WORCESTER – Tuning into Ellen DeGeneres’s weekly gameshow, Game of Games on NBC, home viewers can use an app on their phones to interact with the show. During the episode, users are able to unlock prizes that jump from the television screen into their phones. 

This special feature from the app is called Game of Games Play Along Live! This effective use of augmented reality technology was partly created by local software development company, Petricore, who run their business at 80 Williams Street. Petricore worked with HitPoint Studios, a Los Angeles based company, to provide Ellen’s app with development support.

All through the show, Ellen places various gifts on the screen. Viewers must then point their phone’s camera at the screen and tap the box to collect a clue. They then submit an answer to the clue for a chance to win the prize. 

“We have increased the caliber of some of the projects that we do,” said Ryan Canuel, chief operating officer of Petricore. “We worked on an Ellen DeGeneres game and the Ellen game did quite well.”

Owning and operating a successful gaming company was once Canuel’s dream as a Becker College senior. Since Petricore’s humble beginnings, the company has grown from a meek startup business to a game development success story. For the Ellen app, more than 900,000 app users tune in and interact with the Ellen show. “A game that we work on for a client that has been played by billions of people and makes us a significant amount of money feels good,” Canuel said.

However, this success may still be in the dream stages if it were not for a program called StartUp Worcester sponsored by the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. Canuel credits this initiative by the Chamber, which started in 2016, as the major reason for getting Petricore off the ground. The goal of StartUp Worcester is to help nurture new businesses started by Worcester area college graduates. StartUp Worcester encourages them to grow their business within the city where they have access to everything they need to succeed. The Chamber has recently announced twelve new companies selected to participate in the 2021-2022 cohort of StartUp Worcester. 

“Access to a well-educated and trained workforce always ranks near the top of the list when companies are deciding where to locate and grow,” Timothy Murray, president and CEO of the Chamber, said about the program at its inception. “We want to retain these bright young entrepreneurs and encourage them to grow their business here – where they have access to everything they need to succeed.”

This year’s StartUp Worcester winners are:

  • A Sneakerhead’s Paradise – A simple online concierge dashboard that gives customers access to sneakers that fit their pricing and wishlist preferences through a subscription-based format. They operate at the intersection of retail and resell sneakers in the secondary sneaker market.
  • Barn Owl Technologies – Chemical-free agricultural pest control through alternative solutions powered by IoT.
  • Cat in the Box LLC – Designs and manufactures whimsical cardboard box playhouses for cats.
  • Munq LLC – A creative agency that provides three core services: brand strategy and identity, videography, and web development.
  • Penny Wise PPE Protection – Manufacturers storage bags for medical PPE, particularly masks, with germicidal copper linings that prevent cross-contamination.
  • Reach – A social media company aimed at getting users of the platform to engage with their environment by utilizing a location-based interactive map that directs users towards fun, in-person things to do and people to meet. 
  • Routi – An all-in-one cloud-based communication software for government agencies to communicate between themselves and with the public. Routi allows government agencies, especially in the business of public safety, to update other agencies and the public in real time using interactive mapping services.
  • Spicy Water Distillery – A craft spirits distillery and tasting room, with products all created from scratch on the premises, utilizing locally grown products such as corn.
  • Sympal, Inc. – An orthodontic solution company that designs and manufactures clear tooth aligner systems called SymTray that allow for non-surgically remodeling bone structure in the mouth. Also, a developer of a mobile tooth tracking app, SymTrack, with 3D modeling that cuts down on dental visits. “The new braces.”
  • TaqHawk, Inc. – A community-based online resale marketplace for buying and selling used items in certain communities such as apartment complexes, universities, or clubs. They charge a commission on all resale transactions and empower community authorities to monetize their member networks.
  • Urban Spice World LLC – Ready-to-cook meal kits shipped to your door with instructions. The meals center around Indian cuisine.
  • X Therapeutics, Inc. – A startup biotech company at the pre-seed stage developing novel antivirals.

“The Chamber and our program partners are so excited to see such innovative and creative start-up business concepts in this next cohort,” said the Chamber’s Economic Development and Business Recruitment Associate David Sullivan, who supervises the StartUp Worcester program. “The start-up ecosystem in Central Massachusetts is a strong one, and the StartUp Worcester program will continue to help grow, develop, and cultivate that successful climate.”

The twelve companies selected receive full-year memberships to all three organizations (Worcester Chamber, Venture Forum, and WorcLab) effective September 1, 2021, through August 31, 2022. Participants also have access to mentors from SCORE, a service of the Small Business Administration (SBA), through which they can receive entrepreneurial support, guidance, and mentorship. Each StartUp Worcester membership awarded is valued at more than $14,000. This year-long program is generously sponsored by Berkshire Bank, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Central Mass., and Pineapple Girl Productions.

