accelerator, receiving $100,000 in funding, facility access and accelerator programming led by industry experts.
The company also ranked No. 31 on F6S’s Top 50 AI Companies and Startups in Pittsburgh and received an honorable mention on Technical.ly’s RealLIST Startups 2025.
Clean Plate Innovations launched its first operational pilot at the Harvard Yale Princeton Club with Bistro to Go in Pittsburgh and later expanded its reach through a pilot case study with Seneca Valley School District. The district confirmed a 2026-27 partnership to continue tracking food waste.
Recognition Beyond Pittsburgh
In 2026, Clean Plate Innovations was named to Technical.ly’s RealLIST Startups and recognized by the Pittsburgh Business Times as one of its “10 Startups to Watch.”
The company also gained international exposure through the Unicorn Factory Lisboa Cleantech Accelerator. Oldak, Clean Plate Innovations’ chief strategic officer, presented the company’s technology at the program’s closing ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal, after the company was selected as one of six technology finalists.
A Duquesne Connection
Clean Plate Innovations continues to stay connected to Duquesne through the Small Business Development Center, student internship opportunities and the School of Business entrepreneurship ecosystem.
“Through the School of Business’s various competitions, projects and assignments, I had the opportunity to both compete and win,” Oldak said. “Developing that confidence has helped me see that I can be a difference maker.”
