Author: amandawagner

GO Philly Fund is Working on a Serious Problem for Philadelphia’s Startups

February 14, 2019

Last week Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern PA and EPAM announced a new $50 million fund. The Global Opportunity Philadelphia Fund—aka GO Philly Fund— looks to support early-stage Philadelphia startups by engaging both traditional investment and blockchain-enabled participation. The GO Philly Fund encourages further growth of early-stage startups in the Philadelphia region while providing […]

The PHL Innovation Picnic is Back!

June 12, 2018

Last year’s PHL Innovation Picnic attracted a diverse group of nearly 900 people from the area’s tech scene, including entrepreneurs, investors, community builders, and tech leaders to our front lawn, and this year we expect more! And while food and fun are enough of a motivator to purchase tickets, there are many more reasons you […]

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 […]

A Year in Review: 2017

January 5, 2018

This has been a monumental year for us at Ben Franklin Technology Partners. We’ve had our largest quarterly investment to date , we’ve launched new programs, added new people to the team, and hosted a little thing we like to call the PHL Innovation Picnic. Here are just a few things that have made 2017 a […]

Ben’s Founder Friday: Michele McKeone

December 1, 2017

The facts around workplace readiness for those with disabilities, like autism or down syndrome, are alarming. Seventy percent of people with cognitive disabilities are unemployed, but progress is being made. Michele McKeone, founder and CEO of Digitability is focused on changing the current status quo of pigeonholing people with cognitive disabilities into unemployment or underemployment, […]

Ben’s Founder Friday: Mike Maher

November 7, 2017

Mike Maher is a serial entrepreneur with a knack for problem solving and collaboration. Mike first emerged as a powerhouse on the scene when he co-founded Benjamin’s Desk, a Philadelphia-based coworking network. Since its first space opened in 2012 at 1701 Walnut Street, it has expanded across the city and recently merged with 1776, a […]

Local Leaders, National Topics: Women’s Health Innovation

September 25, 2017

In 2015, Dan Hilferty, CEO of Independence Blue Cross (IBX), told Philadelphia Magazine that Philly could be the, “Silicon Valley of healthcare innovation.” Yet the concept hinged on a few variables. According to Hilferty, Philadelphia needed buzz, seed money, aggressive talent, and public policy that attracted startups to live and build in the city. Two years […]

New Faces, New Roles

September 19, 2017

It’s been a seriously exciting summer for us at Ben Franklin. Yes, during a time when 50% of your inbox is filled with away messages, we’ve somehow managed to pack multiple seasons of success into this summer. In short we’ve celebrated the first birthday of Impact PHL, we held our first Fintech Accelerator, and there […]

Ben’s Founder Friday: Morgan Berman

September 18, 2017

When I met Morgan Berman a few years ago I didn’t know who she was and what she had contributed to Philly’s tech community. I knew the first iteration of MilkCrate from my own exploration in sustainable living, but the person behind the product was a mystery. When we finally met at an event she […]

Five Female Founders you Should Know

August 15, 2017

Ben Franklin Technology Partners highlights five female founders from our portfolio company and their growing companies. Meet women from around the Philadelphia area making a splash in tech. WHO: Morgan Berman WHAT: MilkCrate If you are involved in the Philly tech community and don’t know this name, we would be suprised. Morgan has taken […]