A Lehigh University graduate’s Bethlehem-based startup has struck a deal with Target to sell its paintballs.

Mezzimatic CEO Briana Gardell invented Goblies, the colorful, throwable paintballs that will now be sold at Target stores, according to a news release. Gardell invented them while getting her master’s degree in technical entrepreneurship from Lehigh.

Gardell came up with the idea while practicing “blow molding,” the process by which balloons are made. She came up with the idea while enrolled in the Lehigh class “Making It” in 2015. She reverse-engineered the process by pouring melted latex into a mold, which created a yolk-like substance. The idea took off from there.

Through testing and working along the way with Bethlehem organizations like SoBeCoWorks and the Partnership for Innovation branch of the Bethlehem Economic Development Corporation, the easily washable, biodegradable Goblies have found their way to Target shelves.

“It is so exciting to have Goblies products in Target” Gardell said in the release. “We’re in stores just in time for Easter, so hopefully we’ll be another Bethlehem-based product that will be in Easter baskets — just like the iconic Peeps.”

Goblies can be purchased in Target stores or on the retailer’s website.

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Connor Lagore may be reached at clagore@njadvancemedia.com.