Ben Franklin Announces Fintech Cohort As Part of VilCap Communities Initiative

Environmental and social impact challenges are represented among the companies
participating in the Navy Yard-based program

April 19, 2017 (Philadelphia, PA)—Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (“Ben Franklin”) is proud to announce the eight companies participating in its first Fintech Accelerator program run as part of VilCap Communities, an initiative of D.C.-based venture capital firm Village Capital.

Combined with Ben Franklin’s full suite of business services and the mentorship of its community of best-in-class business leaders, the Ben Franklin Fintech Accelerator will employ Village Capital’s venture investment readiness curriculum. Across its nine indicators of investment readiness, the program’s unique peer-selected investment model empowers entrepreneurs to evaluate the progress of each other’s early-stage businesses throughout the 12-week program.

The Ben Franklin program will kick off on April 24, including fintech concepts as diverse as point-of-sale solutions for healthcare payments, to administration of humanitarian aid, to management of college tuitions. Four of the eight companies are using fintech-based approaches to address environmental and social challenges.

Equally diverse within the financial services spectrum—from wealth management and investment banking to healthcare and retail— the program’s mentors and advisors will bring world class perspectives of success to support these companies, with representation from organizations including Vanguard, SEI, Wells Fargo, Safeguard Scientifics, Gabriel Investments, InstaMed and many more.

The Ben Franklin Fintech Accelerator will include:

Asset-Map: a platform that creates interactive visuals blending design thinking and personal finance to deepen client conversation.

Bright Idea Energy: a service that pays for and installs LEDs for free, and shares the savings with its partners.

College Affordability: producers of EFC PLUS; software that helps families and financial advisors navigate the various college financial decisions from saving for college to student loan repayment.

Factury: a trading and settlement network with applications for the secondary loan market, connecting lenders with institutional investors.

FinPay: a platform to provide patients with financing solutions at point-of-care so they are able to afford the healthcare they need, and deliver a 5-Star patient financial experience that mirrors the high quality clinical care they receive from their doctor.

FixList: a real estate data analysis company that offers tools and services to help lenders, developers, and community groups make smart, impactful investments in the built environment.

NeedsList: a platform that helps individuals find effective ways to meet refugee needs from anywhere in the world, while supporting local economies and grassroots innovation.

PeopleJoy: a new employee benefit program that attracts and keeps millennial talent using student loan repayment assistance; for CEOs and business leaders struggling to address a talent shortage.

“With the blend of both impact-focused and transaction-based fintech concepts, it’s an impressive range of companies, and a great indicator of the depth of opportunity in our region,” said Ben Franklin President and CEO RoseAnn B. Rosenthal. “We’re excited to bring our partners at Village Capital and our community of esteemed advisors together to help these companies grow here.”

“The ideas that will change our world are often right under our nose,” said Village Capital CEO Ross Baird. “Ben Franklin Technology Partners knows that even before the creation of the U.S. Mint, when Ben Franklin did much of the R&D on our country’s first coins, innovating in financial services has been in Philadelphia’s DNA. Today, we’re excited to work with Ben Franklin Technology Partners to find the best entrepreneurs who can improve the financial health of people everywhere, connect them with big institutions that can help them scale, and invest in them through an inclusive peer review model that gives every entrepreneur a shot.”

“The Ben Franklin team has a tremendous track record for success in supporting the growth of early-stage companies in the Philadelphia area,” said Vanguard principal Warren Pennington, one of the Fintech Accelerator’s advisors. “Combining the impressive variety of expert leadership from the Ben Franklin community with the Village Capital peer review model feels like natural match for the benefit of these companies and the region.”

About Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania
Ben Franklin is the most active early stage capital provider for the region’s technology sectors. BenFranklin combines best practices of venture capital with a public-spirited purpose: leading the region’s technology community to new heights, creating jobs and changing lives for the better. Ben Franklin is an initiative of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and is funded by the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority.
To learn more, go to www.sep.benfranklin.org. You can also connect with Ben Franklin on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

About Village Capital
Village Capital is a global venture capital firm that discovers, develops, and invests in entrepreneurs solving real-world problems. Since 2009 we have invested over 70 ventures across 15 countries and supported hundreds more through our collaborative investment-readiness programs. Village Capital graduates have leveraged initial capital 25:1, created over 10,000 jobs, and served over 6 million customers. For more information, visit www.vilcap.com and follow @villagecapital on Twitter.

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