Ben News

It’s Almost Time for the Second Annual PHL Innovation Picnic

May 21, 2018

The sun will eventually come out, and when it does, it’ll probably be just in time for the PHL Innovation Picnic. You know, that Navy Yard event that basically everyone in Philly’s startup community attended last year? It’s back for a second year next month, and tickets are already on sale. The early summer shindig is meant […]

How the VC Pathways Program is Boosting Equality in Philadelphia’s Startup Scene

May 2, 2018

The problem: people of color and women are drastically underrepresented in Greater Philadelphia’s tech and startup ecosystem. One potential solution Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Village Capital and UBS just tried out: prepping those founders for investment and growth at the ground level. Last week, the three organizations marked the end of the VC […]

What 7 Companies Got Out of the Philly Startup Leaders Accelerator

May 2, 2018

A comedy club really is a great stand-in for a pitch room: under the bright, hot spotlight, seven startups pitched their stuff on Tuesday at Helium Comedy Club, as part of the finale of this year’s Philly Startup Leaders accelerator program. The room had gravitas: from government officials like Mayor Jim Kenneyand Councilman Allan Domb, to corporate giants like Comcast and IBM, reps from […]

Wistar, Ben Franklin Technology Partners teaming up to help develop startups

April 30, 2018

The Wistar Institute and Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania signed a Memorandum of Understanding Friday to work together to accelerate the advancement of early-stage life sciences start-ups coming out of Wistar. Under the partnership, Ben Franklin and Wistar will be developing a mentoring program around technology development for both translational scientists and entrepreneurs. […]

County’s ‘Venture Chesco’ Launches Fund to Encourage Development of Start-Ups

April 20, 2018

The Chester County Retirement Board partnered with Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania on April 17 to launch a Venture Chesco fund to encourage the development of start-ups. The initiative will invest up to $4 million in emerging and growing companies in Chester County. The funds consist of $2 million in County funds matched by $2 […]

Ben Franklin Will Oversee StartUp PHL’s Second Seed Fund, with $3.5M to Start

March 24, 2018

After 18 months searching for the right partner, the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation has tapped Ben Franklin Technology Partners to manage StartUp PHL’s second seed fund, which will set out to deploy up to $5 million to Philly-based companies. In the summer of 2016, news broke that First Round Capital, which managed the first investment […]

5 Ways Impact Investors and Philanthropists Can Innovate to Solve Philly’s Biggest Problems

March 22, 2018

Philadelphia needs more cash. Admidst crippling poverty and a proliferation of struggling nonprofits, the city ranks 43rd of the United States’ 50 biggest cities in charitable giving, with residents donating an average of only 2.5 percent of their income. Could the savior of our charitable woes be … capitalism? We’ve written extensively on the region’s impact investing scene, which employs venture capital to support […]

RoseAnn Rosenthal Presented with American Spirit Award at NVCA Leadership Gala

March 21, 2018

The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) today presented RoseAnn Rosenthal, President and CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, with the 2018 American Spirit Award at the 2018 NVCA Leadership Gala. Held at the Rosewood Sand Hill in Menlo Park, CA, the NVCA Leadership Gala celebrates the venture industry and honors those who […]

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 […]

How Ben Franklin Technology Partners Invested $2.6M Last Quarter

February 20, 2018

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania invested $2.6 million in 13 regional startups last quarter, according to numbers the organization released Thursday. The state-backed seed fund and economic development nonprofit said it agreed to fund five IT companies, five digital health companies and three companies in the physical sciences last quarter. The bulk of the […]