Duquesne Spin-off Invited to Prestigious AlphaLab Demo Day

As founder of the Duquesne University spin-off Juola & Associates, Dr. Patrick Juola was one of six new entrepreneurs selected to present his company at the popular AlphaLab Demo Day.

An overflow crowd from the local and out-of-town investment communities, universities, foundations, government, community partners and media attended the Oct. 23 event in the New Hazlett Theater on Pittsburgh’s North Side. Besides the six startups, nine companies supported and mentored by AlphaLab also presented.

Juola, associate professor of computer science and mathematics, explained his startup’s work in computer security and computer-use behavior. “The event was a great opportunity to reach out to the Pittsburgh technical and business communities,” Juola said. “In partnership with Duquesne, Juola & Associates has developed some spectacular technology that we hope to put to use in the local community.”

Juola & Associates’ data-gathering tool determines demographic and psychological information about a consumer based solely upon their written words—an intriguing marketing tool for 100,000 e-retailers whose sites allow customers to make comments.

Juola’s technology was boosted earlier this year by a significant subcontract from the Defense Advanced Research Project Funding Agency to work on cyber security issues. His authorship verification program received worldwide attention when it unmasked Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling writing under a pen name and more recently, has suggested that Edgar Allan Poe’s first poems were published under his brother’s name.

Research such as Juola’s has led to more startups with campus ties being invited to these highly regarded technology showcases, said Dr. Alan W. Seadler, associate provost for research and technology. “AlphaLab is a program of Innovation Works, and Innovation Works is one of the state’s biggest startup support systems,” said Seadler. “This type of event introduces startups to potential investors, so Demo Day and University Preview invitations have great value for new companies. In a city with a reputation for tech startups, Duquesne is well represented.”

This spring, bioethics doctoral student Kathy Gennusco, CEO of the bioethics startup ICB, showcased EthAssist, software that provides ethics training. This cycle, DU alumnus Joe Esposito, co-founder of Spacefinity, which matches people who need to store their stuff with “spacelords” and DU alumni Steve Cotter and Amanda Kroft with Collected, a company that provides related content while clients prepare documents and presentations, gave Demo Day presentations. Collected continues to interact with Duquesne, seeking interns and hosting students from an entrepreneurship class to discuss startup experiences.

“Across our 10 schools, and with the start of our biomedical engineering program next fall, I’m sure more Duquesne students will be interested in starting their own businesses,” Seadler said. ”As we gather momentum for student and faculty startups, we’ll contribute even more to the economic development of the region.”