WYOMISSING, Pa. –– On Dec. 8, nearly 50 people attended the Berks LaunchBox open house. This was the first event to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Berks?LaunchBox?and?Invent Penn State, the commonwealth-wide initiative that established campus innovation hubs, which was launched by Penn State President Eric J. Barron in 2016.
Attendees had an opportunity to learn about the state-of-the-art equipment in the Berks?LaunchBox?Makerspace and to chat with entrepreneurs who use its services.
Mark?Viglione
Alumnus launches cybersecurity company?
Penn State alumnus Mark?Viglione, 2015 business management, minor in information sciences and technology, who attended Penn State Berks as well as the University Park campus, founded Enigma?Networkz, LLC with assistance from the Berks?LaunchBox.?Enigma?Networkz?is a SaaS cybersecurity company that provides data analytics, threat detection, and remediation solutions for?small- to medium-size organizations.
He explains that he had a concept and he wanted to connect with local businesses, so he contacted the Berks?LaunchBox. “I had an idea that no one was piloting or testing. The Berks?LaunchBox?helped me to navigate the waters and connect with local area security professionals and businesses.”
In February 2021,?Viglione?received one of five?“Grow Your Startup Grants,” which provide Berks?LaunchBox?entrepreneurs with $500 towards a need they have identified, specifically relating to talent or education. These grants are funded by The Marlin and Ginger Miller Educational Endowment for Education Innovation and Design Thinking made to the Berks?LaunchBox.?In addition, he connected with Berks?LaunchBox?partner?Ben Franklin Technology Partners, which is providing seed funding for his company. For more information, visit?enigmanetworkz.com.?
Nathan Bonslaver
Student and alumni create sleeping platforms for car camping?
Penn State Berks student Nathan?Bonslaver?and two of his friends co-founded?CarToCamp, a startup that creates universally fitting, lightweight, SUV sleeping platforms that ship to customers’ door and can be assembled without tools.?Bonslaver, a mechanical engineering?major with a minor business who will graduate in 2022, and two other Penn State alumni who attended the Berks campus – Robert Miller, 2019, and Kevin Gulick, 2020 – started the company in September 2020 based on their mutual interest in the outdoors and ‘car camping.’
Bonslaver?explains that he initially contacted Sarah Hartman-Caverly,?reference and instruction librarian at the Thun Library, Penn State?Berks.?Hartman-Caverly?connected?Bonslaver?to the Berks?LaunchBox, which provided patent resources and connections to mentors who advised him on pricing and helped him to prepare pitch decks.
“It’s been a great experience working with the Berks?LaunchBox?and the networking events are very helpful,” he states.?Bonslaver?and his co-founders have set up their business in Reading and they have purchased all the equipment to make the sleeping platforms, including 3-D and resin printers. For more information, visit?www.cartocamp.com.
Entrepreneur creates app to help students choose a college?
Kevin Clark is a Reading-based entrepreneur focused on helping students make the best decisions for their future. His company, Take Charge, Find Your Path, is developing a software program that allows students to define what they are looking for in a college and career, and then to find their perfect fit in higher education or within an organization.
“When a student’s path changes rapidly, it can become hard for them to find the right fit in a college. Take Charge, Find Your Path helps students navigate the path for future success. The app aligns the digital ecosystem with student goals and the needs of universities and employers,” explained Clark.?
Originally Clark worked with a Penn State Berks student on the startup, and that student connected him with the Berks?LaunchBox. He credits the?LaunchBox?with helping him to create a pitch deck and to file for a patent. He also enjoys the networking events. Clark is the CEO and co-founder along with David Moss, COO, and Carmen?Malangone, CTO. They have seven core employees and five tech contractors. For more information, visit?takecharge.ai.?
"This story is informational in nature and should not be considered an endorsement of any product or application."
Tom Wentling
Entrepreneur validates concepts through Idea?TestLab?
Tom?Wentling, a local entrepreneur, founded?Warrantycheck,?a streamlined warranty registration process utilizing e-receipts and QR codes to make it more simplistic for the end user and to increase company registration rates. The goal is to help companies by reducing product malfunction,?liability?and fraud, while improving customer service and product development.?
Wentling?entered the Berks?LaunchBox?Idea?TestLab?accelerator. He completed the comprehensive six-week program to validate his concept for the company.
Through the competition, startups receive coaching and training to identify viable business models through intensive customer discovery. Startup entrepreneurs interview customers, build their business models, and craft their elevator pitches. The program culminated in a pitch competition, in which teams competed for seed funding to continue development of their business models.?
Wentling?explained that while some of his past concepts were not validated, he is working on a new concept, which took third place at the November 2021 competition. “It’s okay to fail if you fail fast before you find some measure of success,” commented Wentling.?
The mission of Berks?LaunchBox, located in Suite 105 of the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in downtown Reading, is to support economic development and entrepreneurship. Berks?LaunchBox?connects local entrepreneurs to the support, resources, and facilities that they need to build sustainable and scalable businesses with a viable plan for growth. Services include assistance with prototyping, conducting market research, and connecting with advisers. Berks?LaunchBox?offers entrepreneurship workshops, co-working space for startups, Meetups focused on business development, a makerspace with 3D printers for prototyping, and special youth programs.?
For more information, visit?berkslaunchbox.ptblood.com?or contact Erica Kunkel, Berks?LaunchBox?interim director, at?[email?protected]?or 610-396-6221.
