Penn State Professor Turns 26 Years of Research Into Startup

A Penn State professor just proved that patience and persistence can transform scientific research into a thriving business, even when you never planned to become an entrepreneur.

David Huff spent 26 years breeding the perfect grass for golf courses. As a turfgrass genetics professor, he wanted to solve a problem that had plagued the golf industry for decades: finding quality seeds for Poa annua, or annual bluegrass, which can tolerate extremely low mowing heights.

Golf courses either had to use lower-quality grass species or wait 50 to 100 years for the right bluegrass to naturally evolve from weeds. Huff decided to create a better solution.

The first 13 years of research went smoothly. Huff collected seeds from across the U.S. and Europe and bred 10 beautiful varieties with the dwarf traits golf courses needed. But when he tried producing seeds from those strains, they reverted to weedy grasses and lost their valuable characteristics.

It took another 13 years and three graduate students to figure out why this happened and how to preserve the dwarf traits through seed production. By the time Huff had seeds ready for testing, he'd invested more than two decades into the project.

After successful beta tests on five golf courses across the country, Huff planned to license his discovery to a seed company like he'd done with other grass varieties. But the seed production technology was too complex and novel to hand off.

That's when Penn State's Office of Technology Transfer suggested something unexpected: start your own company. Huff initially worried about conflicts of interest, but Penn State had support systems ready to help him navigate the process.

He connected with the Penn State Small Business Development Center, Ben Franklin Technology Partners, and business consultant Martin Brill, who became a long-term mentor. Huff won the People's Choice Award at the Ben Franklin Big Idea Contest and started attending entrepreneurial events around campus.

"Starting a new company like this was very scary," Huff said. "I wasn't planning on it, and I haven't been trained for it." But the encouragement from mentors and fellow entrepreneurs kept him moving forward.

The Ripple Effect

Huff launched PennPoa in 2024 and sold out his entire first year of crop immediately. He's already received orders extending through 2027. Golf courses across the country can now access high-quality bluegrass seeds in months instead of waiting a century for nature to do the work.

The Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences provided additional support through research grants and leased land for seed production. Huff recently joined the Invent Penn State Startup Leadership Network Board of Advisors program to help guide his growing business.

His success story is inspiring other Penn State researchers to consider how their work might reach beyond the lab and into the marketplace.

Twenty-six years of patient research just became a thriving business that's transforming an entire industry, one golf course at a time.