News & Events

The TechCelerator@State College Announces Two Boot Camp Winners!

State College, PAOn Tuesday, May 23, 2017, the Ben Franklin TechCelerator@State College awarded cash prizes to two graduates of its latest Business Startup Boot Camp. Six local entrepreneurs, who had been attending the Tuesday evening sessions for the past ten weeks, made pitches to a three-member team of judges based on the market they planned to enter, the problem their product or service would solve, and how their idea can make money for them and future investors.

The event, was held from 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM in the Technology Center located at 200 Innovation Blvd., attracted a standing-room only crowd of potential startups and investors. The winners were James Wang & Jia Li with Simplr, who are developing fully automatic image analysis software to help people create beautiful and impressive photos without even basic experience with photography and Farabi Sameer with First Pick who is developing a mobile application that allows users to find, join, and organize pick up sports events near them.

Other presenters included:

  • LB Diagnostics, Simon He Developing a liquid biopsy method that offers a minimally invasive approach for clinical patient care by using samples of blood, saliva, and urine.
  •  KNN Software Associates, Kaivan KamaliDeveloping a patient portal (PP) website that incorporates patient’s health records from various EHR systems and houses them in one location.
  • Medical Mirror, Paula MulhallDeveloping a method for holding vital medical information for elderly patients while hospitalized.
  • Visionese, Tim Ko – Visionese is a virtual reality (VR) company that creates customized VR solutions for businesses to best showcase their physical space and an innovative way to interact with their potential customers.

Don McCandless, Director of the TechCelerator, commented, “For the past ten weeks, all the participants have been going through an intensive customer discovery process. Our program is rigorous and we consider everyone who gets to this point a winner. I’d like to applaud the collective effort and congratulate both of our prize winners.”

About the TechCelerator@State College: Located in the Technology Center at 200 Innovation Boulevard in State College, the TechCelerator @ State College is a partnership among several of the area’s economic development providers that offers budding entrepreneurs designated space, loan and investment programs, business support and mentoring services, and entrepreneurial training all housed in one location.   For more information, go to http://www.techceleratorstatecollege.org

Ben Franklin Technology Partners/CNP, an initiative of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and funded by the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, provides investment capital, operational assistance, and entrepreneurial support to emerging tech-based companies and small, existing manufacturers for the purpose of creating and retaining jobs in Pennsylvania.