Petricore was the first true success story from StartUp Worcester. Canuel was still just a Becker College senior living in the school dorms on Fruit Street when he heard the news StartUp Worcester accepted Petricore into the program. 

“I remember when we got the acceptance,” Canuel said. “We were all in the same dorm building together, but on different floors. I was on the first floor and I ran as fast as I could to the second floor, because everyone else was up there. I could not wait to tell everyone. I yelled, ‘We got in!’ For us, it was a really nice validation. Like, okay, someone wants us and a yes is better than a no.”

StartUp Worcester helped get Petricore on the fast track to success. Over the last six years, Petricore has been involved with programming several successful games, including Play to Win Casino, which currently holds a 4.4-star rating from more than 22,000 reviewers on Google Play; Cyberchase Fractions Quest, a math game based on the hit PBS show, Cyberchase, where players travel across worlds featured in the television show by solving various math problems; and even an interactive Star Trek Interactive Tribble toy, where users can name the tribble, change its moods and sounds, and interact with other tribbles. 

Without StartUp Worcester’s initial help, these achievements may still be only a dream. “It really would have been difficult if we hadn’t taken part in StartUp Worcester. Just in terms of my connections locally would have been almost nothing,” Canuel said. “I would not have met a lot of powerful figures in the area who have helped us out a lot.”

Each StartUp Worcester membership awarded is valued at over $14,000, but the access to resources, mentors, network and publicity are invaluable to help companies get to the next level.

Canuel said Murray was a key figure from the beginning. “He helped me out a ton. Come on, he’s the former Lieutenant Governor. You don’t easily get a meeting with someone like that and so I was able to meet with him numerous times because of the program. Meeting people like him really helped us get our foot in the door. I think we would have had a really difficult time if we had not gotten into StartUp Worcester.”

The late Joseph Vignaly (1960-2019), chairman of The Venture Forum in Worcester, was a huge help for the young Petricore upstarts. “Joe sadly passed away a few years ago, but he was a big help for us early on,” Canuel said. “He was just someone who reached out and brought me to things. He brought me to an investment group he was a part of. I learned a lot and he was heavily involved with StartUp Worcester. He was involved with a lot of stuff and brought me to a lot of different events. He helped me get in touch with people within the city. His help was vital.”

StartUp Worcester will start recruiting potential start-up companies next spring. There is no charge for applications. Providing support for this initiative along with the Chamber is Venture Forum, a not-for-profit community supporting all types of startup companies, including technological entrepreneurs, and WorcLab, a program dedicated to developing new businesses in Worcester. All three groups provide assistance as well as space for the region’s twelve young entrepreneurs picked to be part of StartUp Worcester.

Along with Petricore, some of the other previous companies include; Slydde, which was acquired by New York company Hooch; Aaron Birt, who is one of 2017 Forbes 30 under 30; and HydroGlyde Coatings has received more than $500k in funding from the Gates Foundation, NIH and the MA Life Sciences Center. Also, The Learning Hub was named HulaFrog’s most loved STEM program in 2017, and its founder, Giselle Rivera-Flores, was named one of the Wall Street Journal’s 40 Under 40 in 2017.

Canuel has nothing but fond memories of his experience with the program.

“We had all these publications that wrote stories about us,” he said. “More people knew about us and it kind of grew from there to where we are now. We had all these articles about us winning this competition. They knew what we were working on and about our new games.”

As for Petricore’s future, Canuel said he looks to continue to grow. “For us, the goal is to slowly grow the company,” he said. “And just where we’re going, we want to be bigger than we are.”

As for the new cohorts, orientation began September 1 at WorcLab, located at 44 Portland St. on the 4th floor. The winning companies will be introduced to the equipment and software available to them in the co-working incubator space. A private introductory reception will be held on September 21 from 4 – 6 p.m. at WorcLab. Additional information about each winning company will be available at this free event which members of the media are welcome to attend.

Canuel had some added helpful advice to the new cohorts. “I think that running a business is really, really difficult,” he said. “When I was struggling with any problem or I just wasn’t feeling confident in the business or I was feeling deflated, I knew I could always reach out to someone and they could help. So, that’s always the advice I give to young entrepreneurs. You don’t need to carry it alone. If you are feeling down about the business, reach out to someone and get some help. Rely on others. That’s what I found to be really successful. Know when it’s time to reach out for help. Get to know people, mentors, that you can turn to.

“I have seen a few startups where I would talk to someone and I know things aren’t great for their business and they’ll just put on that (façade),” he said. “They say, ‘we’re crushing our goals. We’re great! I’m hustlin!’ When you run a business and you’re an entrepreneur, there’s a sense that you need to project everything is going great. That you’re hitting all your metrics … I think sometimes you need to turn that off and just be honest with someone and say, ‘you know, I’m really struggling with this right now and we just do not have the clients or projects we need. We are losing money.’ There’s a time for boasting and there’s a time for being honest. Know when it’s time to seek help.”