Innovation & Job News

In the age of Wiki-pages, Kickstarter and crowd-funded banking, something as routine as dinner can be crowdsourced. At least that’s what the cofounders of Zokos—Christopher Kieran, Bradley Baer, Andrew Hapke and Roger Vandervort—are betting on. Their site helps hosts plan and fund dinner parties by engaging guests in their extended social networks. The team recently moved their headquarters from New York City to Benjamin’s Desk in Center City, Philadelphia, and plans to hire web-developers (particularly Ruby developers) early next year.

Unlike potluck invitations, which are well served by Facebook or Evite, Zokos assumes some people enjoy planning events while others wouldn’t mind contributing a little money in order to partake. The cofounders were pursuing master’s degrees at Yale when they met at the popular Veggie Dinner Club and discovered the appeal of peer-networked meals.

“I was able to have an unbelievable dinner with 10 to 20 interesting people,” explains Baer. “Often these dinners would turn into longer events where I'd make several new friends and connections.”

The Zokos dining community is modeled on the vibrant social exchanges available on a university campus. In addition to the funding feature, Zokos allows hosts to reach out to friends-of-friends, collaborate on the menu with their guests, and join a larger network of foodies and event enthusiasts. Interest groups and book clubs use the platform to plan dinners and fundraising occations. So far, over 4,000 parties have been successfully created, and roughly five percent of guests return to the site as hosts. The company also launched Zokits, a source for complete event planning roadmaps developed by industry experts. As more and more twenty-and-thirty-somethings stray from traditional family life, Zokos could be the antidote to eating alone.

“While good food, saving time and saving money is important, it's all about finding anything that brings people together,” says Baer.

Source: Brad Baer, Zokos
Writer: Dana Henry

If the shoe fits, wear it. Unless it doesn't fit, in which case if it was purchased online it has to get shipped back – a hassle for the customer and a huge cost for the industry.
 
"It seemed incredibly wasteful and a solvable problem," says Matt Wilkinson, a co-founder and CEO of Shoefitr, a young Pittsburgh company, which invented a virtual shoe fitting application.
 
Shoefitr uses 3D scanning technology so that online shoppers can compare a shoe they want to buy with one they currently wear. Shoefitr will recommend the correct size with 95% accuracy.
 
Shoefitr's customers, including footwear e-retailers The Athlete's Foot, Saucony and Toms, along with large online sellers in Brazil and Australia, report as much as a 38% reduction in returns.
 
That has a huge appeal to the industry, which lost over $600 million in sales in 2008, when one of three shoes purchased online was returned. Virtual fitting also has potential to drive online shoe sales, Wilkinson adds, noting that despite the explosive growth in online shopping, 75% of customers are reluctant to shop for footwear on the Internet.
 
Shoefitr launched in 2010 out of Carnegie Mellon University. In 2011, the company moved from the Innovation Works' AlphaLab accelerator into its own space. That year, the company also attracted $1.2 million in venture capital.
 
Now Shoefitr, which has added about 20 customers in the last year, is expanding beyond athletic footwear into casual and women's designer shoes, says Wilkinson, and anticipates adding about five new positions in the next six months, bringing its workforce to 15.
 
Source: Matt Wilkinson, Shoefitr
Writer: Elise Vider
 
 

Digital Net Agency (DNA) is a young marketing company in Dallas, but growth by acquisition is in its DNA.
 
Aaron Baker, a veteran marketer, founded the company in June with a 15-member team, most of which he worked with at a New York agency. Now he has acquired Plaid Skirt Marketing, based in Raleigh, NC, to add branding and social media to DNA's search-centric focus. 
 
"Search is in our DNA, social and branding is in Plaid Skirt Marketing's DNA," says Baker. "This is a business move that just makes sense; advertisers are increasingly looking for full-service, digital marketing solutions and innovative ways to engage social media outlets and, with this acquisition, DNA completes the digital marketing equation for current and future clients."
 
