UNIVERSITY PARK — The Invent Penn State initiative to spur economic development statewide, as well as job creation and student success as entrepreneurs, has led to the launching of the Invent Penn State Venture and IP Conference.
The two-day event took place Oct. 6 and 7 at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. It included a variety of presentations and networking opportunities.
According to an event press release, the conference introduced more than 70 carefully screened, capital-seeking companies from 16 states. Company representatives were able to meet face-to-face with prominent investors, venture capital firms, technology scouts, business leaders and media.
The keynote address was delivered by Ray Lane. Lane is managing partner at GreatPoint Ventures, a fund focused on using resources more efficiently (agriculture, water, energy, etc.), living longer and healthier lives (food, biotechnology, and health care), and increasing productivity (robotics, software). Lane is also partner emeritus and strategic adviser for Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers and former president and COO of Oracle. Since 2000, Lane has focused on helping entrepreneurs with technological and market insight, organizational development, team building, selling and managing growth.
The Venture and IP Conference brought together hundreds of investors, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and representatives from startup businesses.
On Oct. 6, one prominent event was the Venture Connection, Round 1, that gave companies and investors opportunities to interact and discuss opportunities.
Later that day came the Tech Tournament.
The Tech Tournament — offering prizes of $75,000, $50,000 and more — was a showcase of disruptive technologies and early-stage companies that are based on research done at Penn State.
The Tech Tournament included companies from Atoptix — a firm that has developed an innovative spectrometer platform — to ZoeGenics, a company that has created a new treatment for dry eyes.
The more mature companies made a pitch for capital funding in the Startup Showdown. Many of the companies are creating products for the pharmaceutical industry.
For example, Indigo Biosciences, a company based in State College, has the largest portfolio of nuclear receptors in the world. These receptors allow for a much faster time to market for many new drug therapies.
Another State College-based company that presented was Keystone Nano Inc. Keystone Nano is a 10-year old company that is transforming from a research organization to a clinical company.
Keystone Nano has developed a way to make safer, more effective, targeted drugs for immunotherapy for cancer treatment. The drugs are encapsulated in a nanoparticle that delivers the medication to the exact spot that it is needed.
A company that stood out for its simplicity and lack of connection to the pharmaceutical industry was PittMoss LLC.
PittMoss offers a product that replaces peat moss in gardening. The mining of peat is considered damaging to the environment. PittMoss is a cellulose material made from recycled newspapers.
Brian Scott, the company’s CEO, said that he is looking to “take a proven product to retail. Now all you can buy are truckloads and pallets. We plan to build to a $20 million company over the next few years.”