Success Story

  • Headshots of Control LTD founders

Startup Control LTD wins $10,000 in TechCelerator pitch event

Control LTD won the $10,000 first-place prize in the Ben Franklin Technology Partners TechCelerator @ State College virtual pitch event, where eight entrepreneurial teams pitched their business concepts for more than $10,000 in prizes this past spring. Teams showcased products and services which spanned health care, agriculture, and creative markets and industries.

Control LTD, the winning startup led by community entrepreneurs Soph Horn, Seth Pheng and Patricia Smith, is a healthy, patented dosing system for patients using cannabis. Control LTD’s measuring devices allow users to safely dose and utilize cannabis.

A $1,000 People’s Choice Award, which was voted on by members of the pitch event’s virtual audience, was awarded to Meta Global Technologies. Founded by Penn State alumnus Daniel Dotterer (biology, 2001), Meta Global Technologies aims to solve veterinarian shortages in rural areas by developing a remote vet service.

“What an amazing group of entrepreneurs,” said Bob Dornich, TechCelerator’s program director. “Everyone worked very hard for the past 10 weeks, and it was easy to see the result of that effort in all of the presentations. Congratulations to the prize winners, and to the whole group, for stepping forward and trusting us with their business concepts.”

Prior to the pitch event, each team participated in a 10-week virtual startup bootcamp offered by Ben Franklin’s TechCelerator @ State College, in partnership with Invent Penn State.

Additional spring TechCelerator @ State College teams included:

  • Neodime — a compound designed to produce “green” rare earth magnets.
  • MasterCraft — an online application that allows users to receive reviews on creative work.
  • Best Day Ever — an internet-based curriculum that users can download for childcare activities.
  • ENPower — an energy harvester that is stretchable, wireless, and motion-driven.
  • Immunagreen — a novel biopesticide designed to be used in organic agriculture.
  • CUPOD — an innovation that allows for the ability to make pure chlorine dioxide gas for disinfection and cleaning.

To view more Penn State-affiliated startups, visit the Startup Navigator. To view more Penn State technologies available for license, visit the IP Navigator.

About Ben Franklin TechCelerator @ State College

In partnership with Invent Penn State, Ben Franklin TechCelerator @ State College offers startup accelerators and entrepreneurial training for regional entrepreneurs, students, faculty members, and small business owners. The innovation program contributes to an entrepreneurial climate, increases technology transfer opportunities, and helps develop a robust startup culture around State College, Penn State, and the surrounding area.