Current News
For Immediate Release

Philadelphia, PA - February 4, 2004 - Ben Franklin Investment Partners (BFIP) reported it has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with the Entrepreneurs Network of Greater Philadelphia and the Lancaster Angel Network. The Entrepreneurs Network, a local angel investor group founded in 2002, consists of entrepreneurs and private investors from the mid-Atlantic region, while the members of the Lancaster Angel Network are from central Pennsylvania. Both are organized to provide a venue for deal flow and networking.

The MOU provides member angel groups with exclusive access to BFIP's guarantee facility, supplement investor deal flow with investment opportunities sourced by other participating angel investment networks, BFIP and Ben Franklin Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP), and facilitate collaboration in the due diligence process of selected technology enterprises.

BFIP has also signed MOUs with other angel investor groups including the Loosely Organized Retired Executives, Robin Hood Ventures and the Private Investors' Forum.

In December 2002, BFTP/SEP launched BFIP, the first angel investor guarantee facility of its kind in the U.S., to spur investment activity in southeastern Pennsylvania's emerging technology enterprises. BFIP, which guarantees up to 25% of any loss experienced by qualified private investors, will, over time, leverage up to $10 million of private seed-stage investments and $8 million of companion BFTP/SEP investments.

The innovative program, seeded with $2 million from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, was prominently featured as a cutting edge development finance tool at the Kauffman Foundation's Angel Organization Summit in Chicago.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP) is dedicated to growing the region through science, technology and entrepreneurship. Now commemorating 20 years of innovation excellence, Ben Franklin provides entrepreneurs and established businesses the capital, talent, and expertise they need to compete. Like its namesake, Ben Franklin invests in, builds upon and delivers solutions that grow communities and create new wealth by supporting today's technological ideas and tomorrow's scientific discovery.