On November 6th, nearly 200 people gathered at the Pennovation Center for the inaugural Penn Startup Showcase. This year's event featured twenty-four startups from thirteen Penn partners. The companies showcased their ventures through interactive tables and poster sessions.
Opening remarks were given by Pennovation Works Managing Director, Denita Henderson. "The startups you'll hear from tonight...they're tackling challenges across different sectors, building businesses that can transform industries and improve lives. They're the reason we do what we do and they're proof that when you create the right environment and bring the right people together, incredible things happen," said Henderson.
PCI Ventures, the venture creation division of the Penn Center for Innovation, awarded Det Ansinn, CEO of Neuralert Technologies, with the CEO of the Year award. Neuralert has developed a non-invasive, continuous stroke monitoring system aimed at addressing the issue of late or undetected strokes in hospitalized patients.
PCI Ventures Interim Executive Director Bhavana Mohanraj presented Ansinn with his award saying, "Det is a genuinely good human. He's a serial entrepreneur that's lived many times over the challenge of building and growing companies. I'm incredibly thankful and proud of his leadership of the company over the past year and a half and even more excited for the next steps in the company's journey."
Ansinn delivered a brief presentation about Neuralert, followed by presentations from the Pennovation Accelerator Overall Winner, Serpent Robotics, and the Penn President's Innovation Prize winner, Sync Labs.
Serpent Robotics is dedicated to making tree care safer, smarter & more affordable. Their tree-cutting robot can climb trees deemed too dangerous for human arborists to climb, is capable of performing cuts and rigging, and is increasing the safety of the profession. The core technology is from the lab of Mark Yim, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Sync Labs is developing a privacy-first AI sensor and co-pilot for senior living communities named Alice. Using proprietary vision technology, Alice detects key behaviors, like bathroom trips, meal completion, and medication adherence, without recording video. Alice automates routine checks and delivers care plans, reducing caregiver workload by 31% in early pilots and boosting resident satisfaction, thereby empowering caregivers to focus on more personalized, effective care.
John Swartley, Chief Innovation Officer at University of Pennsylvania, closed the Showcase. "This is definitely extraordinary to be at this event, to see this incredible turnout and these unbelievable ideas and projects come to life."
In case you missed it, you can view a recording of the event.
The Penn Startup Showcase 2025 would like to thank:
PCI Ventures' Premier Partners:
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
RSM US LLP
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP
Vertical Risk Management
Woodmansee & Co
Our Penn Partners:
PCI Ventures
Penn Engineering
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
Penn Health-Tech
University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
The Wharton School
Mack Institute for Innovation Management
The Lauder Institute - University of Pennsylvania
Penn Center for Innovation
Venture Lab
Penn GSE Center for Professional Learning
Penn Dental Medicine
Presenting Speakers:
Det Ansinn, CEO at Neuralert
Melanie Herbert, Founder and CEO at Sync Labs
Yiran (Kevin) Xuan, Co-Founder at Serpent Robotics
Participating Startups:
Neuralert
Jolt Education
AskSia Inc
OnGov
Smart Dosimetry System
Biobotics, Inc
MiTex
Cherry Social App
Incuta Therapeutics
Vytrina
Sonura Care
Infini Fluidics
Sahay AI
Earable
AltruMed
Cerespectus
EpiVario
OneFiltr
Osetomics
Rafias
Riboxy Therapeutics
Vasowatch
Neuralert
Vital Start
