Author: pbj_repost

Penn Spinoff Takes on Glaucoma with Nanotechnology-Enabled Implant

August 9, 2019

Avisi Technologies, a medical device startup spun out of the University of Pennsylvania, is working on a new way to help glaucoma patients. The Philadelphia company recently landed a $225,000 federal government grant to support its work on a nanotechnology-enabled implant called the VisiPlate, which is being developed as a defense against blindness caused by […]

Montco Pet Medicine Company Licenses Immunotherapy Technology From UNC

August 7, 2019

MBF Therapeutics, a Montgomery County animal health company that wants to bring immunotherapy to veterinary medicine, signed an exclusive option agreement for technology developed at the University of North Carolina. Financial terms of the deal are being kept confidential. The agreement, which covers animal health applications of the technology, will allow MBF Therapeutics of Ambler […]

Center City Tech Firm Sidecar Raises $7.5M in Latest Round

August 1, 2019

Marketing tech firm Sidecar Interactive raised a new $7.5 million funding round, the Center City-based company confirmed this week, as it seeks to continue its “tremendous” growth. CEO Andre Golsorkhi told the Philadelphia Business Journal the funding round, a follow-on from its $11 million Series C in May 2017, will go toward investing in engineering […]

Ben Franklin Technology Partners join $100M 3.0 University Place project

June 25, 2019

Ben Franklin Technology Partners is joining in the ambitious, $100 million 3.0 University Place development in University City. Ben Franklin’s southeastern Pennsylvania organization, a prolific seed and economic development nonprofit in the region, said Tuesday it is joining in University Place Associates’ newest project by means of a 28,500 square-foot “Innovation Floor” that will be […]

What J.P. Morgan’s $500M Acquisition of InstaMed Means for Philadelphia

May 21, 2019

There’s nothing like a big, half-billion-dollar-plus exit to boost a startup ecosystem. In the last 15 months, the Philadelphia region has seen three. “That’s a big deal for any market,” said Dean Miller, CEO and president of the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies. The latest is J.P. Morgan’s more than $500 million acquisition of […]

Exclusive: Plans for New Bacteria-Fighting Oral Hygiene Products Will Use This Ft. Washington Company’s Technology

April 4, 2019

A Montgomery County medical device company signed an exclusive licensing agreement Monday that will bring its patented bacteria-fighting technology to the dental industry. Financial terms of the deal between PhotoSonix Medical of Fort Washington and Goldspire Group Ltd., the Hong Kong-based maker of the patented Megasonex brand of ultrasonic toothbrushes and other oral hygiene products, […]

Ben Franklin Tech Partners’ Portfolio Companies Raised $345M in 2018

March 28, 2019

After ramping up investments in recent years, prolific seed fund and economic development nonprofit Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania’s is seeing the results. A new Performance Profile report released this week shows that its portfolio companies raised $354 million in funding in association with BFTP’s investments in 2018, a spike from $152 million […]

VC Investing in Philadelphia Hit Record Highs, and Lows, in 2018

March 27, 2019

A new report from PACT and PitchBook shows Philadelphia saw a record year of investments in 2018, when $1.4 billion was poured into local firms, the most in a decade. Released by PACT, the report also documented declines in exits and fundraising by venture capital firms. All put together, though, it depicts a region’s that […]

Why Chef Jose Andres & TGI Friday’s are Using this Philly Restaurant Tech Firm

March 21, 2019

Renowned chefs José Andrés and Michael Solomonov, Philadelphia coffee company La Colombe and national chain TGI Fridays are just a few names using a platform by a growing, venture-backed Philadelphia restaurant technology company now in a Series A round. Three years ago, local entrepreneurs Andy Schwartz, Bhavik Patel and Chaz Brown set out to make […]

Ben Franklin Goes to Harrisburg: Prolific Seed Fund Fighting for ‘Critical’ Funding

March 20, 2019

As a diplomat during the Revolutionary War, Benjamin Franklin spent two years in France trying to convince the French government to fund the American cause. Now an organization that bears his name — and penchant for entrepreneurship — is firing up its own persistent fight for funding. This time, in Harrisburg. Leaders from each of […]