UNIVERSITY PARK — The Ben Franklin Techcelerator at Penn State celebrated its 11th annual graduating class at a ceremony in Innovation Park on Dec. 6. Each graduating company presented its business model to a panel of judges, interested entrepreneurs and investors.
The presentations were judged by a three-person panel including Bob Fiori, Paul Sciabica and Allan Darr. Following the five presentations, the panel reviewed the startups and awarded a $10,000 prize to Peconic.
Peconic is a developer of tools for more accurate cancer diagnosis. The company’s patented technology bridges the gap between existing diagnostic tools and genomic technology to provide personalized medicine.
Don McCandless, director of the State College Techcelerator, served as the master of ceremonies for the event. He began with a quick profile of the Techcelerator’s successes.
“Fifty-eight teams have gone through the program,” he said, ‘with 52 of them starting businesses. The program has generated $13 million in investment and created some 114 full- and part-time jobs.”
According to McCandless, 34 of the 58 groups created businesses based on Penn State technology.
Each group was limited to a six-minute presentation with five minutes for questions from the panel of judges.
The first company to present was Architects Anonymous. The company is a GPS-based web application that translates highly specialized knowledge about energy-efficient building design into a simpler format accessible on smartphones.
Next up was Helios, a biotech and pharma company that targets the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases.
The third presentation offered insights to what it means to truly have an entrepreneurial mindset. In a presentation made by Chase Millions, the speaker explained why his time at the Techcelerator was a success, despite the fact that he did not create a business based on the experience.
“I learned everything I really needed to learn from this process,” he said. “So it cannot be viewed as a failure. All of us here today have failed. As Thomas Edison said, ‘We will fail our way forward.’”
McCandless agreed. “The ecosystem needed to hear what Chase said. Entrepreneurship is hard work. You never know where it’s going to go.”
William Lai made the presentation on behalf of Peconic. “We are building better cancer diagnostic tools,” he said. “We are more flexible than our larger competitors. I think it is exciting to be at the cutting edge of new technology.”
Hunter Swisher, CEO, made the presentation for Phospholutions, a company that offers a buffering agent to reduce fertilizer pollution and accelerate turf growth on golf courses.
Fertilizers are expensive and less efficient than they should be. “We can address the critical problems that golf courses have,” said Swisher. “There are 15,500 golf courses in the United States and 40 percent of their operating costs have to do with turf management.”
In his closing remarks, McCandless noted the real winner was the process. “This is the start of the ecosystem,” he said, referring to the many programs and advisers that startup businesses can access.
