Two Penn State Berks LaunchBox coworking companies are celebrating major milestones for their startups this week. Ocoa, formerly known as DN Organics, announced its official rebrand and two new product lines on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. In addition, CarToCamp is celebrating its first year in business this week by rolling out its “V2,” the next generation of its sleeping platform with improved design and storage.
Ocoa, formerly known as DN Organics, was co-founded by Dominican sisters and Penn State Berks business alumni Cory Dahlia Varona Corniel ’11 and Nicol Varona Cancelmo ’13. Their mission is to redefine how curly hair products are made and how they make women feel.
“We are excited to share the new brand and new products with our community,” shared Cancelmo. “Curly women deserve a luxury experience that helps them embrace who they are born to be.”
CarToCamp was co-founded by Penn State Berks mechanical engineering alumni Nathan Bonslaver ’22, Robert Miller ’19, and Kevin Gulick ’20, with the goal of making car camping more accessible with a lightweight sleeping platform.
“In February 2022, we sold our first sleeping platform. One year later, we’re celebrating our 50th sale,” said Bonslaver. The company is also a finalist in the Moosejaw Outdoor Accelerator. Moosejaw is a retailer specializing in outdoor recreation apparel and gear. The goal of this program is to support a diverse group of entrepreneurs in creating solutions for enjoying the outdoors with more comfort, safety, sustainability and inclusion.
Founders of both companies are all Penn State Berks graduates and active coworking companies of the Berks LaunchBox. Each has taken advantage of the wide variety of entrepreneurship resources at the Berks LaunchBox, including makerspace equipment for prototyping, pitch competitions, startup grants, professional business advisers, and coworking company networking events with other founders. Coworking companies receive free office space, internet, and coffee to help support them in their entrepreneurial journey.
Most recently, the Berks LaunchBox has supported Ocoa in preparation for multiple grants and accelerator programs. Corniel shared, “Lisa Weaver and Michelle Hnath at the Berks LaunchBox have both helped us so much with our grant, accelerators, and program applications such as digitalundivided by JP Morgan Chase, where we were awarded a $5,000 grant and four-week learning program. We are very grateful for LaunchBox support, since day one.”
Digitalundivided is a program serving Latina and Black women entrepreneurs to help take entrepreneurs from START to success.
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