Three PA research-based startups win funding in Invent Penn State Tech Tournament

UNIVERSITY PARK – For the first time, the Tech Tournament technology showcase — held during the Invent Penn State Venture & IP Conference on April 10 — featured university innovators from across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The showcase highlighted 12 disruptive technologies and early-stage companies emerging from some of the state’s top research universities, including Penn State, Carnegie Mellon University, Lehigh University, and the University of Pennsylvania. The showcase was sponsored by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) and the Office of Transformation & Opportunity. 

The competition was moderated by Erika Swift, director of the Center for Medical Innovation at the Penn State College of Medicine. Judges included Kathleen M. Shay, partner at Duane Morris LLP; Jen Gilburg, deputy secretary for the PA DCED; and Victoria Virasingh, senior vice president for strategic alliances at the NobleReach Foundation.  

The first-place winner, Beyond Reach Labs, a spinout of Carnegie Mellon University, won $10,000 for its lightweight, rapidly deployable infrastructure aiming to support communication and sensing needs in remote, disaster-prone, and dynamic environments. The company’s flagship product, the Pop-Up Extending Truss (PET), is designed to deploy payloads such as cell antennas, Wi-Fi receivers, cameras, LiDAR, and other sensors to heights over 50 feet, requiring minimal personnel and setup time. 

“Participating in the Tech Tournament was an incredible experience,” Beyond Reach Labs founder Mitchell Fogelson said. “We were inspired by the creativity and solutions of the other teams and grateful for the opportunity to share our work. Winning first place is a huge honor and a vote of confidence in our mission to bring high-performance deployable infrastructure to critical environments. The $10,000 award will help us advance field testing and accelerate development of our next-generation prototypes.” 

The second-place award of $3,000 went to Microversal LLC, founded by Laura Weyrich, associate professor of anthropology and bioethics in the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts. Microversal is a biotech company focused on improving oral health by leveraging beneficial bacteria. 

The $2,000 People’s Choice Award, selected by the audience, went to Chondrella. The research team is led by Dr. Fadia Kamal, director of medical student research and associate professor at the Penn State College of Medicine, and Amir Sheikhi, associate professor and Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Early Career Chair in biomaterials and regenerative engineering in the Penn State College of Engineering. Chondrella has developed a local paroxetine-based sustained-release injectable platform aiming to improve the treatment of osteoarthritis.  

“The founders who presented at this year’s Tech Tournament are doing truly impactful work,” said Steve Carpenter, director of research startups in the Penn State Office of Entrepreneurship and Commercialization. “We were proud to showcase innovative research not only from Penn State, but from across four Pennsylvania universities. Each team is advancing technology with real potential for commercialization and positive impact. Congratulations to the prize-winning teams and all participants for their outstanding efforts.” 

Other featured startups included: 

• Intel-E-Waste, LLC, presented by Mohammad Rezaee, associate professor of mining engineering, Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences 

• DementiAnalytics, presented by Kevin Mekulu, Ph.D. candidate in industrial engineering, Penn State 

• Wood Wide AI, presented by co-founder Varsha Raj, based on research from Carnegie Mellon University 

• Smart Dosimetry System (SDS), presented by Dr. Dennis Sourvanos, NIDCR postdoctoral trainee, Penn Dental Medicine 

• OneFiltr, presented by Xingyu Du, Ph.D. candidate, University of Pennsylvania 

• Sea-Gal Technologies, presented by Yahong Rosa Zheng, professor of electrical and computer engineering, Lehigh University 

• SeaLion Energy, presented by Reeja Jayan, professor of mechanical engineering, Carnegie Mellon University 

• Atlas Biotech, presented by Joshua Reynolds, recent Ph.D. graduate in bioengineering and biomedical engineering, Penn State 

• Hydropore, presented by Alexander Ng, recent Ph.D. graduate in materials science, University of Pennsylvania 

The conference hosted more than 400 attendees and 70 companies from across the Penn State entrepreneurial ecosystem. They were joined by over 25 investors and 21 sponsors during the two-day event. 

About the Invent Penn State Venture & IP Conference 

Founded in 2016, the Invent Penn State Venture & IP Conference is one of the largest tech startup conferences in the Mid-Atlantic and draws more than 600 attendees, including over 70 startup ventures and more than 40 investment firms from across the country. The conference highlights innovations from high-growth and emerging markets, including IT, energy, advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, health care, B2B and B2C, among others. 

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