WYOMISSING, Pa. — Budding entrepreneurs are invited to apply for the Penn State Berks Flemming Creativity, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CEED) Center’s Customer Discovery Lab, a six-week series of workshops that will provide commercialization training and mentorship, as well as the opportunity to apply for micro-grants, for up to 30 startup teams per year. The deadline for applications is Feb. 9, and applications can be found at sites.psu.edu/ceed. This opportunity is open to Penn State faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students, recent alumni and community members interested in exploring the commercial viability of their idea or innovation.
The Penn State Berks Flemming CEED Center’s Customer Discovery Lab and spring 2022 weekly workshops will begin on Feb. 16. These “boot camp”-style trainings will help entrepreneurs to begin customer discovery, learn about the commercialization process, network with experienced entrepreneurs, and determine if a market exists for their innovation.
Participants will learn how to develop a business model, validate their business model through a scientific process, get feedback from faculty experts and other entrepreneurs, and work one-on-one with experienced entrepreneurs who serve as mentors. Participants will also be eligible to apply for a micro-grant of up to $3,000, which can be used to attend industry trade shows, visit potential customers, develop prototypes, and cover customer discovery expenses, and they can apply for an I-Corps National Teams $50,000 grant award after completing the program.
The Iab’s lead faculty includes Sadan Kulturel-Konak, professor of management information systems, and Abdullah Konak, professor of information sciences and technology. Kulturel-Konak is also the director of the Flemming CEED Center and the coordinator for the entrepreneurship and innovation (ENTI) minor.
Kulturel-Konak summarized, “You can’t test your business idea inside the building. You can’t build your business in a laboratory. Together we can easily see whether a business model can succeed, or what it needs to do so. I feel really good about how much we have been able to help our teams in our Customer Discovery Lab sessions.”
Eligible projects must be in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM), and teams should be composed of three individuals: an academic lead who will serve as principal investigator, typically a Penn State faculty or staff member; an entrepreneurial lead, typically a student, faculty/staff member, recent alumnus or community member; and a business mentor who will provide experienced perspectives to the team. Faculty and business mentors may be assigned later during the program if necessary. Teams must commit to attending the required workshops and cohort meetings and must perform a minimum of 30 customer interviews by the end of the program.
For more information and to apply, visit sites.psu.edu/ceed.
About the Customer Discovery Lab
The National Science Foundation awarded Invent Penn State Innovation Corps site status and $500,000 in September 2017 to support entrepreneurship training and micro-grants for university-related startups. The Customer Discovery Lab is a joint initiative funded through the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps and Invent Penn State. In accordance with the NSF guidelines, all ideas for the program must be based on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics disciplines.
About the Flemming CEED Center
The Flemming Creativity, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Center was established in the fall of 2011 as part of Gaige Technology and Business Innovation Building. Its mission is to inspire an entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking in the Penn State Berks community and to foster economic growth and development in the Greater Reading area through technology-based solutions, human capital development, and enterprise creation.
The Flemming CEED Center provides student entrepreneurs with an incubator in which to develop their startup ideas. The center provides mentoring from faculty, as well as volunteers from the local business community. Its programs include creativity training workshops, 3D printing workshops, a speaker series, the Customer Discovery Lab, the STEM Business Idea Challenge, and the Student Enterprise Award.
Sadan Kulturel-Konak
Sadan Kulturel-Konak, professor of management information systems, Penn State Berks
