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. 

Penn State student startups from all campuses, including World Campus, are encouraged to apply for the 2025 Invent Penn State Summer Founders Program. Selected teams will receive a $15,000 grant to dedicate their summer to advancing their startup, social impact project or nonprofit initiative. 

The Invent Penn State LaunchBox and Innovation Network supported 1,356 entrepreneurs, engaged 3,274 students, and directly facilitated the creation of 193 new jobs and 113 startups across Pennsylvania, in fiscal year 2023-24.

Hazel Diaz, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and a Penn State alumna, has been named the director of the new Veterans Business Outreach Center at Penn State. The recently opened center provides entrepreneurial development services to veterans, active-duty service members, National Guard members, reservists and military spouses across the commonwealth.

Invent Penn State’s NSF I-Corps Short Course is accepting applications for its virtual February cohort, with a deadline to apply of Jan. 31. The no-cost program helps researchers test a startup idea through customer interviews and educational programming on the lean startup methodology.  

The latest episode of Invent Penn State’s Dare to Disrupt podcast features Paul Suhey, Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Revel. Paul shares how he drives Revel’s mission to accelerate electric vehicle (EV) adoption in U.S. cities by focusing on fast-charging infrastructure.

PlantVillage, a Penn State-based research lab, is working with smallholder farmers in Africa, Asia and the Americas to adapt to climate-related challenges. To guide its expansion and commercial efforts, PlantVillage participated in the Invent Penn State NSF I-Corps regional short course, which helps researchers start on the path toward commercializing their innovations. 

Penn State startup Fourth State Therapeutics has developed a cold plasma-based technology called the Plasma Patch, intended to tackle chronic wound treatment. Fourth State participated in Invent Penn State’s Summer Founders Program and NSF I-Corps Short Course.

Through Penn State’s Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) program, Sam Marshall’s student startup team developed ShambaShare. They later won funding in the Invent Penn State Inc.U Competition to pilot their agricultural equipment-sharing platform in Africa.

Six veterans, including a Penn State Harrisburg student, were awarded funding to help launch their business ideas during the Veterans Business Bootcamp pitch competition hosted by Harrisburg LaunchBox powered by Penn State and the Rotary Veterans Initiative.