Year in Review 2020 | Pennovation Works

PENNOVATION BY THE NUMBERS

1 New 65,000 SF Lab Building with customizable lab spaces
4 # Modular Pod offices created at the Pennovation Center
7 # Mentors in Residence
8 Anniversary Year of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center
20 #JPOD @ Philadelphia resident companies
68 # Active PCI Ventures portfolio companies
140    # Drones flown in light show tribute to Philadelphia healthcare and frontline workers
60,000       # PPE mass produced and distributed through Project Shields initiative
285,000   # SF leased at Pennovation Works

WHAT’S GOING ON AT PENNOVATION?

...ON THE GROUND

A master plan of the 23-acre Pennovation Works site envisions a phased approach to development, starting with site improvements and renovation of existing buildings. The newly completed Lab Building has created fit out space for customizable labs for growing companies, and the space within the Pennovation Center has been customized as needed to accommodate innovators at all stages.

The 65,000 GSF Pennovation Lab Building was completed for occupancy, a rentable, multi-tenant laboratory and office building located within Pennovation Works. Focused toward companies that have outgrown their original space and are ready to expand, the Lab Building contains 2,000 SF modules that can be combined or subdivided based on tenant need. Its proximity to the Pennovation Center and several other renovated research facilities contributes to the spirit of community and collaboration on the Pennovation Works site.
Four new Modular Offices were constructed on the second floor of The Pennovation Center this year to allow more private enclosed space for startup teams of approximately 4-6 people. The Center also continued to offer individual reserved desks to early stage companies that need their own, dedicated space, but are still looking for the flexibility and low cost benefits of coworking. Desks and desk pods are designed for companies with 1-6 people who are excited about working in a coworking environment that encourages connections, conversations, and serendipity.
Anish Kumar carried out his role as Managing Director of Pennovation Works for the first year, a new position managing overall direction and oversight of the Pennovations Works community. He leads business development of the site as well as the strategic direction of the Pennovation Center, in collaboration with operating partner 1776. Read more about Anish’s role on the Pennovation website.
Once a pilot program, the Food Trucks on the Plaza was established as a year-round initiative, professionally curated by startup Curbside Kitchen on a monthly basis, usually rotating vendor once a week, and bringing together people (and working dogs and robots!) from all over the Works to gather, socialize, and connect over a diverse array of lunch offerings.
The 65,000 GSF Pennovation Lab Building was completed for occupancy, a rentable, multi-tenant laboratory and office building located within Pennovation Works. Focused toward companies that have outgrown their original space and are ready to expand, the Lab Building contains 2,000 SF modules that can be combined or subdivided based on tenant need. Its proximity to the Pennovation Center and several other renovated research facilities contributes to the spirit of community and collaboration on the Pennovation Works site.

…ON COVID-19 COLLABORATIVE INITIATIVES

2020 was a year like no other in recent history. While the world adjusted to a new normal and many were forced to blend their work and home lives, the members at Pennovation Works not only continued their own research but also took the opportunity to use their work and innovative spirit to come together and combat COVID-19 in inspiring ways.