Baker expects to announce a second acquisition in another few weeks, this time of a firm that focuses on affiliate marketing, which serves to drive customers to websites. It's all part of DNA's business model of performance-based marketing, in which clients pay only for measurable results and the agency shares the risk. Performance-based marketing, Baker says, is "the holy grail" and DNA's fast-growing client portfolio, up to 60 with 57 of them new since DNA's founding, is proof.
 
Central Pennsylvania is fertile ground for DNA, he adds, because of the large amount of e-commerce in the region. But technology makes it possible to work for remote clients as well; more than 50% of the firm's clients are on the west coast.
 
DNA is looking for expanded office space in downtown Wilkes-Barre and has an outpost in New York.
 
Source: Aaron Baker, Digital Net Agency
Writer: Elise Vider
 
 
 
 
 
 

Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Carrie Underwood, ArioTech,  LifeAire Systems or Virtual Celebration? 
 
One of these three Lehigh Valley startups will be the next Ben Franklin Venture Idol  after pitching tonight to a panel of judges and a live audience. No record contract is in the offing. Instead the new Idol will win a $5,000 investment.
 
"The criteria will be the strength of the management team, defined market need, viability of the product or service, development of distribution and channel strategy, financial projections and overall presentation by the principal, among others," explains Laura Eppler of Ben Franklin Technology Partners.
 
Instead of Mariah Carey and Randy Jackson, this Idol will be judged by experienced venture capitalists: Denny Boyle works with Mid-Atlantic companies for Silicon Valley Bank; David Drahms of Osage Partners is involved in several venture organizations; Stephanie Olexa is founder and president of the Lehigh Valley Angel Investors; and Doug Petillo of Navigant Ventures is a seasoned director, investor, and serial entrepreneur.
 
To thank them, BFTP is giving each an iPad dock designed by a budding Saucon Valley entrepreneur, 11-year-old Dino Zaharakis. Dino developed the product idea and, with his dad’s help, worked with Northampton Community College’s Fab Lab to create 3D solid models. Hill Metal Company, Bracalente Manufacturing and Electrospace Fabricators helped produce the final product. 
 
Idol fans will also hear a solo from keynote speaker Paul Martino, managing director of Bullpen Capital, which focuses on the social-mobile web sector and makes follow-on investments in startups funded by super-angels.
 
Tickets to tonight's event are still available at the door at the Innovation Institute at Ben Franklin TechVentures. 
 
Source: Laura Eppler, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania
Writer: Elise Vider
 

South Side-based Rinovum Women’s Health has received FDA authorization to market its initial prescription product, The Stork, a tool to support couples in overcoming several fertility problems and conceive in the comfort of their own home.  
 
The product will launch in Pittsburgh the first quarter of 2013. Rinovum also plans to move into a larger facility in the near future; manufacturing will take place in Pittsburgh, reports Stephen Bollinger, founder, president and CEO.
 
Rinovum, formerly Intimate Bridge 2 Conception, believes that moving out of the doctor’s office and into the home (and bedroom) will help couples better achieve their reproductive goals.
 
“One of the biggest challenges with physician office assisted approaches (intraurterine insemination or IUI) is the loss of privacy, where the male has to perform  in the doctor’s office,” explains Bollinger.
 
“A third of all candidates can’t and the couple go home frustrated. Our technology allows the couples to have supported conception while delivering a higher concentration of semen to the cervix in the privacy of their own home.”

The Stork is targeting the 7.3 million couples in U.S. who experience difficulty in conceiving.  It is specifically created to bridge the gap between natural intercourse and more aggressive approaches like IUI and Invitro fertilization.
 
The Stork should be a couples first step in the path of assisted conception, says Bollinger. A way to “nudge the Stork.”  It works through a condom-like vessel for the collection of fresh semen, which is then placed into a tampon-like device and delivered into the vaginal tract to the cervix.
 
Last year the company received a $4.3 M round of venture capital to move the product into commercialization. Seko MedTec Solutions in Pittsburgh is partnering with Rinovum to do order fulfillment out of Western Pennsylvania.
 
The company is currently at 10 people and plans to hire in early 2013; positions range from quality and regulatory manufacturing to operations. By second quarter 2013, Rinovum hopes to have its CE Mark and be selling overseas.
 
