UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Invent Penn State Venture & IP Conference, one of the largest tech startup conferences in the mid-Atlantic, will take place Oct. 16 and 17 at the Hershey Lodge in Hershey. The conference will highlight innovations from high-growth and emerging markets, showcase disruptive technologies and early-stage companies born from Penn State research, and feature two special keynote events.

General registration to the conference is currently open.

“The Venture & IP Conference is a rare and energy-filled opportunity for innovators, investors and business professionals to network with one another while immersed in conversations surrounding the latest advancements in technology, which many researchers at Penn State and at this conference are at the forefront of,” said James Delattre, associate vice president for research and director of the Office of Entrepreneurship and Commercialization. “We are also extremely excited to host this year’s conference in Hershey, allowing us to more closely work with our partners at the Penn State College of Medicine and highlight the impressive portfolio of medical innovations.”

Tech Tournament

Eight disruptive and early-stage companies born of Penn State’s robust and diverse research enterprise will take the stage from 3-5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 16, as part of the Tech Tournament. The teams will compete for a grand total of $45,000 in innovation awards, including a first-place prize of $25,000, which will be used to help teams move their innovations into the marketplace.

The eight competing companies are as follows:

• Axi-Flex Fracture Fixation Plating System, a novel, single-piece bone plate that can provide controlled axial flexibility (Axi-FLEX) for facilitating healing in long bone fractures.
• Non-toxic Biodegradable Fluorine-free Hydrophobic Textile Treatment, a chemical treatment specifically for textiles that not only provides exceptional water and oil resistance to textiles but is also low-cost and environmentally friendly.
• Chondrela, a local paroxetine-based sustained-release injectable platform for the treatment of osteoarthritis.
• Lightscline Data Reduction AI, which reduces up to 90% of sensor data analytics costs by teaching machines to focus on the 10% important data.
• Immunagreen, which is developing a novel product for protection of apple and pear trees from a major disease called fire blight, which is a chronic challenge for growers.
• Opthalmize, a small, biodegradable tear-duct implant that gradually releases the anti-inflammatory drug, Bromfenac, over 30 days.
• EpiMethyl Analytics, a proprietary computational platform for the analysis of human DNA methylation.
• LionGlass, a patent-pending glass compositional family that offers, for the first time, an alternative to standard soda lime silicate glass, reducing the carbon footprint of the glass industry by more than 50%.

Student Startup Showcase

Hosted by Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi, the showcase will feature eight student teams as they highlight how their startups are having a positive impact on the world and have grown thanks to the Invent Penn State entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Keynote Speaker Sessions

On the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 17, Philip Gaskin, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation vice president of entrepreneurship, will address the considerable gap in accessing capital that entrepreneurs continue to face through every stage of the business cycle.

There will then be a fireside chat with Rodney Sampson, Opportunity Hub chairman and CEO, who is heralded as the leading inclusive innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment ecosystem builder in the world. His mission is to ensure that everyone, everywhere, particularly socially and economically disadvantaged communities, have equitable opportunities in the fourth industrial revolution and beyond.

Interdisciplinary Sessions

The conference features interdisciplinary panels and sessions that bring together academia, industry, economic development, policy, and government experts on current innovation topics. This year’s session topics vary from building life science companies to an introduction to venture capital to investing in technology in today’s market. View the full conference agenda.

Venture Connection

Venture Connection is a matchmaking event consisting of more than 800 meetings between entrepreneurs and venture capitalist investors, who are pre-paired based on industry and capital needs, among other key criteria. Venture Connection will take place on both days of the Venture & IP Conference.

About the Invent Penn State Venture & IP Conference

Founded in 2016, the Invent Penn State Venture & IP Conference is one of the largest tech startup conferences in the mid-Atlantic region and draws more than 600 attendees, including over 70 startup ventures and more than 40 investment firms from across the country. The conference highlights innovations from high-growth and emerging markets, including IT, energy, advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, health care, B2B and B2C, among others.

To view more Penn State-affiliated startups, visit the Startup Navigator. To find Penn State-affiliated intellectual property available for licensing, visit the IP Navigator.