The Ben Franklin TechCelerator, housed in Innovation Park, was announced as the first of 26 recipients to receive a 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program grant. Penn State received a $500,000 i6/Cluster Grant for Seed Capital Funds to help further develop the TechCelerator.

The i6 challenge was launched in 2010 and awards grants to existing centers that support startup creation, innovation, and commercialization, as the TechCelerator does.

Centers like these are critical driving forces in bringing new products and services to market. As Don McCandless, head of the TechCelerator, says, “Great intellectual property is not enough. Many of those with great science don’t understand how the real world of business works.” Centers like the TechCelerator help turn ideas into reality.

The TechCelerator program, Ben Franklin, and its partners offer numerous seminars, workshops, and classes in business realities. This 10-week boot camp training begins with a meeting, where experienced business men and women determine the viability of an entrepreneur’s idea. Throughout the bootcamp, training focuses on business models, marketplace analysis, and finance.

Since the TechCelerator opened, they’ve graduated 36 teams. With this grant, intended to cover expansion costs, the TechCelerator can offer their program to more companies and increase their impact on commercialization of new ideas and job creation.