Brandon Min (representing the Min Family), Aryan Gulati and Jaspreet Ranjit (students), and Ellis Meng (representing the USC Viterbi Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship office) (Photo/ Steve Cohn)
In 2024, homelessness rose by 18% across the United States. Rates of individuals experiencing homelessness, sheltered homelessness, and unsheltered homelessness have increased immensely between 2023 and 2024.
Handling a higher number of cases, case managers at NGOs targeting homelessness throughout the United States are finding themselves increasingly overloaded. Case workers are finding themselves strained by handling large amounts of critical documentation and providing critical resources to clients. These growing feelings of fatigue and burnout have resulted in high turnover rates in NGOs providing fundamental services to homeless individuals.
As organizations nationwide work to provide support to one of the most vulnerable populations, it is imperative to provide case managers with the infrastructure required to complete cases.
It is this very infrastructure created by the 2025 Min Family Challenge (MFC) winners, CaseFlo.
Cutting Edge Infrastructure to Streamline Crucial Management Software
Searching through thousands of documents to assess clients’ needs to match them with fundamental resources, case managers often find themselves fatigued by an abundance of details to identify and manage.
As such, to streamline what can be lengthy case management procedures, USC Viterbi Ph.D. student Jaspreet Ranjit and computer science senior Aryan Gulati co-founded CaseFlo with the support of Ranjit’s advisor, Dr. Swabha Swayamdipta.
“We talk with these case managers directly and we found that one of the hardest parts of their job is manually analyzing thousands of case notes to connect their clients with the resources that they need,” Ranjit said.
A built-in AI attendant that can actively and efficiently analyze case documentation before connecting clients with the required materials, CaseFlo serves as a functional companion in facilitating inspection and resource delegation. Gulati describes CaseFlo as a tool that “modernizes the experience of writing case notes and also helps connect clients to resources automatically.”
While serving as an innovative management software, CaseFlo heralds a new era of responsive care and support for clients.
“We hope that CaseFlo will improve the quality of care and the quality of interventions that case managers deliver to people experiencing homelessness,” said Ranjit.
This very hope won CaseFlo not only the first place award in the MFC but also the $50,000 grand prize to realize their vision, launch their business, and expand their outreach.
Ten Years of MFC: Empowering a New Era of Entrepreneurs and Innovators
An engineering startup competition that encourages would-be social entrepreneurs to build companies to benefit the underprivileged locally, nationally, and even worldwide with sustainable solutions, the MFC has uplifted numerous innovators since its conception.
USC alumni and member of the USC Viterbi Board of Councilors, Bryan Min, founded MFC in 2015. Built on his commitment to charity and his faith, Min conceptualized MFC one decade ago to champion entrepreneurs seeking to address social ills.
Through the generosity of Min, his wife Julie Min, and his children, Brandon Min and Brittany Min, MFC awards winning startups with the guidance, mentorship, and financial support that is instrumental in launching nascent businesses driving social wellness. Beginning startup founders acquired invaluable knowledge required to realize their aspirations and future ventures under the guidance of MFC instructors Trina Gregory, David Gerber, and Abby Fifer Mandell.
In a highly competitive year with a record number of applications, the MFC partnered with the Commission on Voluntary Service & Action, an NGO facilitating community-based voluntary organization. Connecting rising entrepreneurs with trailblazing community organizers and advocates, MFC connects startup founders and enables them to learn about organizing, mobilizing, and sustaining socially-driven services or products.
“The startup journey is often very, very nonlinear,” said Ralph Lin, experienced startup founder and USC Viterbi Office of Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship (TIE) managing director. “We want to have an opportunity for students to try working on something in a low risk environment. it’s also training the future generation of changemakers out there.”
This is the enduring mission of the MFC: providing a pathway for the new generation of business owners and visionaries.
“There’s huge opportunities to make really big differences and take big swings to address those problems,” Lin said. “Thanks to the support from the Min family, this challenge continues to thrive in addressing them.”
Published on May 9th, 2025
Last updated on May 12th, 2025