The Penn Vet Working Dog Center began research on using scent-detection dogs to sniff out positive COVID-19 patients as part of a multi-pronged approach to combating the virus.
JPod @ Philadelphia, as part of the Johnson & Johnson Innovation ecosystem, welcomed Steve Pitt as the head of JLAbs US Northeast region.
Works member Allevi Inc., announced a research collaboration with the Wistar Institute to evaluate how Allevi’s 3D biofabrication technologies could help in the battle against COVID-19. Allevi specializes in three-dimensional bioprinting.
Works Innovators Cocoa Press and Instahub partnered with Philadelphia-area startup Fulphil to form Project SHIELD, a collective to mass produce personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 epidemic. Members of the Penn Engineering Research and Collaboration Hub (PERCH) also joined in to help fabricate and assemble face shields outside of Instahub's office at the Center.
Verge Aero, a leader in high performance drone development, delivered an aerial tribute to the front-line healthcare workers with a light show in April 2020. Approximately 140 illuminated drones flew in formations above the iconic Franklin Field stadium featuring images on the current environment and sharing messages of hope and love for better days ahead in the community.
AAPlasma was awarded a contract with the national Defense Logistics Agency Research and Development to produce disinfection systems that quickly sterilize PPE worn by medical professionals in contact with COVID-19 patients.
AlphaThera, which produces Antibody Labeling reagents for research use, was awarded an NIH grant to evolve their existing reagents to battle the pandemic.
RTM Vital Signs, a medical device company developing devices aimed at preventing organ failure, opioid overdoses, heart attack and stroke, partnered with Villanova’s College of Engineering to create an accurate, easy-to-use technology to monitor at-risk individuals for early signs of COVID-19, before the infection progresses to a dangerous stage.

…ON THE BANDWAGON

Pennovation Works has created a presence at a number of industry events and tradeshows over the past few years and leveraged collaborations to advance the entrepreneurial and research ecosystem. While of course 2020 looked different with a pivot to virtual events and the completion of the Lab Building, there were continued funding prospects for innovators, product development and promotion, interest in leasing space, press coverage, and new partnerships.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art featured an exhibition called “Designs for Different Futures,” which partnered with various contributors, including Pennovation innovators Ghost Robotics, Lia Diagnostics, and Allevi, to design installations contemplating what daily life might look like in the not-so-distant future. Running from February through early March, the exhibition used design to ask questions about how technology will function in our future society.
Penn’s Carey Law School, a member of the Pennovation Center, hosted Law 2030: A Global Conversation About the Future of the Profession in late February on the Works campus. Organized by the law school’s Future of the Profession Initiative (FPI), the conference brought together legal profession leaders, clients, and experts across disciplines to discuss the role of innovation within the practice of law.
In early summer, in collaboration with the Penn Center for Innovation (PCI), PCI Ventures, and the Penn Alumni Club of Austin, Pennovation Works hosted a virtual pitch session for seven startups that were originally scheduled to appear at SXSW 2020, before it was cancelled. The virtual pitch session had an audience of over 60 people and featured both Pennovation Works innovators and Accelerator alums as they looked for advice and funding on their startup road.
The week of September 21st-25th marked the 10th Annual Philly Tech Week, the week-long celebration showcasing technology and innovation in the Greater Philadelphia region. This year the conference was held virtually, and Pennovation Works, as part of the Innovation @ Penn consortium, was a sponsor. Read more about the speakers, panelists, and discussions on the Pennovation website.
Various innovators from Pennovation presented at the PACT 2020 Capital Conference in August, pitching their innovations virtually in front of and receiving direct feedback live from investors and professional advisors in the private equity, venture capital, and entrepreneurial communities.

...ON THE WAY UP

Throughout the past year, Pennovation Works has remained home to a diverse collection of inventors, researchers, entrepreneurs, and innovators. Ideally, start-ups will grow from modest beginnings at a coworking desk or lab bench in the Center, to an Inventor Garage, and onto a larger individualized lab or office space around the Works site. This year, for Pennovation’s innovator companies, development took the shape of recognition by industry awards and publications, the securing of financing, or participation in virtual technology competitions and accelerator programs.

