Six Penn State student startups have been selected as finalists in Invent Penn State’s Inc.U Competition. Each team will compete for a $30,000 cash investment pool in a pitch competition during Penn State Startup Week powered by PNC. Register to attend the live taping of the Inc.U Competition from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, March 16.

Do you need a website, logo design, or help with social media? Want to upgrade your e-commerce game? Apply for the Craft It, Pitch It, Win It competition by March 10 for a chance to win up to $10,000 in prize money.

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). 

Student startup teams from all Penn State campuses, including World Campus, are invited to apply to the 2024 Invent Penn State Summer Founders Program to receive a $15,000 grant to work on their startup, social good venture, or nonprofit over the summer.

Penn State’s NSF I-Corps Short Course is accepting applications for its virtual March cohort. The no-cost program helps researchers test a startup idea through customer interviews and educational programming on the lean startup methodology. 

Omar X. Easy, a former Penn State football student-athlete and Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders running back, has been appointed to lead The Penn State Brand Academy in his role as the assistant athletics director for the Brand Academy. 

The newly named “Entrepreneur-chip Monkey Business” Berkey Creamery ice cream flavor will be available during the months of February and March to celebrate Penn State Startup Week powered by PNC, a University-wide event taking place March 18–22.

Happy Valley LaunchBox powered by PNC Bank accepted nine early-stage business startups into its spring 2024 FastTrack Accelerator program.

Nathan Bonslaver, Berks alumnus and cofounder of CarToCamp, worked with Invent Penn State’s OriginLabs to develop a new prototype of his car sleeping platform product.

In the latest episode of Invent Penn State’s “Dare to Disrupt” podcast, host Ryan Newman interviews founder and CEO of West Shore Home, B.J. Werzyn. West Shore Home is one of the largest direct-to-consumer home remodelers in the nation with over 37 locations in 18 states.