This summer Pennovation hosted a unique program that supports Philadelphia public school students and introduces them to the world of robotics and coding. Steppingstone Scholars offered two classes at Pennovation for high school students in July - a beginner's class for students who had never been exposed to coding or robotics, and an advanced class that opened new ideas and possibilities for students with some experience in those areas.
Congratulations to the first cohort of the Pennovation Accelerator on a hugely successful summer! The Accelerator closed out with a Demo Day on which participating companies presented a completed slide deck that covered the different topics that were addressed during the Accelerator - market strategy, business and team formation, raising capital, etc. Demo Day also included remarks from the mentors and thought leaders who guided the companies through the program.
On Thursday, July 12th, Tern Water hosted their second Healthy Philly Meetup at the Pennovation Center. Joined by Scott Mazo from UPA Philadelphia, Mo Zerban, CEO of Tern Water, moderated an engaging conversation about sustainability and community in Philadelphia. The more than 30 people in attendance also had the opportunity to demo the Smart Faucet, "a home device that connects to any kitchen faucet and syncs seamlessly with the Tern App to monitor filter status, real time water usage, and water quality." Stay tuned for more great meetups coming from Tern Water this year!
JPOD @ Philadelphia will come to fruition at business incubator Pennovation Center this fall as a new resource to help local healthcare entrepreneurs move their science forward and continue to build the region’s innovation ecosystem
JPOD @ Philadelphia will also launch QuickFire Challenge to nurture local innovation
On Sunday, June 24th, over 100 makers and 1,200 visitors came together at Pennovation for the first ever Philadelphia Mini Maker Faire. With exhibitors from NextFab, Pennovation, UPenn, and more, the Philadelphia Mini Maker Faire was a volunteer-organized, family-friendly celebration featuring local do-it-yourself science, art, robots, crafts, tech, music, hands-on-activities, and more. It was an event where people could show what they are making and share what they are learning.
On Monday, June 18th, the Pennovation Accelerator launched with its first cohort. Kicking off the summer with a week on market discovery and customer interviews, the seven companies in the cohort were excited to be at Pennovation and to be learning from the in-house experts and each other. Ranging from fashion startups to companies offering healthy food options, the Pennovation entrepreneurs are a diverse and talented team.
On Saturday, June 9th, the Pennovation Center welcomed the Grays Ferry community for a lively job fair and lunch.
The Pennovation Center recently played host to a group of Fulbright Scholars from Blackfynn (pictured here) and Coded by Kids. The Scholars broke up into their groups for workshops in the Pennovation seminar rooms and then received a tour of Pennovation from Penn’s Director of Real Estate Development, Paul Sehnert. Daniel Hunter, who led the group from Blackfynn added, “The conference rooms at the Pennovation Center were a joy to present in.