While fertility is Rinovum’s primary focus, the company plans to expand into other areas of women’s health care, Bollinger says.
 
“Women are smart consumers,” he says. “We’re taking a look at technology that is  proven and of clinical-based benefit that can be offered over-the-counter or be more consumer friendly. That’s what Rinovum is all about.”
 
Source: Stephen Bollinger, Rinovum
Writer: Deb Smit

Most people wouldn’t look at local government agencies and see big cash, but that’s exactly what Greg Berry, founder and CEO of Municibid, has done. While serving on the Pottstown council, the former CEO of Jonestown-based PointSolve discovered municipalities were losing considerable money by putting their out-of-use items up for "sealed bid." His online competitive bidding platform currently serves 800 government agencies across the country; its annual merchandizing value is growing 300 percent every year. He's looking to hire experienced sales reps to approach a largely untapped market of 90,000 agencies selling $2.5 billion of merchandise annually.

"[Pottstown council] would sell an old police car worth $3,000 for about $300, then we struggled to come up with $1000 to pay for something else," says Berry. "Very few people knew the items were for sale. This same problem was, and still is, affecting tens of thousands of local government agencies."

When Municibid customers trade their classified ads for online bidding, they recover considerable money on valuable items, including police vans, tractors, walky-talkies, cafeteria tables, plate makers and traffic signal heads—even a plane recovered from a drug trafficking operation. The small town of Mansfield, Maine exceeded expectations for their annual auction by $85,000. Baton-Rouge, Louisiana made $125,000 in their first round. Municibid has been reeling in an average of 25 new clients per month and Berry believes they’ll reach 5,000 clients in five years.

"Bidding used to be limited to those in the know," says Berry. "Now, more and more, we’re seeing parents buying cars for their teenagers through Municibid. We have found a way to better engage the general public."

Source: Greg Berry, Municibid
Writer: Dana Henry

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A few years ago, when CEO Jim Logue joined Therm-Omega-Tech,  a Warminster valve maker, he found a solid, old-line manufacturer. Still, he recalls, the assembly shop and the machine shop were not clearly communicating, leading to inefficiencies and delays.

No more. Since 2010, Therm has been “on a lean journey,” says Logue. Mentored by the Delaware Valley Industrial Resources Center, Therm has taken steps to eliminate waste in its manufacturing processes and, equally important, change the plant’s culture by sharing information and ensuring that all 60 employees understand the big picture.

“We basically have empowered every employee to have a say in how to improve their work area, or what they see elsewhere,” says Logue. “It gives purpose to coming to work.”

Since adapting the principles of lean manufacturing, Logue says, people are working better and smarter and operations are more coordinated and efficient. The company has seen 70% growth in revenues in its top products and has grown jobs by 10%. Logue anticipates adding another three positions in the next six to 12 months.

Founded in 1983, Therm’s primary business is making self-actuating temperature control valves (they don’t need electrical or battery power); more than 90% of the diesel locomotives in North America use Therm valves. New products include the launch of its Circuit Solver  that delivers hot water evenly throughout large buildings such as dorms and hospitals.

But the company’s fastest growing line is temperature controls for barbeques. Company founder Fred Pirkle is a Texan who takes slow cooking seriously and Therm fields a competitive BBQ team. Presumably its brisket is exempt from the lean mandate.
 
Source: Jim Logue, Therm-Omega-Tech
Writer: Elise Vider
 

Even the oldest, most traditional industries need to innovate. So it is that Langhorne Carpet Company, an 82-year-old, Wilton carpet mill – one of only a handful left in the United States – is expanding with a new line made of Peruvian Alpaca.
 
"Our technology is very traditional, but our products are not," says President Bill Morrow.
 
Langhorne uses mills that haven't changed much from the ones Morrow's great-grandfather bought in 1930 from Henry Ford, who couldn't get the looms to properly make carpets for his cars. And Langhorne is located in the same red brick mill in Penndel near Philadelphia at which it was established.
 
