Aleo BME, Inc., a graduate of the Ben Franklin TechCelerator program , is happy to be located in Innovation Park and the State College community.

"Since  2015, we have been in the small business incubation program.  For a start up company like us, locating in the Tech Center as an incubator company is perfect. Dr. Chao Liu,  of Aleo BME as CEO, president and one of two creators, said. "The company currently has four full-time and several part-time employees along with  two consultants and a third to be hired soon. We definitely feel like we contribute financially to the community."  Liu said Aleo BME also works with other young start up companies in the area to exchange ideas and talk about the challenges that they face as start-ups.

Aleo BME received $2.5 million in investor money, which helped them take off.

"It enabled us to actually get medical devices approved by the FDA," she said.

Currently, Aleo BME is working on surgical adhesives that are biodegradable.

"We are looking to solve the challenges that current adhesives cannot solve," Liu said. "That will make our product stand out."

Liu credited the TechCelerator program with helping Aleo BME get its operation running.

"Both Dr. Yang, Aleo BME's other creator, and I are from technical backgrounds," Liu said. "The TechCelerator actually introduced us to different aspects of business such as having a financial model and the customer discovery process. I think that has helped us a lot. I think the TechCelerator has really provided the support we needed."

Liu said the company has undertaken seeking FDA approval on a liquid bandage by the end of 2017.

"That liquid bandage is a traditional bandage, but it is in liquid formulation. So once it's applied on the skin, it will dry within two or three minutes. It forms a protective film just as flexible as your skin, and it is also transparent. So the obvious advantage of that compared to the traditional Band-Aid is that it's waterproof."

Liu said that the film the company's liquid bandage makes to protect the skin will differentiate the product from other bandages on the market. She said the company is anticipating the FDA answering them on the product at this point.

"We already submitted our package, all the paperwork with all the tests and results.”