Voxello: Giving a Voice to Hospitalized Patients
In the U.S. alone, there are 3.9 million hospitalized patients who can’t communicate their needs to nurses. Without proper means of communication, these patients are three times more likely to experience preventable complications, such as adverse reactions to medicine.
Voxello, led by CEO Rives Bird, has created an innovative solution. Bird brings more than 20 years of experience as an executive in multiple medical device companies, and has launched multiple successful entrepreneurial ventures in Iowa.
INDIGO Biosciences Reduces the Time and Cost of Drug Discovery
INDIGO Biosciences, Inc., founded in 2005 in State College by Dr. Jack Vanden Heuvel and Dr. Blake Peterson, is a biosciences company focused on nuclear receptors, which make up a major class of therapeutic drug targets. The company has the largest global portfolio of nuclear receptor (NR) assay kits and related screening services.
INDIGO Biosciences’ original focus was to provide custom services for the screening of small molecule compounds against functional human and non-human nuclear receptors.
Over the years, the company has demonstrated success in providing quality screening services to clients within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, food, agriculture, and nutriceutical industries, government research agencies, as well as to academic researchers.
Neutun Labs Develops Wearable App to Track Epilepsy
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 2.9 million adults and children in the United States suffer from active epilepsy.
Taking your medications, getting plenty of rest, and keeping your stress low are all ways to help manage epilepsy. But until now, there hasn’t been a centralized way of tracking all of these factors.
Actuated Medical Creates Products to Improve Patient Outcomes
Actuated Medical is a company that develops patented medical devices and is led by President and CEO Maureen L. Mulvihill, Ph.D. The idea for Mulvihill’s business came in 2006, when she was talking to a doctor who said, “I have a clinical need. I have 6 hours to get to a blood clot or my patient will have irreparable brain damage. I need a solution.” Mulvihill saw a market need for an agile small business that had actuation (electronically controlled motion) expertise. Actuated Medical, Inc. (AMI) was born with a mission to integrate motion into medical devices to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.
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| Photo courtesy of Penn State News |
Per its mission, the Penn State Small Business Development Center helps businesses start, grow, and prosper with no-cost, confidential consulting services and seminars in Centre and Mifflin counties. Their services have transformed community and student entrepreneurs’ dreams into realities, transmitting the knowledge and skills required to commercialize research or bring a technology to market.
Among SBDC’s success stories is Otto’s Pub & Brewery. Co-owner Roger Garthwaite sought their expertise in business planning as they set their sights on a separate brewing facility in 2008. Vamos! Lion Chariot’s founder Todd Miner leaned on the SBDC’s financial and legal consulting services while getting his pedicab service up and running. More recently, Matt Woods of X Material Processing came to the SBDC for help creating a business model and pitch to solicit funds for his multi-metal 3D printing technology company.
Beyond personalized services tailored to meet the needs of individuals’ entrepreneurial pursuits, the Penn State SBDC’s seminars are designed to touch a broader audience. It recently extended its services to summer camp attendees, imparting business savvy to entrepreneurs in the making.
Read more: Helping Entrepreneurs of All Ages Sharpen Their Entrepreneurial Tools