Nevertheless,  says Morrow, Langhorne "constantly has to be innovative to keep up with colors and trends – or create them." The new Alpaca line is another such innovation. Langhorne's first order of nearly 2,000 pounds of alpaca fleece will be woven into the mill's first designs especially for the Peruvian alpaca.
 
Innovation in the carpet business could arguably be blamed for the demise of woven wool carpet making in the U.S., which Morrow reckons today accounts for less than one percent of the market. Instead, most domestic carpet is tufted and produced with synthetic fibers, some made with heavy petrochemical compounds.
 
But demand for traditional carpets from the high-end residential market (and custom reproduction jobs for historic sites such as the White House and Independence Hall) is sufficiently strong that Langhorne has recently created four new positions, including three weavers, who it trains from scratch, bringing its workforce to 35. 
 
 
 
Source: Bill Morrow, Langhorne Carpet Company
Writer: Elise Vider

Commercial art was once the province of illustrators and graphic designers. But like so much else, technology has redefined the field to include digital media, web and application design, 3D animation, game creation, medical animation and illustration and more. "Anything with a visual component is commercial art these days," says Melissa Morgan, president of Hussian School of Art in Philadelphia. 
 
Founded in 1946 to prepare returning veterans for careers as commercial artists, Hussian has now entered a partnership with Harrisburg University of Science and Technology.  Hussian students, who graduate with an associate degree in specialized technology concentrating in either digital media, graphic design or visual communications, can now complete a bachelor's and even a master's at Harrisburg in science and technology fields including interactive media management, new media design and production.
 
Besides the advanced degree, Hussian students and alumni will be able to gain exposure to more sophisticated technology and business-oriented marketing at Harrisburg, says Morgan, "so they are better able to market themselves as artists, developers and entrepreneurs."
 
"This agreement brings Harrisburg University to Philadelphia and it is a natural fit for both institutions," added Eric Darr, Harrisburg's interim president in a statement. "The curriculum at both Hussian and Harrisburg University is career focused where students gain practical experience from the outset. The depth of program offerings and the breadth of experiences that we each offer is structured to prepare students for careers and life after graduation."
 
Source: Melissa Morgan, Hussian School of Art
Writer: Elise Vider

With images still fresh of seawater lapping at Lower Manhattan and a destroyed Jersey Shore, the timing seems imperative for the launch last month of an $11.9 million, international research effort on climate change, centered at Penn State.
 
Klaus Keller, a Penn State professor who heads the new Sustainable Climate Risk Management initiative (SCRiM)  says the funding from the National Science Foundation will support a five-year project to study the science, economics and ethics of various approaches to managing climate change.
 
Proposed strategies all have profound implications, he says. For example, adaptation could involve making New York City more resilient with massive infrastructure investments, mitigation could involve slowing carbon dioxide emissions with worldwide restrictions on fossil fuels, and geoengineering could involve massive interventions such as removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or causing the Earth to absorb less solar radiation.
 
Each is subject to unintended consequences and considerable trade-offs. "Proposed approaches to the management of climate-related risks through adaptation, mitigation, and geoengineering differ in their distributions of costs and benefits, and their vulnerability to deep uncertainties,” Keller says.
 
In recognition of the complex nature of its task, SCRiM is a collaboration of 19 universities and five research institutions in six nations, transcending traditional boundaries among academic disciplines as well as among academia, industry, government and non-governmental organizations. "This is not just ivory tower research," says Keller.
 
To support the work at Penn State, SCRiM has five or more highly skilled positions to fill, including postdoctoral researchers, graduate research assistantships and a scientific programmer.
 
Source: Klaus Keller, Sustainable Climate Risk Management, Penn State
Writer: Elise Vider

With a new distributor, a critical certification and a partnership with a well-established manufacturer, the wheels are greased for success for an environmentally friendly lubricant manufactured in Kane.
 
Sales of BRL Solutions' TrickShot are growing fast, says co-founder Dan Howard. NSF International, which writes standards for food, water and consumer goods, recently approved TrickShot for use in food and beverage processing areas. The certification "just took us to another level," says Howard, who believes it has potential to double sales.
 
