Startups

Spore: solar powered battery charger wins Lean Startup Machine 3

The product is still just a prototype, without a complete 3D rendering yet, say the three Drexel University student founders.

The team of Drexel students behind Spore, a solar powered battery charger idea, was called this weekend the winner of the third local Lean Startup Machine, the national network of paid conferences that aim to teach efficient early-stage principles while building a business idea over a weekend.

“Our product allows consumers to power devices while not near an outlet, removing the stress of said device dying at presumably the worst time ever,” said Jason Browne, 22, a Drexel business and entrepreneurship student who first pitched the Spore idea to his two teammates. “While it is not a unique function, the value we add is by allowing each unit to be daisy chained to others, via USB port, in order to speed up the charging capacity.

“This allows users to easily scale up or down their systems to fit a wide range of applications with various power needs.

The product is still just a prototype, without a complete 3D rendering yet, said Browne, a native of Atlantic City who now lives in Powelton Village. The team is submitting to the Baiada Institute Concept Pitch Competition. The team joined Lean Startup through Baiada Institute recommendations, specifically Executive Director Mark Loschiavo for Browne.

The three team members:

  • Jason Browne, who organizes the IDEA student entrepreneurship team at Drexel, tries to keep up with the local tech scene, as a member of NextFab Studio and attending Cofounders Wanted among other meetups.
  • Mark Brandon, 23, who is president of the Drexel Robotics Club and a mechanical engineering student. He lives in University City, grew up in Audubon, N.J. and in June will start work at Sunoco.
  • Dylan Kenny, 22, is a Drexel University computer science student currently working at Lockheed Martin and a native of Tacony in Northeast Philadelphia.

The team won three prizes: one month of desk space at Center City incubator Seed Philly, a free email marketing account with AWeber and incubation time with VenturePact.

“Lean Startup Machine was a great way to network with individuals who have a common interest of using their innovative personality to better society through both software and hardware,” said Brandon.

Companies: Spor / Drexel University / Lean Startup Machine

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

The person charged in the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting had a ton of tech connections

From rejection to innovation: How I built a tool to beat AI hiring algorithms at their own game

Where are the country’s most vibrant tech and startup communities?

The looming TikTok ban doesn’t strike financial fear into the hearts of creators — it’s community they’re worried about

Technically Media