In January, Opertech Bio, Inc., a company pioneering a new approach to measuring taste, filed its fourth patent with the United States, encompassing its proprietary high throughput sensory discrimination technologies.
DriQ Health, the Center startup looking to improve management of urinary incontinence among adults in hospitals and care facilities through use of a diaper monitoring system powered by artificial intelligence, was featured in Philadelphia Magazine as one to watch.
Allevi, a tenant and developer of affordable bioprinting hardware, collaborated with Lonza, a Swiss leader in cell biology solutions, to produce a new bioink development involving human-derived primary and stem cells. Allevi also launched its new Triaxial Nozzle, allowing users with an Allevi 3 bioprinter to mix bioinks from three syringes during printing.
Linnaeus Therapeutics was granted an FDA Fast Track designation for LNS8801, its small-molecule treatment for patients with metastatic melanoma.
Jessica Garcia, founder of Center member Tozuda, LLC, which develops sports safety equipment, was honored at the AL DIA 40 Under Forty event showcasing the most diverse and impactful young professionals in various fields across the Philadelphia region. Tozuda was also chosen for the University Science Center Launch Lane Accelerator cohort.
Strella Biotechnology, founded by Penn graduates looking to solve the global problem of food waste, raised $3.3 million in its seed funding round from a group of investors including Mark Cuban.
Center member Avisi Technologies, developer of an ocular implant to treat glaucoma, received a $1 million Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Science Foundation.
The United States Air Force tested “robot dogs,” designed by Ghost Robotics, to enhance the situational awareness of security forces during missions.
IQ Motion Control, the Center startup that delivers high performance motor modules for robotics applications, announced the launch of the Vertiq 6806, the first commercial-grade UAV and robotics module in its class.
Verge Aero, the leader in advanced drone show technology, created the large-scale red, white, and blue drone show that lit up the sky during Joe Biden’s victory speech in Wilmington, DE in November. They provided expertise in drone swarm technology to the History Channel’s Unidentified: Inside America’s UFO Investigations. Closer to home, Verge Aero helped Philly radio station Q102 with their Grand in the Sand virtual treasure hunt with a surprise drone show over the Art Museum in August.
This fall, Cocoa Press, the Center startup using their 3D chocolate printer to create bespoke chocolate creations, started accepting pre-orders for its one-of-a-kind machine. They also expanded their business with staffing and space growth in the Innovator Office Building.
Center member FloBio, who pioneered a novel point-of-care diagnostic platform to assess blood clotting, completed its first prototype which will be used to collect data as part of the Phase I SBIR DOAC grant.

…ON THE FAST TRACK

While 2020 forced so many of us to adjust the way we work, innovation hubs and incubators continued to develop as the smart solution for universities, entrepreneurs, researchers, and students interested in transforming their creative ideas into viable commercial ventures. Pennovation Works has provided its community effective ways to collaborate safely, so that despite the unpredictable days ahead, those innovators continue to push world-class research forward in exciting and unpredictable ways.

Research out of the Penn Dental Research Greenhouse, led by Dr. Henry Daniell, led to the development of an oral drug for pulmonary arterial hypertension.
The Penn Vet Working Dog Center offered virtual internship opportunities for college students interested in cancer research and behavioral science.
Penn researchers with ties to Pennovation were awarded grants from the National Science Foundation to help drive the future of manufacturing through their work with “self-morphing building blocks”, cell-sized modules that can be assembled into human-scale structures, and “bioinspired distributed agents,” tiny robots that work together to collectively complete tasks.
The Center for Environmental Building and Design at the Weitzman School of Design continued their research on ways to make livable structures around the globe more energy efficient and less polluting, as follow up to the model ger, a traditional Mongolian hut that was built at the Pennovation Center in the recent past.
The Penn Center for Innovation enhanced its support in the fight against COVID-19 by facilitating collaborations for businesses and research, partly through the support for the Perelman School of Medicine in developing highly-sensitive point-of-care tests for the virus.

…ON THE LEARNING CURVE

This past year required a creative approach to programming hosted and promoted from the Pennovation Works campus. The pivot to virtual lectures, training, panel discussions and a focus on the societal challenges of the day called for innovative solutions, but the Pennovation team maintained a busy event schedule throughout this year like no other. The Center community members were also able to stay connected through mindfulness workshops and weekly virtual coffee talk gatherings.

WINTER

The Pennovation Center welcomed Horizon Pharmaceuticals to discuss the impact of rare diseases on pharmaceutical innovation, affecting 30 million patients in the US, and how stakeholders must work together to close the innovation gap and address unmet medical needs.

