University Park

Student Startup Showcase to feature best of Penn State student entrepreneurs

Event takes place virtually during Venture & IP Conference opening on April 15

Penn State student startups at the 2019 Invent Penn State Venture & IP Student Startup Showcase. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s best and brightest student entrepreneurs are set to take the stage at the all-virtual 2021 Invent Penn State Venture & IP Conference.

During the conference’s opening at noon on Thursday, April 15, the Student Startup Showcase will feature eight student teams showcasing how their startups are having a positive impact on the world and have grown thanks to the Invent Penn State entrepreneurial ecosystem. The student companies were selected based on their participation in the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program’s (PennTAP) Inc.U Competition and Invent Penn State’s Summer Founders program.

Each team will be awarded $2,000 from Invent Penn State. Registration for the Invent Penn State Venture & IP conference is currently open to the public.

The Student Startup Showcase teams:

  • 812 Solutions (Smeal College of Business) – Manufactures and sells “The Crash Pad,” a seat insert designed for race car drivers to help reduce the risk of spinal injury in a crash.
  • Girls Code the World (College of Engineering) – A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides opportunities, resources and role models to young girls ages 8-12 years old in STEM-related fields through educational programs with specialized curriculum and extended mentorships.
  • JERPA (Smeal College of Business) – A clothing company looking to provide warmth, comfort and style in all of the products they create.
  • Miss Monroe Collection (College of the Liberal Arts and Smeal College of Business) – An organic and protective hair care company catering to the needs of people of color. 
  • Project Cyclone (College of the Liberal Arts and ENTI Minor) – An automated recommendation platform to help maintenance technicians prolong the lives of their machines, reducing downtime and maintenance costs through artificial intelligence-based predictive insights.
  • Sports Data Now (Industrial Engineering and ENTI Minor) – A data research platform designed to allow users to create their data, their way, so sports enthusiasts not only have an efficient platform tailored to their needs but a forum to share their creative passions.
  • Table Rock Markets (Smeal College of Business) – An online marketplace for consumers to buy locally grown products directly from farmers.
  • Xora (College of the Liberal Arts) – Enables designers to instantly send out immersive experiences over the cloud that provide an immediate sense of space, scale and feel of the design. This allows users to add clarity to their designs for key stakeholders, speed up the iterative design process and conduct convenient internal design reviews.

For more information on the Student Startup Showcase and the 2021 Invent Penn State Venture & IP Conference, visit pennstatevip.com and follow Invent Penn State on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram at @InventPennState.

Last Updated April 8, 2021