The Startup Market, hosted and organized by
Lion LaunchPad, is a university-wide resource fair for students who are interested in seeking involvement with organizations, academic pathways, and community resources at Penn State that align with entrepreneurship and innovation. Startup Market is open to all students of any academic year or major and will feature academic and entrepreneurial resources in addition to startups and student-led initiatives to help provide a startup mindset to students during their time at Penn State.
Participating organizations include:The E&I Program adds value to new ideas and research discoveries by creating entrepreneurial success across Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences community.
The Ben Franklin TechCelerator is a small business accelerator, a 10-week course that covers the basics of business startup including: Business Formation, Business Model Canvas, Marketing, Finance, How to Pitch your idea, Intellectual Property, Capital Formation, and more.
The CIENT major in the Smeal College of Business focuses on teaching students how to assess opportunities, cultivate change and structure new ventures. The major focuses on developing problem solving and creative thinking skills, along with the ability to recognize opportunities, spot trends, and develop a plan to capitalize on these ideas.
Entrepreneurs and innovators exist in all industries and in all types of companies and non-profits. The ENTI minor teaches students the foundational skills they need to succeed, such as innovative thinking, leadership, and new venture creation.
Happy Valley Capital is a student-run venture capital organization that is focused on nurturing the startup community at Penn State. It does this through hosting general body meetings featuring inspirational speakers and venture capital/entrepreneurship educations.
Happy Valley Communications is a student-run organization that exists to provide professional communication services to both local and national clients. We provide an outlet for students to apply what they have learned, in the classroom and through internships, in a real-world agency environment.
Happy Valley LaunchBox connects local entrepreneurs to the support, resources, and facilities that they need to build a sustainable and scalable business with a viable plan for growth. Their no-cost services and programs are designed to help entrepreneurs avoid common mistakes, thereby allowing them to de-risk and accelerate their path to the marketplace.
Innoblue is the oldest entrepreneurship organization on Penn State's campus. It provides a network, resources, and inspiration for students with big ideas to make them a reality. All of this works towards the mission of encouraging and enabling a community of entrepreneurial minded students at Penn State.
Invent Penn State is a Commonwealth-wide initiative to spur economic development, job creation and student career success. Invent Penn State blends entrepreneurship-focused academic programs, business startup training and incubation, funding for commercialization, and university / community / industry collaborations to facilitate the challenging process of turning research discoveries into valuable products and services that can benefit Pennsylvanians and humankind.
Teams of entrepreneurial undergraduate Penn State students can apply for microgrants of up to $500 in seed money to help get their ideas off the ground. To qualify, one team member should have a
SEDTAPP or
intercollege minor in entrepreneurship and innovation minor (ENTI) affiliation.
The Penn State Law LaunchBox Legal Clinics provide free legal services to any startup, innovator or small business in Pennsylvania. We are located in the Happy Valley LaunchBox and staffed by Penn State Law student interns and supervised by two staff attorneys.
PennTAP is a federal, state, and University partnership aimed at stimulating statewide economic development. We help student entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses maximize their competitiveness through in-person consultations, unbiased technical advice, connections to Penn State resources and referrals to business development resources throughout the state to assist in research, product testing, and go-to-market strategy.
The Penn State SBDC provides one-on-one, confidential, no-cost business consulting and low-cost seminars to pre-venture, start-up, and existing small businesses located in Centre, Clinton, Lycoming and Mifflin counties. Consulting services include business planning, feasibility studies, market research, financing/loan packaging, marketing, scaling for growth, hiring and managing employees, and other areas of management and technical support.
The Learning Factory brings the real world into the classroom by providing engineering students with practical hand-on experience through industry-sponsored capstone design projects. The Learning Factory provides a makerspace with modern design, prototyping, and manufacturing facilities, including machining, 3D printing, welding, metrology, and CAD/CAM.
The Penn State University Libraries offers student, faculty, staff, and community entrepreneurs resources for company, market, industry, and business planning research. We provide support for assignments throughout the entrepreneurship curriculum at Penn State as well as non-curricular projects and ventures.
Lion LaunchPad is a special living option located in Leete Hall at University Park student entrepreneurs, hackers, inventors, artists and change-makers come together to experience and learn about the Penn State entrepreneurship culture and all of the many facets it has to offer from testing out ideas to creating prototypes to participating in campus events.
