STATE COLLEGE, PA – Six local entrepreneurial teams have been attending a ten-week, virtual, business startup boot camp as part of a program offered by Ben Franklin’s TechCelerator @State College in partnership with the Invent Penn State initiative.
On Wednesday, June 2, 2021 the teams pitched their business concepts to a panel of independent judges for a cash prize of up to $10,000! In addition, the zoom audience members had the opportunity to vote for their favorite presentation and award $1,000 in the People’s Choice Award.
First Place/$7,500 was awarded to Olivia and Eva Weinstein and their company, Pursuit by You. The team is developing a strategically engineered nutrition program that uses behavior modification techniques to encourage healthy lifestyle choices.
Second Place/$2,500 was awarded to Tina Anness and Andrew Male with toARguide. The team is developing an augmented reality (AR) platform for mobile phones that allows the user to visit historical and cultural sites with life-like visuals and in-depth information.
The People’s Choice Winner/$1,000 was awarded to Akhil Mammen with AlphaSlate who is developing an education platform that creates a personalized learning itinerary for K-12 students.
Program Director, Bob Dornich, commented, “This cohort represented an exciting mix of emerging products and services. Everyone that completes our challenging curriculum is a winner in my book. I’d like to offer our congratulations to all – and especially to those who took home cash prizes.”
Other Members of the Spring Cohort Included:
- Greg Stewart and Kate Wang with Open QuarterMaster who are developing a modular inventory management system for personal and industrial applications.
- Krutik Patel and Kashish Shah with Koin Keepr who are developing a platform that allows merchants to offer a “cash roundup” service that converts change into in-store credits.
Ellen Matis and her Team with Hello Social offers expert level marketing services to small, rural business owners with a “focus on local” approach to promoting communities
