Ben Franklin Technology Partners Invests $2M In 7 Philadelphia-Area Startups, Plans New $25M Fund
Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania is investing $2 million in Philadelphia-area tech and health care startups before setting its sights on a new late-stage fund with a goal of raising at least $25 million — a welcome commitment for local startups as venture capital funding dries up.
The investments were made in two groups, with $1.3 million going to five tech startups and $700,000 doled out to two health care startups.
The seven companies to receive investments from Ben Franklin Technology Partners are:
- Accencio, a Philadelphia intellectual property startup;
- GoWell, a Narberth firm that aims to make the process of enrolling in health care benefits more efficient;
- Luxtech, a Philadelphia designer and manufacturer of LED light engines;
- PolicyMap, a Philadelphia startup that translates datasets into maps;
- Red Vector, a Chesterbrook intelligence platform that allows institutions to identify and manage insider risks and threats;
- AnaOno, a Philadelphia clothing startup that makes apparel for breast cancer survivors;
- ChromaTan, a Philadelphia startup creating infrastructure to support cell and gene therapy and looking to lower the cost of operation for companies in the space.
The seven companies are in widely varied spaces but are looking to disrupt their respective industries. Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania CEO Scott Nissenbaum highlighted ChromaTan as a startup that has the potential to have a great impact on cell and gene therapies, an industry that will only continue its growth trajectory in Philadelphia.
By investing in such companies, Ben Franklin Technology Partners is looking to get in on the ground floor. “We want to invest in the picks and shovels,” Nissenbaum said. “The infrastructure in the market isn’t fully built out yet. We have the solutions but a lot of times the infrastructure to support it is the most expensive part. These are the picks and shovels that allow them to do the work.”
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