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CEWA (Clean Energy and Water for All), a designer and manufacturer of point concentrator solar dishes, installed the structural base for its first commercial prototype atop Southside Bethlehem’s Flat Iron Building on Jan. 14.

By using existing materials in new ways and employing a unique design, CEWA’s toroid solar collector prototype can provide 32 kilowatts of energy with far greater efficiency than existing solar collectors. The dish represents a technological breakthrough because it provides thermal energy at lower prices than existing technologies, without government subsidies.

The solar dish is easy to install, operate, and maintain in a wide variety of applications and terrains, and can be aligned much faster than competing dishes. The product can be used for space or process heating, HVAC or electricity generation. It will be sold to industrial, institutional and utility customers.

“CEWA’s solar dish will dramatically accelerate the use of solar power throughout the world,” CEWA CEO J. Paul Eisenhuth said. “Our propriety technology allows solar energy to be cost-competitive with other energy options without government support.”

BFTP/NEP lights the way

CEWA’s growth wouldn’t have been possible without the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania. BFTP/NEP invested $146,000 in CEWA from its Alternative Energy Development Program in 2010, and another $49,000 through the U.S. Department of Energy in 2011. CEWA was recently approved for another $250,000 BFTP/NEP investment.

CEWA is a resident company of the Ben Franklin TechVentures incubator/post-incubator.

Ben Franklin clients Dynalene, Inc. (Whitehall) and Keystone Automation, Inc. (Duryea) are also involved in the project. Dynalene provided heat-transfer fluid and Keystone developed and fabricated the supporting structure for the solar dish.

“CEWA’s solar dish will dramatically accelerate the use of solar power throughout the world,” CEWA CEO J. Paul Eisenhuth said. “Our propriety technology allows solar energy to be cost-competitive with other energy options without government support.”

The company has also received support from Lehigh University, the Southside Bethlehem Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ), and Bethlehem’s Stone House Group. Lehigh University Professor Sudhakar Neti received two grants of $49,500 each that supported research on dish construction and its reflective surface that must perform despite exposure to the elements. These grants were provided under Lehigh’s Energy Research Seed and Commercialization Grant programs, funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, in collaboration with Lehigh Professor Wojciech Misiolek.

The KIZ funded CEWA with two $15,000 Technology Transfer Grants, testified in support of the project to local councils, supplied interns, and brokered the deal with the Stone House Group as the first prototype installation. The Stone House Group owns the Flat Iron Building, where the solar dish will be installed, and has provided substantial financial support to the installation.

“This is an outstanding example of cooperation among companies, economic and community development organizations, higher education, and government to grow local firms that address real market needs,” Eisenhuth said. “These partnerships will allow CEWA to pioneer a game-changing energy technology that will create sustainable jobs right here in Bethlehem.”

Moving forward

The installation of the prototype was only the beginning for CEWA. Next up are commercial sales, which are expected to begin early next year. From there, the sun – or at least the sky – is the limit.

The Ben Franklin i xchange begins at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 8, at Lehigh University’s Zoellner Arts Center in Bethlehem. Registration is $65 in advance and $75 at the door. In addition to Brody’s keynote address, i xchange will feature the Ben Franklin Innovation Awards ceremony and two networking receptions. More than 500 guests attended last year.

Brody, a highly respected entrepreneur, venture capitalist, best-selling author, and a two-time Emmy-nominated media visionary, has helped raise millions of dollars for start-ups and played a role in one of the largest internet IPOs in history. A highly sought-after speaker on business leadership, innovation and competitiveness, Brody combines a powerful delivery, razor-sharp wit and cutting-edge content in his presentations.

Brody’s presentation, This Monumental Shift – Exploring the Future of Behavior, Technology, and Innovation, will address how major technological and behavioral changes over the last 15 years have brought us to what is arguably the most reformative time in history. Human beings have changed monumentally. Brody will examine the evolution and division between our virtual and physical selves and how most businesses completely miss the virtual side. The result: major and costly failures in marketing, human resources and sales.

Online registration is available at www.nep.benfranklin.org beginning Feb. 15.

