Ben News

Wistar, Ben Franklin Technology Partners teaming up to help develop startups

April 30, 2018

The Wistar Institute and Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania signed a Memorandum of Understanding Friday to work together to accelerate the advancement of early-stage life sciences start-ups coming out of Wistar. Under the partnership, Ben Franklin and Wistar will be developing a mentoring program around technology development for both translational scientists and entrepreneurs. […]

County’s ‘Venture Chesco’ Launches Fund to Encourage Development of Start-Ups

April 20, 2018

The Chester County Retirement Board partnered with Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania on April 17 to launch a Venture Chesco fund to encourage the development of start-ups. The initiative will invest up to $4 million in emerging and growing companies in Chester County. The funds consist of $2 million in County funds matched by $2 […]

Ben Franklin Will Oversee StartUp PHL’s Second Seed Fund, with $3.5M to Start

March 24, 2018

After 18 months searching for the right partner, the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation has tapped Ben Franklin Technology Partners to manage StartUp PHL’s second seed fund, which will set out to deploy up to $5 million to Philly-based companies. In the summer of 2016, news broke that First Round Capital, which managed the first investment […]

5 Ways Impact Investors and Philanthropists Can Innovate to Solve Philly’s Biggest Problems

March 22, 2018

Philadelphia needs more cash. Admidst crippling poverty and a proliferation of struggling nonprofits, the city ranks 43rd of the United States’ 50 biggest cities in charitable giving, with residents donating an average of only 2.5 percent of their income. Could the savior of our charitable woes be … capitalism? We’ve written extensively on the region’s impact investing scene, which employs venture capital to support […]

RoseAnn Rosenthal Presented with American Spirit Award at NVCA Leadership Gala

March 21, 2018

The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) today presented RoseAnn Rosenthal, President and CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, with the 2018 American Spirit Award at the 2018 NVCA Leadership Gala. Held at the Rosewood Sand Hill in Menlo Park, CA, the NVCA Leadership Gala celebrates the venture industry and honors those who […]

Assembling an Ecosystem with the Robotics, UAV, & Drone Community

February 28, 2018

The robotics, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and drone industries are growing in the region. Last year the Philadelphia Inquirer announced the city as the “robotics hub of the East Coast,” and while the announcement seemed gratuitous to some, evidence supports Philadelphia’s ability to become that hub and more. Local universities are a huge resource of […]

How Ben Franklin Technology Partners Invested $2.6M Last Quarter

February 20, 2018

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania invested $2.6 million in 13 regional startups last quarter, according to numbers the organization released Thursday. The state-backed seed fund and economic development nonprofit said it agreed to fund five IT companies, five digital health companies and three companies in the physical sciences last quarter. The bulk of the […]

LIA Diagnostics, Perpay and LeagueSide are up for PACT Enterprise Awards

February 14, 2018

The list of nominees is out for the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies’ 25th annual Enterprise Awards. We spy startups like LIA Diagnostics — which shone earlier this year on the global stage with its flushable pregnancy test — and LeagueSide — a realLIST ’18 honoree — on the list. The awards ceremony takes place May 9 at the Kimmel Center. Also on the nominee list: Clutch boss Ned […]

Can These Philly Startups Help Bridge the VC Diversity Gap?

February 5, 2018

In a hypothetical room filled with 100 venture-backed entrepreneurs, only four are women. That’s not only the real-life experience of women entrepreneurs: that’s what the statistics say of 2017, a year in which 98 percent of venture capital dollars went to companies founded by men. Attempting to level the vast gender gap and racial inequality […]

Mapping Investment in Female-Founded Companies Across 10 key US Metros

January 30, 2018

“When women want change, we get it.” That’s what Shelly Bell, founder and CEO of Washington, DC-based Black Girl Ventures, told PitchBook when we asked her if she thinks the tech industry is poised for a massive cultural shift. Over the course of several months, PitchBook set out to better contextualize our dataset on VC […]