Penn State Startup Week powered by PNC will take place March 24-28, offering students across the commonwealth the chance to engage with the University’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem through a variety of free events.

NexDCCool Technologies, a Penn State research-based startup launched by Wangda Zuo’s lab, is developing a platform powered by artificial intelligence that aims to optimize the cooling systems in data centers, which would help maximize IT capacity by reducing cooling demand. 

Renowned entrepreneur, innovator and investor Slava Rubin will be a guest of the Penn State Smeal College of Business on March 25 as part of the college’s signature speaker series “Executive Insights.”

The Invent Penn State Venture & IP Conference, one of the largest tech startup conferences in the mid-Atlantic region, will take place April 10-11 at The Penn Stater Hotel & Conference Center.

Geoff Martha, chairman and CEO of global healthcare technology company Medtronic, will be the keynote speaker at the 2025 Invent Penn State Venture & IP Conference on April 10–11. His fireside chat with Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi will take place at noon on April 10.

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.