Peter Key, February 3, 2012

From the start of 2007 through the third quarter of last year, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania participated in 38 percent of the rounds of venture capital raised by companies in the five-county Philadelphia area that were classified as early-stage or seed/startup investments in the MoneyTree reports issued over the period.

That was the finding most emphasized by the state-funded economic-development organization in a report it issued today on its performance over the past five years. The report, “Performance Profile, 2007-2011: Five Years of Success,” is available on Ben Franklin’s website (http://www.sep.benfranklin.org).

“We were happy with that,” said RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, Ben Franklin’s president and CEO.

If Ben Franklin had compiled its report after the MoneyTree report for the fourth quarter came out, the figure would have been even higher. The organization said earlier this week that it took part in 61 percent of all the venture-capital rounds classified as early-stage or seed/startup investments by the MoneyTree report, which is put out by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association based on data from Thomson Reuters. Ben Franklin said it took part in 42 percent of all the investments listed in the MoneyTree in the quarter.

Ben Franklin compiled its report to show how well it achieved the objectives it laid out in its five-year plan for 2007-2011, “Six Objectives for the Next Five Years,” which also is available on its website.

Only two of the objectives were quantitative ­— and Ben Franklin attained both.

The organization said it would invest at least $25 million in the region’s early-stage technology and life-sciences companies. In its recent report, Ben Franklin said it invested $30 million in more than 200 companies. That’s what enabled it to participate in nearly 40 percent of the seed and early-stage rounds of venture capital raised by area businesses over the past five years.

The organization also said it would commit $5 million to seed an investment pool meant to attract money from private sources to make follow-on investments in its companies. It committed $5 million to Emerald Stage2 Ventures, which ultimately wound up raising $13.5 million.

None of the remaining objectives were quantitatively measurable, but the least subjective was to partner with the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp.    to create a natural laboratory for technology-commercialization efforts at The Navy Yard in South Philadelphia.

Ben Franklin moved to The Navy Yard and helped put together a consortium of universities, economic-development organizations and businesses led by Pennsylvania State University that was awarded $160 million in federal and state funds to turn The Navy Yard into a hub for the development and deployment of energy-efficient building technology called the Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster for Energy Efficient Buildings.

Ben Franklin says its investing has produced economic results. Over the past five years, companies in its portfolio have retained or created 1,400 high-tech jobs. They also have received $850 million in follow-on funding, an indication that other investors think the companies it invests in have a good chance of succeeding.

Robin Hood Ventures certainly does. Of the 25 companies currently in the portfolio of the Philadelphia-based angel group, 16 have received investments from Ben Franklin, according to its executive director, Ellen Weber.

“Ben Franklin is a critical part of the startup ecosystem,” Weber said in an email. “Not only have they participated in a large portion of the early-stage funding rounds in the area, but they also provide companies with access to angel and VC groups during and after the funding process. They work closely with the angel community to make opportunities known to us, and in many cases, share their due diligence which can speed up our funding process.”

Read more: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/print-edition/2012/02/03/ben-franklin-participated-in-38-of.html?page=all

Click here to download the NTI Annual Report (PDF)

John George, February 3, 2012

HORSHAM — Topaz Pharmaceuticals was quietly acquired late last year by Sanofi Pasteur a few months before a decision was expected on the Montgomery County biopharmaceutical company’s new drug application for its experimental head lice treatment.

That ruling from the Food and Drug Administration is scheduled to occur next week.

Sanofi Pasteur in Lyons, France, is the vaccines division of the Paris-based pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis.

The financial terms of the sale of Topaz to Sanofi Pasteur are being kept confidential.

“The acquisition of Topaz provided an immediate opportunity to grow our business,” said Kenneth P. Guito, a 20-year Sanofi executive who was installed as general manager of what is now operating as Sanofi-Topaz in Horsham.

Guito noted Sanofi Pasteur is the world’s largest vaccine maker and it has a “significant” presence in the pediatric- and adolescent-care markets. He described as a “great fit” Topaz’s experimental lice treatment, which is aimed at the estimated 6 million to 12 million people — mostly schoolchildren — affected by lice each year in the United States.

Lice are parasitic insects that can live in the hair and scalp of humans and easily spread from person-to-person through direct contact.