BRL has also recently lined up Staar Lubricants, a subsidiary of Staar Distributing in DuBois, to serve as its master distributor and sales force. And in a serendipitous meeting at a recent event hosted by Ben Franklin Technology Partners/CNP, which invested $160,000 in BRL this year, BRL forged a partnership with TM Fluid Engineering, a long-established Erie manufacturer. "We've found that in humid environments the metal closure components  in our vessels will occasionally need to be cleaned and lubricated to maintain top performance, " says TM President Carl Steiner. "Customer service has always been a top priority. So, now with every order we ship, we include a can of TrickShot."
 
Unlike most commercial lubricants, TrickShot is made with soybean oil and contains no petroleum distillates, making it non-flammable, non-toxic and non-smelly.
 
For now, the aerosol lubricant is BRL's only product. Established in 2010, the company employs three – two sales associates will be going to Staar – but Howard expects to add up to six new jobs at the plant in the next 12 to 18 months.
 
Source: Dan Howard, BRL Solutions
Writer: Elise Vider

Anyone whose attempted vegetarianism knows eating more plants can mean endless hours in the kitchen. There are special groceries and lengthy chopping sessions, not to mention the new-recipe-learning-curve. Conshohocken-based Real Food Works is launching a weekly subscription meal service offering fresh, local, plant-based entres with vegitarian and ominvor options. They are currently hiring a web engineer and expect to hire more positions early next year.

“With a plant-based diet you’re working pretty much from scratch,” Mike Krupit, co-found of Real Food Works and dietary convert, explains. “On Sunday I would spend a good four or five hours in the kitchen cooking four or five days’ worth of meals for myself. You’re not dealing with complex ingredients, but in order to get something to taste good and have a variety of ingredients requires a whole bunch of time.” 

At heart, Real Food Works is a tech business that connects customers to local chefs. Early in the week, when kitchens are staffed but don’t get many customers, the company commissions meals that meet stringent nutritional requirements. They currently matches customers with kitchens at Trattoria Totaro, Miss Rachel's Pantry, Eat Your Heart Out Edibles, Turnersville, Su Tao Cafe, Earth Elements, Stella Blu, Gypsy Saloon, and Wine Thief.

As Krupit explains, responsible eating has been chalked up to personal education. Someone looking to change their diet might read a book, follow a website, or join a meetup group. Real Food Works aims to give national traction to the plant-based movement by selling it. Krupit, and his cofounder, Lucinda Duncalfe, are experienced tech entreprenures and avid plant eaters, who say changing their diet changed their lives.They expect that other professionals will embrace the opportunity to make the switch without the hassle.

“When you look at national subscription meal plans, their food sucks,”  Krupit says. “We provide high-quality food that’s fresh and we came up with a model that can grow across the country.” 

Source: Mike Krupit, Real Food Works
Writer: Dana Henry

In a new race to the moon , a young Pittsburgh firm has completed a prototype robot to prospect for ice at the lunar poles. Astrobotic Technology unveiled its Polaris moon rover last month for delivery to NASA next summer.
 
Propelling Astrobotic's work, says the company's Jason Calaiaro, is the Google Lunar X PRIZE, an international competition offering $30 million to the first privately-funded team to safely land a robot on the moon that can travel 500 meters and send back video, images and data. (There are 26 teams competing worldwide, and Pennsylvania has two: Astrobotic and the Penn State Lunar Lion Team.)
 
Such a robot could cost as much as $100 million to produce, says Calaiaro, so realizing a business model that supports the research and development is essential, and "not just because it's a cool thing to do. Though it's an incredibly cool thing to do."
 
So Astrobotic has won $3.6 million in nine lunar contracts from NASA since 2008, when it spun off from Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute. The young company currently employs six and is adding four new positions, with another two likely in the first quarter of 2013.
 
Equally significant, as of January 1, Astrobotic is moving off the CMU campus to its own 5,000-square-foot space. "We can build a rover to put on the moon in that space," says Calaiaro. "Its really a tremendous step to be able to set up a sustainable enterprise like this with the lofty goal of landing on the moon." 

Source: Jason Calaiaro, Astrobotic
Writer: Elise Vider