CENTER VALLEY, Pa. (TIP): The Executive Committee of the Advisory Board of Lehigh Valley LaunchBox, a University- and community-sponsored business accelerator program, approved and announced $50,000 in micro grants to 13 projects for the program’s initial award cycle.

Indian Americans Vinod Jeyaretnam of Auxilium Medical Services and Aryaman Khandelwal of Get2Greater head two of the 13 projects who have been awarded the program’s initial award.

Applications were submitted over a four-month process. While not all requests were funded, the process yielded a diverse mix of Penn State students, faculty and Lehigh Valley community entrepreneurs comprising the final projects.

The Lehigh Valley LaunchBox 2015-16 portfolio consists of awards ranging from $1,000 to $8,000.

Get2Greater, app development that will allow nonprofit organizations to collect, organize, view and share data. | Team: Aryaman Khandelwal

Auxilium Medical Services, equipment for medical scribes to chart in real time alongside a physician. | Team: Vinod Jeyaretnam

Grant recipients cited a number of reasons for applying to Lehigh Valley LaunchBox and described the multiple ways this funding will benefit their companies and projects.

“Lehigh Valley LaunchBox has provided me both with an environment conducive to innovation and progressive thinking, as well as the means to pursue my passion and help people on a global level,” said Khandelwal, a Parkland High School sophomore and innovator of Get2Greater. “Having the support from a reputed university like Penn State will enable me to reach a greater number of people to tackle health issues in India and other such places in the future.”

The grant recipients will be able to utilize the co-working and meeting spaces of Lehigh Valley LaunchBox, located at Velocity, City Center Lehigh Valley’s startup business incubator in downtown Allentown. This space was donated by City Center.

Lehigh Valley LaunchBox was created as part of the Invent Penn State initiative. Invent Penn State is focused on leveraging Penn State’s research, knowledge and entrepreneurial spirit to bring to market needed ideas, products and services.

For more information about Lehigh Valley LaunchBox, visit lehighvalley.psu.edu/launchbox