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to issue its decision Feb. 7 on Sanofi-Topaz’s new drug application for its topical cream containing ivermectin to treat head lice.

Guito said the company has engaged in ongoing conversations with the FDA about a couple of remaining issues with the application.

“We feel pretty positive about the state of the review at this point,” he said.

Topaz was founded in 2005 by former Merck & Co. Inc. executives Nicholas Spring and Donald P. Beeman to develop a lice treatment derived from a naturally occurring soil organism.

Its investors included venture capital firms Aisling Capital and Fidelity Biosciences, which led Topaz’s $20 million series A financing in 2007.

The company’s topical cream is a reformulation of ivermectin, an existing product, now off-patent, administered as a pill or an injection to combat parasites in livestock and in humans.

The ivermectin cream was developed as an alternative to existing prescription drugs for lice that work on the insect’s nervous system and cause them to become paralyzed. The use of those products, according to Topaz officials, are limited because of safety, efficacy and convenience issues and some carry side effects such as skin irritation.

Topaz’s cream kills the lice by impeding their ability to breathe. The invermectin binds selectively to certain ion channels associated with breathing that are present in invertebrate nerve and muscle cells, but not present in mammals.

Spring, the company’s first CEO and board member prior to the Sanofi-Pasteur deal, confirmed the company was sold in November. He too declined to comment on the purchase price, but said the sale resulted in “very significant returns for all of the investors.”

Read More: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/print-edition/2012/02/03/topaz-bought-by-sanofi-unit-for-lice.html?page=all

 Ben Franklin’s quote very aptly describes this year at the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

 Passion is what makes our work happen. We seek passion in the management teams of prospective clients. We exhibited passion in responding to pressing regional economic development needs by finding a way to expand the Ben Franklin TechVentures business incubator despite severe cuts to our budget. But the key to harnessing the incredible power of passion is to temper it. A modicum of real-world prudence provides balance and must be integrated into planning and implementation. All of us must “let reason hold the reins.”

Click the image above to download a PDF of the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern PA 2011 Annual Report

The Ben Franklin Technology Partners significantly increases the success rate of the highest-potential early-stage technology companies. We provide start-ups with access to seed capital, business and technical expertise, and a proven network of expert resources. We also help develop and implement productivity improvement strategies for established manufacturers through technological innovation and process improvement that allow the companies to be more globally competitive. Our job is to identify and evaluate opportunities, to select the most promising ones, and to provide client companies with crucial resources as they wage the war to prosper in today’s markets.

Recognized and modeled internationally as one of the best technology-based economic development organizations in the world, Ben Franklin Technology Partners is eminently successful by every measure. A long-range independent study by the Pennsylvania Economy League showed that Ben Franklin statewide boosted the gross state product by $9.3 billion from 2002 through 2006 and provided more than $517 million in additional tax revenues as a direct result of its work. From 1989 through 2008, Ben Franklin created or retained more than 50,000 highly paid, sustainable Pennsylvania jobs, as well as developed hundreds of new companies and new technology-based products and processes. Ben Franklin delivers $3.50 of incremental tax revenue to Pennsylvania for every dollar of state investment in our program.

Despite this stellar history of producing economic benefit for the Commonwealth, in the face of overwhelming state budget challenges, Ben Franklin’s funding was cut in excess of 50% since 2009. These devastating blows to our resources have curtailed Ben Franklin’s ability to deliver the tremendous results we have produced in the past and bode poorly for Pennsylvania’s future technology-based economic growth.

The Ben Franklin appropriation must be restored to its original level and then increased incrementally in subsequent years. This will enable an expansion of critical seed financing and business and technical support for early-stage technology-driven enterprises. It will allow Ben Franklin to help established manufacturers utilize innovation to be more competitive in the global marketplace.

Projecting historical performance, Pennsylvania’s investment in our program will provide a direct financial return of 350% in additional state tax revenue. It will allow technological innovation to be leveraged as a tool to economic prosperity. And it will help companies create the high-paying, sustainable jobs that will be the cornerstone of the economic recovery.

 R. Chadwick Paul, Jr.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern PA