BFTP/SEP Approves More Than $2 Million for 10 Early-Stage Companies
Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP) recently approved investments totaling $2,085,000 for 10 early-stage companies.
“These ten new investments in early-stage medical, energy and internet-based companies continue to demonstrate the determination and creativity of the region’s entrepreneurs,” said RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President & CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
AboutOne
Malvern, Chester County
Approved Investment: $100,000
AboutOne is an online subscription service that provides families and individuals with one convenient place to quickly and easily store, share and retrieve important household information (medical records, receipts, education records, etc.), and family memories (children’s artwork, photos, videos).
This digital filing cabinet saves users time through fast and easy data entry—as well as efficient and intelligent use of the data entered, such as auto-generated family newsletters, scrapbooks, education summaries, home improvement reports for tax reporting and more. AboutOne is accessible from any location via computer, mobile phone or any other web-enabled device.
AboutOne is led by Joanne Lang, CEO; Beth Siron, COO & Customer Service Manager; Jake Mallory, CTO; and Katrine Kubis, Director of Marketing, PR, and Communications.
Click Equations
Conshohocken, Montgomery County
Approved investment: $50,000
Previous BFTP/SEP investment: $297,830
Click Equations has created software to help businesses manage and improve their paid search advertising campaigns—when businesses pay a search engine to have their websites show near the top on its result pages when users type certain keywords.
Designed for large advertisers and agencies, ClickEquations has a unique three-prong system of management, bidding and reporting to save users time and money.
The company’s extensive reporting includes information on what searchers typed when they found the business’ listing, how much profit the business is making on each keyword and recommendations on improving results and maximizing profit.
ClickEquations is run by Craig Danuloff, Founder & President; and Lucinda Holt, CEO.
Essential Medical
Wayne, Delaware County
Approved Investment: $250,000
Essential Medical is developing innovative products for use in cardiac catheterizations in leg arteries.
The company is led by Greg Walters, President and CEO.
Green Power Technologies
King of Prussia, Montgomery County
Approved Investment: $500,000
Previous BFTP/SEP investment:$250,000
Green Power Technologies is commercializing its first generation Wi-Fi enabled smart plug that will allow customers to shut off appliances and other electronic devices at the power source. The technology will eliminate the energy wasted by devices that are turned off but still plugged in. Power to outlets can be easily controlled remotely either individually or in groups with Wi-Fi compatible devices such as computers and smart phones.
The company is led by Gregory Puschnigg, Founding Chairman and CEO; and Robert Fiori, Co-Founder and President.
Kerathin
Swarthmore, Delaware County
Approved Investment: $150,000
Kerathin is a medical and home health device company focused on tools for the care of foot disorders, particularly in the diabetic population. Kerathin’s initial product, PodiaPro, is a major improvement for toenails disorders. PodiaPro is safer and easier to use than current nail grinders or drills. PodiaPro is in clinical validation at leading centers associated with podiatric medical schools.
Kerathin is led by Founder and Executive Chairman Tom Fitzsimons.
Leversense
Newtown Square, Chester County
Approved Investment: $300,000
Previous BFTP/SEP investment:
Leversense is commercializing an innovative new method for in vitro diagnostics technology. The technology, licensed from Drexel University, is a solid-state electromechanical sensor technology used to detect protein, nucleic acid and pathogen disease indicators.
The product will bring to market unprecedented femtogram sensitivity directly in complex, unpurified samples such as whole blood and serum.
The company is led by Pete Nagy, Co-Founder and CEO; and Dr. Paul Horan, Ph.D., Vice-President of Business Development.
QLIDA Diagnostics
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
Approved Investment: $250,000
QLIDA develops next-generation biomarker diagnostic tests. The company’s proprietary platform can be used for diagnosis of life-threatening diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease through the use of a nanotechnology-based protein detection.
QLIDA has been collaborating with Drexel University to develop its proprietary test, Quantum-dot Linked Immuno-Detection Assay (QLIDA), to create a quantitative biomarker detection platform, enabling early detection of proteins associated with disease. The company is currently developing an ultrasensitive test for cardiovascular disease to be used in point of care testing.
QLIDA is led by Michael Boyce-Jacino, Ph.D., CEO, previously founding CEO of BioNanomatrix, Inc; and Elizabeth S. Papazoglou., PhD, CSO.
Spectrum Devices Corporation
Hatfield, Montgomery County
Approved investment: $85,000
Previous BFTP/SEP investment: $195,000
Spectrum Devices designs, manufactures and commercializes high power transistors for RF and Microwave communication applications; including Bipolar and VDMOS transistors for RF and microwave power applications.
Spectrum also develops products to bring obsolete or discontinued transistor products up to date, giving them greater life and better performance.
Their latest product developments have greater life and better performance than the original products due to Spectrum’s novel designs.
The company is led by Dr. Jere Hohmann, CEO and President; Ben Caccavale, Vice President of Engineering; and Robert Blake, Vice President of Sales & Marketing
vcopious
Conshohocken, Montgomery County
Approved Investment: $250,000
With its virtual environment software platform, vcopious enables companies to connect with their global communities to build brands, increase lead generation and engage target audiences. By capturing user metrics in real time, the company’s software enables clients to gain actionable insights for applications ranging from product launches to employee training.
Clients can also seamlessly connect relevant internal assets, such as E-commerce, social media applications and customer records. vcopious’ product is currently a leading cost-reduction and revenue enhancement product for multinational organizations across all industries.
The company is led by CEO Ken Hayward, President Ron Giannone, and CTO Harpreet Chatha.
Versify Solutions
Chadds Ford, Delaware County
Approved investment: $150,000
Previous BFTP/SEP investment: $450,000
A software and services company, Versify Solutions offers power industry companies products that help reduce operational costs while improving communications, reporting, operational efficiencies and profits. Its products – V-Renew®, V-Trader® and V-Performance® – do so by providing company leaders with robust data, analysis and reporting tools.
The key to Versify’s technology is collecting, processing and managing vast amounts of data from a variety of sources; including regional power pools, energy traded pricing, transmission capacity, current weather information, etc. Its software can quickly and accurately compile management reports, trading recommendations and more.
The company is led by President and CEO Pete Cona, Vice President of Operations Dave Kucharczuk, and Vice President of Development Dave Ippolito.
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