News
January 13
2025
PlantVillage empowers farmers around the world to combat climate change
PlantVillage, a Penn State-based research lab, is working with smallholder farmers in Africa, Asia and the Americas to adapt to climate-related challenges. To guide its expansion and commercial efforts, PlantVillage participated in the Invent Penn State NSF I-Corps regional short course, which helps researchers start on the path toward commercializing their innovations.
January 13
2025
Penn State startup tackles chronic wounds with ‘Plasma Patch’
Penn State startup Fourth State Therapeutics has developed a cold plasma-based technology called the Plasma Patch, intended to tackle chronic wound treatment. Fourth State participated in Invent Penn State’s Summer Founders Program and NSF I-Corps Short Course.
January 08
2025
Penn State students tackle farming challenges in Kenya with ShambaShare
Through Penn State’s Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) program, Sam Marshall’s student startup team developed ShambaShare. They later won funding in the Invent Penn State Inc.U Competition to pilot their agricultural equipment-sharing platform in Africa.
December 06
2024
Veterans win startup funding through business bootcamp
Six veterans, including a Penn State Harrisburg student, were awarded funding to help launch their business ideas during the Veterans Business Bootcamp pitch competition hosted by Harrisburg LaunchBox powered by Penn State and the Rotary Veterans Initiative.
December 04
2024
Global Entrepreneurship Week at Penn State brought local entrepreneurs together
From Nov. 18-22, Penn State campuses and surrounding communities were full of entrepreneurial energy for Global Entrepreneurship Week 2024, offering a diverse array of events designed to inspire and connect innovators across the community.
December 02
2024
Alum Mario Ciabarra discusses delivering empathy at scale through AI and data
In the latest episode of Invent Penn State’s “Dare to Disrupt” podcast, host Ryan Newman interviews Mario Ciabarra, the chief executive officer and founder of Quantum Metric, a customer-centered digital analytics platform for today’s leading enterprise organizations.
December 02
2024
Student startups: Attend a virtual info session on Inc.U Pitch Competition
Penn State undergraduate student startup teams from across Pennsylvania are invited to attend a virtual info session on Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. to learn more about participating in the Invent Penn State Inc.U Competition. The session will cover the application and selection process as well as eligibility criteria.
November 27
2024
The five entrepreneurs who won the LionCage Pitch Competition
Thirty teams of entrepreneurs gathered on Nov. 8 at Penn State Great Valley for the LionCage Pitch Competition, where they showcased their companies to a panel of judges to seek business advice and compete for prize money. Each team had just five minutes to present their groundbreaking solutions to pressing issues such as healthy food access and navigation for people with low vision.
November 18
2024
Brandywine LaunchBox holds first LionCage Pitch Competition
The Brandywine LaunchBox partnered with the Great Valley LaunchBox and the Chester County Economic Development Council’s Ideas x Innovation Network to present the LionCage Pitch Competition on Nov. 8.
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