Nittany Angels Homepage

Penn State's Angel Investment Network

Invest in Penn State's Next Big Idea

Nittany Angels connects accredited investors with Penn State-affiliated startups — providing capital, guidance, and community to help University-born innovations reach their full potential.
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$1.44 Billion
2024-2025 Research Expenditures​
2000+
Industry Partnerships in the last decade.
Top 25
Penn State Ranked Among Top U.S. Research Universities

A University-Affiliated Angel Investment Network

Nittany Angels is Penn State’s official angel investment network — a curated community of accredited investors who believe in the power of University-driven innovation. Members gain access to early-stage equity investment opportunities in high-growth companies founded by Penn State alumni, faculty, students, and other University affiliates.

Membership is open to individuals who share a meaningful connection to Penn State and meet accredited investor qualifications. Whether you’re a seasoned investor or just beginning to explore early-stage deals, Nittany Angels offers the structure, expertise, and community to invest with confidence.

Penn State affiliated companies benefit from access to capital, strategic guidance, and a powerful alumni network. The University benefits when its intellectual property is commercialized and its founders succeed.

Photo of the Nittany Lion Shrine in Spring at the University Park Campus

Why Nittany Angels Exists

Penn State has long been a source of transformative research and entrepreneurial energy. Nittany Angels was created to build a structured bridge between that innovation and the capital it needs to grow — while delivering compelling investment opportunities to members who are proud to put their resources behind Penn State-born ideas.
Capital Access
Support Penn State-affiliated high-growth companies with funding, strategic guidance, and valuable connections.
Investment Returns
Provide members with potentially above-market private investment opportunities in curated, early-stage deals.
IP Commercialization
Accelerate the translation of Penn State intellectual property from the lab into the marketplace.
Community Building
Expand the Penn State innovation ecosystem by connecting founders, investors, and advisors who share a common mission.

Member Criteria

Membership in Nittany Angels comes with a clear set of expectations and meaningful advantages. Below you’ll find answers to common questions about affiliation, accreditation, dues, and how we operate.
Affiliation

The Nittany Angels Network is designed to strengthen the success of Penn State and its alumni community. For this reason, membership is open to individuals with a meaningful affiliation to Penn State, including alumni, faculty, staff, students, donors, and close family members of those groups.

All members must also meet accredited investor requirements in accordance with SEC guidelines.

All members of Nittany Angels must be accredited investors as defined by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Annual membership dues are $1,855 and are billed upon joining the Nittany Angels Network. On a recurring basis, dues are billed annually and are payable each January for the calendar year.

Nittany Angels is built on active participation and shared commitment. Members are expected to participate Nittany Angels pitch events (7-10 planned each year), contribute to screening and due diligence efforts, and thoughtfully build their individual investment portfolios.

When appropriate, members may also serve as mentors, advisors, or board members to Nittany Angels portfolio companies, offering their experience and guidance to help Penn State-affiliated founders succeed.

Nittany Angels pitch events will be held in person at University Park, and in hybrid formats to support broad participation. While virtual access is available, we encourage members to join us on campus whenever their schedules allow.
Nittany Angels does not support solicitation. To maintain focus on our investment mission, member communications should not include sales outreach, charitable fundraising requests, or unrelated promotional activity. Network communications are solely managed by the Nittany Angels Leadership team.

Member Benefit Package

  • Access to curated deal flow of early-stage equity investment opportunities in Penn State-affiliated companies
  • Membership open to individuals, trusts, LLCs, or entities wholly owned by accredited investors
  • Collaborative investment assessment — leverage the expertise of members across diverse industries and domains
  • Experienced leadership to guide investment structure, terms, and pricing
  • Administrative support with tax preparation and portfolio management
  • Network access — work alongside alumni with complementary backgrounds and shared investment interests
  • Potential for above-market financial returns (with commensurate early-stage risk)
  • Member onboarding and ongoing investment education
  • A meaningful, differentiated way to support Penn State and its innovation mission

Investment Opportunities

Company Affiliation
Penn State-affiliated companies — broadly defined to include alumni founders, faculty spinouts, and University-licensed technology.
Stage
Primary focus on early-stage investments (Series Seed or Series A), with opportunistic exceptions.
Sectors
Sector-agnostic — we evaluate companies across industries based on merit, market opportunity, and team.
What We Look For
Companies addressing a clear, sizable problem — with technology-enabled, scalable solutions, and demonstrated market validation (revenue, repeat customers)

Nittany Angels Leadership

photo of Joe Herbst
Joe Herbst
Executive Director

Joe Herbst is the Executive Director of Nittany Angels, Penn State’s early-stage investor network connecting Penn State-affiliated startups with capital and experienced investors.

He brings more than 30 years of leadership in finance and entrepreneurship, including 12 years in commercial lending and multiple roles as CFO for early-stage technology companies spanning manufacturing, software, financial services, e-commerce, digital media, and consumer products.

An active angel investor since 2004, Herbst previously served as Managing Partner of Robin Hood Ventures, one of Philadelphia’s longest-standing angel groups. He also served eight years on the board of the Penn State Research Foundation, including as chair.

Herbst holds a finance degree from Penn State’s Smeal College of Business.

photo of Kunci Szentes
Kunci Szentes
Program Director

Kunci Szentes is Program Director of Nittany Angels, managing operations, fostering a collaborative investor community, and curating high-impact dealflow.

Prior to joining Penn State, she spent eight years at the University of Notre Dame’s IDEA Center, helping build its venture and investor network. As Fund Manager and Head of Investor Relations, she expanded the investor community and helped secure more than $3 million in funding for portfolio companies. She also served as an investor in the Notre Dame Bridge Fund, leading pre-seed investments and supporting companies as a board observer.

Kunci holds an MSc in Technology Entrepreneurship from the University of Notre Dame and a BSc in Molecular Bionics Engineering from Pázmány Péter Catholic University (Hungary).

Ready to Invest in Penn State Innovation?

Nittany Angels membership brings together accredited investors who share a commitment to Penn State and a belief in the transformative power of early-stage investing.

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