Pre-pandemic, the Pennovation Center hosted its second annual in-person Vendor Fair, where members had the opportunity to meet with service providers like Citizens Bank, Morgan Lewis, and NextFab, among others.

In February, Pennovation and PCI Ventures brought in experts on the KIZ and KOZ tax incentives to educate members and tenants on the benefits for small businesses.

In early March, 1776 and Salesforce presented the year’s first Growth Stack, where entrepreneurs and small business experts spoke to Center members about tangible ways to grow their businesses.

JLABS and JPOD @ Philadelphia presented a master introduction to the development of cell and gene-based therapeutics with experts from Johnson & Johnson and Cellicon Valley addressing the topics of product development, pre-clinical and toxicology considerations, clinical pharmacology and dose projections, and manufacturing.

SPRING

A virtual workshop and advising by HR Resolve on Handbooks, Policies, and Culture, was offered to members, designed to help companies develop and build their human resources capacity as they grow.

A virtual session in May, Emerging Growth Companies: Operating in a Down Market, provided insights on ways to strategically operate a company during an economic downturn, including fundraising in a down market, furloughing staff, and negotiating leases.

SUMMER

A June webinar called Pennovation Works: Opportunities for Researchers and Startups, focused on the Pennovation Works space and its mission as the site expands and develops.

1776 hosted a lunch hour Startup Grind featuring Adriana C. Vazquez, Co-Founder and CEO of Lilu, a company aiming to enhance the lives of new and working mothers through technology-enhanced products.

In mid-July, the Pennovation Accelerator held a virtual pitch day for their 2020 Accelerator Cohort. At the end of the day, which featured 10 pitches, the judges and review committee chose two winners: Headway, a startup focused on improving surgical team coordination, and SOLUtion Medical, a company developing more patient-friendly delivery systems for reconstitutable drugs.

On July 29th, JLABS hosted the first virtual cross-site engagement for companies in the Boston, New York, and Philadelphia ecosystems. A total of 15 companies representing all of the Northeast sites joined to introduce themselves and their work.

In early August, Pennovation Works invited two outside accelerator programs, Creative Destruction Link and Endless Frontier Labs, to host a virtual info session for Center members on their own accelerators.

In late summer, JPOD also offered virtual 1:1 meetings with early-stage investment firm Golden Seeds, who are focused on supporting women-driven businesses. Six Golden Seeds members met with 13 companies throughout one afternoon, offering advice and introductions.

FALL

1776 and CVS Health presented an exciting Women in Tech Debate 2020 session in October, with two female thought leaders debating specific topics relevant to women entrepreneurs in tech.

In November, JPOD offered one-on-one information sessions and advice for members about JPOD @ Philadelphia's program, benefits, and application process.

Startup Grind PHL hosted Stephanie Humphrey, former engineer and technology contributor for Good Morning America, as well as advocate for good digital citizenry, in one of Pennovation’s final virtual events of 2020.

The last Startup Grind PHL of the year at Pennovation featured Jennifer Maher, CEO of 1776, and lawyer turned real estate broker turned entrepreneur.

The Penn Center for Innovation held their annual “Celebration of Innovation” even t, recognizing Pennovation Works as the recipient for the newly named Paul D. Sehnert Partner of the Year Award.

…ON THE FRONT PAGE

Pennovation Works hires Anish Kumar as its first managing director

Philadelphia Business Journal

Meet the 10 early-stage companies in Pennovation Accelerator's 2020 cohort

Technical.ly Philly

The State of University City 2020

University City District

How Philly’s Bioscience Sector Is Driving the City’s Next Big Real Estate Boom

Philadelphia Magazine

The Legacy of 9/11 Dogs 19 Years Later

American Kennel Club

Spotlight on Michael Poisel of PCI Ventures

Colliers LabNotes

Down but not out, Philadelphia's coworking scene tries to find footing during pandemic

Philadelphia Business Journal