Virolock Technologies Inc. Wins $10,000
On Tuesday, March 1, The Ben Franklin TechCelerator Program hosted the Final Presentations and Award Ceremony for their ninth class of graduates. Virolock Technologies Inc. won $10,000 to advance their company.
The TechCelerator has provided a solid foundation for startups. Out of the 46 teams who graduated, 43 have formed companies, $7.1 million has been generated in startup funds, and $5 million has been generated in revenue.
Read more: Ben Franklin TechCelerator Program Graduates Six Teams
About the Judges
The judges for the TechCelerator Final Presentations and Awards Ceremony are entrepreneurs and experts in our local community. They volunteer their time to attend the event and evaluate the teams’ business plans. Keep reading to learn about each judge’s expertise and why they volunteer their time.
Read more: TechCelerator Final Presentations and Awards Ceremony
Peak Diagnostics—with laboratories located in the Technology Center incubator—is the latest start-up to emerge from our region’s long line of innovators developing products for the chromatography field, joining the likes of successful companies Supelco and Restek.
Peak’s founder, Frank Dorman, is an Associate Professor in Penn State’s Biochemistry and Molecular Biology department, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate students and also pursues research interests in gas and liquid chromatography fundamental characterization, instrumentation and column development, and application to trace analysis in complex sample matrices.
Dorman’s interest in better understanding the applications for chromatography led him to create Peak Diagnostics. Operated first from a tiny space in his kitchen, then migrating to his basement, and finally to a dedicated laboratory at Innovation Park, the company is refining and customizing known chromatographic separation systems to better analyze and characterize samples using high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC).
Read more: Entrepreneurial Faculty Member Seeks to Invent New Chromatography Tools
Happy Valley LaunchBox, which opened back in November of 2015, is now welcoming its first class of startups.
Five teams were selected from over 40 applicants to participate in Invent Penn State’s no-cost business pre-accelerator program. Those teams include: Lockeroom, Project Vive, ReDi Index, Scenomics, and Somnus. Click below to find out more about these teams!
Read more: Happy Valley LaunchBox Selects First Class of Startups
Why Businesses are Flocking Here
As home to Penn State University and Innovation Park, Happy Valley is an ideal locale for startups or business relocation. Its small-town feel mixed with big-city opportunities makes it a dream spot for businesses at any stage. Those who’ve relocated here have found the move to be richly rewarding, benefitting not only their businesses but their families and their lifestyles.
A growing number of businesses are putting down roots in Happy Valley due to unique benefits that other locations simply don’t offer, click below to see the six qualities that set us apart.
Read more: Six Reasons Happy Valley is a Start-up/Relocation Dream Spot