STATE COLLEGE — Happy Valley LaunchBox recently announced its inaugural cohort, an entrepreneurial class of six business startups who will participate in Invent Penn State’s no-cost business pre-accelerator program. The teams will complete 10 weeks of business startup training, have access to no-cost legal and marketing consulting and enjoy no-cost co-working space available to their teams 24 hours daily.
The final six entrepreneurial teams submitted applications in early December, along with more than 40 other companies or entrepreneurial teams, and were selected from 11 finalists in a highly competitive process. Each finalist interviewed and pitched their business idea to the LaunchBox selection committee, which was made up of a mix of entrepreneurs and business startup service providers. The process yielded a diverse mix of Penn State students, faculty and community entrepreneurs comprising the finalist cohort teams.
“We believed, based on research, that there was a need for LaunchBox — a dynamic and collaborative university-community entrepreneurial environment,” said Neil Sharkey, vice president for research. “But, we were pleasantly surprised by the high number of applications and the diverse mix of entrepreneurs and startups that applied for our first cohort. There are a lot of great ideas to be commercialized. We made tough choices.”
The inaugural six LaunchTeams include the following:
■ Lockeroom, a platform for managing youth sports teams and leagues that automates and expedites registration, scheduling and communication processes for team and league management, is led by Brook Hart, Kurt Collins and Joe Gazza.
“Something I don’t think any of us realized growing up here was how many talented and successful entrepreneurs there are in this community,” said Hart. “We are looking forward to being able to learn from many of the talented people who have achieved the type of success that we are working toward.”
■ Project Vive is a speech assistance technology that aims to give a voice to individuals who cannot talk by providing a low-cost, effective device. The team is led by Mary Elizabeth McCulloch and Rodney Miller.
“Securing space downtown is a huge step for Project Vive to be integrated into the State College community,” said McCulloch. “It is a perfect opportunity to have an office space and awesome mentorship all in the same place.”
■ ReDi Index provides guidance and methods to measure an organization’s recycling efforts with a two-number system to measure improvement and progress toward zero waste. Brendan Bagley, Al Matyasovsky and Shulin Chen lead this team.
“The opportunity that Invent Penn State provides through LaunchBox is a great one,” says Bagley. “We have had what we think is a viable product for nearly two years with very few customers. We hope that the expertise provided through the LaunchBox program will assist us in improving our product, our marketing or whatever we need to bring us to the next level.”
■ Scenomics, led by Steve Haynes and Bryan Adams, is a software-as-service concept that helps health care organizations identify and quantify the value of their technology investments.
“We’re very excited to be working with this talented group of mentors, in a new and exciting space, and with a fascinating group of like-minded startup entrepreneurs,” said Haynes.
■ Somnus is a medical device that can diagnose sleep apnea at home, instead of requiring patients to check into a sleep clinic. The team is led by Nick LaBarbera and Michael McPhail.
“Our team is thrilled to be selected for the Happy Valley LaunchBox,” said LaBarbera. “The workshop and training opportunities provided by the LaunchBox will be instrumental in getting our concept off the ground. We are especially excited to learn from experienced entrepreneurs and business people from the State College area.”
■ Squid Bioadhesives is a protein-based bioadhesive that is 10 times stronger than other natural adhesives and is capable of bonding underwater, as well as self-repairing. The material was inspired by the suction cups of squids and has potential as a surgical adhesive. Leading this team are Abdon Pena-Francesch and Huihun Jung.
“We are honored to be selected for the LaunchBox program. We are looking forward
to taking our ideas out of the lab and making a difference,” said Pena-Francesch.
During the 10-week LaunchBox program, LaunchTeams will commit three hours per week to in-class time and five hours per week to out-of-class time. After the training, the teams will be eligible to retain their seats for an additional nine months to continue to develop their business concepts. Additionally, staff will connect teams who need capital with potential investors.
Following the inaugural cohort, LaunchBox will expand to accept 10 LaunchTeams for each session, including summer and fall of this year. Ongoing, LaunchBox will select three cohorts per year, for an ultimate capacity of 30 business startups.
“If you have an idea, you should connect with us at invent.psu.edu,” Sharkey said. “Due to the collaboration facilitated by the Invent Penn State initiative, every team that applied to LaunchBox is now a part of our entrepreneurship family and has been referred to proper mentors and programs in our ecosystem to grow their ideas. We expect they’ll apply for the Summer Founders Program, the LaunchBox summer session or TechCelerator when they’re ready.
“Happy Valley is a great place to start a business in 2016.”
