Throughout 2024, Berks LaunchBox has continued accelerating startup growth in the Berks County community. In the last year, Berks LaunchBox has assisted 229 new entrepreneurs, taught new skills to 708 community members in its Makerspace, offered entrepreneurship classes to 463 community members, and impacted 339 students.
Joy Tac LLC, a student startup from Penn State Harrisburg, won first place and $15,000 in the 2025 Invent Penn State Inc.U Competition. As a kickoff to Penn State Startup Week powered by PNC, six student teams from four Penn State campuses pitched their startups to a panel of judges, competing for prizes totaling $30,000 in funding.
A team of Penn State Berks students recieved an award in the Prototype Phase of the Nittany AI Challenge, an annual competition sponsored by the Nittany AI Alliance that provides students from all campuses the opportunity to use AI and machine learning to address pressing global issues while gaining hands on experience. The students' project is B.E.A.N., which stands for "Bio Environmentally-friendly Aquatic Navigator."
The latest episode of Invent Penn State’s Dare to Disrupt podcast features sisters and Penn State Berks alumni Cory Varona-Corniel and Nicol Varona Cancelmo, co-founders of OCOA. Their company specializes in clean, natural haircare products designed for curly hair.
From an aquatic robot that will remove pollution from the ocean to apps that help students connect and learn, winners of the Penn State Berks Flemming CEED Center Innovation and Business Idea Challenge developed creative and impactful solutions to address significant local and global challenges. The three winning teams were each awarded a $1,000 "IMAGINE Your Business" grant, funded by the County of Berks "Imagine Berks" Fund.
Six Penn State student startups have been selected into the 2024 Invent Penn State Summer Founders Program. The Summer Founders Program provides teams with at least one Penn State student founder a $15,000 grant to work on their startup, social good, or nonprofit idea over the summer at Happy Valley LaunchBox powered by PNC Bank.
Since its inception, Berks LaunchBox has made a significant impact on the Berks County community. Over the last five years, Berks LaunchBox has assisted 582 entrepreneurs, taught new skills to 1,100 community members in its Makerspace, offered entrepreneurship classes to 3,800 community members, and impacted 1,042 students (elementary school through college).
Penn State Berks student startup team Streamline Charging LLC has received national and University-wide recognition for its flexible and affordable electric vehicle (EV) charging solution that transforms the charging experience for apartment dwellers and service station customers.
Nathan Bonslaver, Penn State Berks alumnus and cofounder of CarToCamp, worked with Invent Penn State's OriginLabs to develop a new prototype of his car sleeping platform product.
