GradeWiz: Cornell founders pivoted from AI grading to dental AI sales

GradeWiz used AI and computer vision to grade assignments and exams and provide question-by-question feedback; in 2026 the company sold an 'AI sales team' under the name 10x—connecting to clinic patient databases, finding overdue follow-ups and unscheduled treatment plans, and using AI phone calls and text messages to bring patients back to the clinic.

Bet AI would automate repetitive knowledge work; grading validated it, dental recall monetized it.

Bohun (class of 2025 (25)) and Garg (class of 2025 (25)) hated grading while serving as TAs at Cornell and also saw professors overwhelmed by teaching and research; after LLMs became popular, they decided to use AI to solve grading. Product development took more than 2 years; in 2024 they entered the Cornell eLab student accelerator (eLab called it one of the most competitive that year), invested full-time over the summer with campus subsidies, and received guidance on legal matters and product iteration.

In February 2025 they were selected for YC W25 (Cornell Chronicle reported an acceptance rate below 2%). At that time they had graded 30,000+ assignments, reduced grading time by 60%, gave detailed feedback for each assignment the next day, and piloted at Cornell, Cal Poly, Hunter College, Penn State, and Syracuse; in March, at Demo Day, TechCrunch listed them among '10 to watch,' positioning the product as doing the grading work that TAs 'hated'.

Still running, but the product changed: in 2026 the main title on the YC company page became 10x (W25, 2 people, San Francisco (旧金山), Active)—an AI sales team helping dental clinics retrieve overdue patients: connecting to patient databases, identifying overdue follow-ups/lost patients/unscheduled treatment plans, and using AI phone calls and text messages to bring patients back to the clinic; example data said one Miami (迈阿密) clinic added more than US$30,000 in monthly revenue and one Los Angeles (洛杉矶) clinic retrieved 94 lost patients in one month, and it had served the 2 largest private dental groups in Chicago (芝加哥) and dozens of clinics covering all US time zones.

Founders were TAs; grading was slow, so they built a solution for themselves.

eLab gave subsidies and advice, enabling full-time work and YC W25 entry.

Pivot kept the same AI engine; dental clinics had stronger willingness to pay.

They changed the company page to 10x, abandoning GradeWiz for market signals.

Automating repetitive labor transfers across markets; education paid slowly, dental clinics paid faster, so they pivoted.

As of 2026-09-01: the company operates as 10x; the YC page shows a 2-person team, San Francisco, and Active; official examples say one Miami clinic added more than US$30,000 in monthly revenue and one Los Angeles clinic recalled 94 lost patients in one month; clients include the 2 largest private dental groups in Chicago, one of the largest in Sacramento (萨克拉门托), and dozens of clinics covering all US time zones; there is no public follow-up for the GradeWiz grading business.