STATE COLLEGE, PA – On Wednesday, June 17, 2020, The TechCelerator@StateCollege, a partnership with Invent Penn State that has helped create more than 130 new startups, hosted a zoom pitch event. Six local entrepreneurial teams, who had just completed the ten-week business startup boot camp, virtually presented their business concepts to a panel of judges in hopes of winning a $10,000 cash prize. More than 50 viewers joined in to cheer on their friends, family members, and co-workers.
Collectively, all the teams represented an exciting and diverse mix of target markets, technologies, and services such as: mini rectennas; anti-reflection coatings; 3D concrete printing, a platform for screening protein stability, customizable color-shifting coatings, and an application that aggregates and delivers food orders from restaurants to the workplace.
The judges ultimately awarded monetary prizes to three of the teams. The winners were:
- Jia Zhu and the team with Deformable Rectennas were awarded First Place and $5,000. They developed the Flex Heal product; a stretchable, wideband rectenna (bandage) for advanced wound healing.
- Nate Watson and the team with ADDCON were awarded $2,500 for the development of 3D concrete printing. Their cost-saving, automated technology removes the need for preliminary form work which reduces labor at the construction site.
- Bradley Rogers and the team at GradienT were also awarded $2,500 for the development of TemperSure, a technology that offers a novel platform for screening of protein stability and optimal solubility conditions during preclinical drug development.
Bob Dornich, the TechCelerator’s Program Director, commented, “Everyone in this group is a winner in my book. Our curriculum is intense, and all six teams did an outstanding job. Thanks to everyone’s cooperation we were able to not only host the weekly sessions via Zoom, but to also present the final pitches virtually. Congratulations to the three teams who took home the cash prizes and best of luck to all moving forward!”
About the Ben Franklin TechCelerator @ State College
A partnership with Invent Penn State that offers the region’s entrepreneurs, students, faculty members, and small business owners’ business startup accelerators and entrepreneurial training in ten-week seminars. This innovative program encourages an entrepreneurial climate, increases technology transfer opportunities, and helps develop a robust “startup” culture in State College and the surrounding area. https://cnp.benfranklin.org/techcelerator-at-state-college
