Ben Franklin Technology Partners SEP approves $1.7 million for 11 early stage companies

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania today announced it had approved investments in 11 companies totaling $1.7 million. Ventures receiving investments include video game developer Burst Online Entertainment LLC, mobile app development platform CloudMine (which is in the Project Liberty incubator program), RFID tag maker RCD Technology, Inc. of Quakertown, and data analytics firm Plehn Analytics Corp. of Philadelphia.

Ben Franklin's press release is below:


Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania Approves $1.7 Million for 11 Early-Stage Companies

January 11, 2012

PHILADELPHIA, PA (www.sep.benfranklin.org) – Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP) recently approved $1,665,000 for 11 early-stage companies.

“These eleven biotechnology, mobile technology and advanced manufacturing companies are indicative of the entrepreneurial diversity of our region” said RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President & CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Companies approved for funding:

Burst Online Entertainment LLC – Philadelphia – Approved Investment: $100,000

An independent video game and social network developer, Burst’s goal is to create a best-in-class social networking gaming platform for the global gamer community—one that facilitates the development, distribution, operation and monetization of high-quality, free, online multiplayer PC-based games.

Burst is on the cutting edge of the global games-as-a-service industry, and fosters a culture centered on collaboration, teamwork, creativity, and delivering high-quality entertainment experiences to gamers across the globe.

The company is led by Damon Alberts, President; Jordan Schwartz, COO; and David Bowman, Vice President of Product Development.


CD Diagnostics, LLC – Wynnewood – Montgomery County – Approved Investment: $275,000
CD Diagnostics is developing diagnostic tests for orthopedic surgeons and rheumatologists, to allow them to establish the best treatment for their patients more quickly and with less trial and error. Targeted diseases include rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and osteoarthritis.

The company’s first product in development is CygnaSure™, offering orthopaedic surgeons and rheumatologists a rapid, accurate and reliable diagnostic answer.

The company was founded by Dr. Carl Deirmengian, MD, and is led by CEO Richard Birmeyer, Ph.D.; and Michael Bear, Vice President of Sales and Marketing.


CloudMine – Philadelphia – Approved Investment: $100,000
CloudMine is a platform that eliminates the need for mobile app developers to build expensive and time-consuming custom backend solutions for their apps.

By allowing developers to focus on making their mobile apps “shine,” rather than the IT infrastructure development overhead, they can get their products to market faster, cheaper, and with fewer headaches; and enjoy full back-end support.
The company is led by its three co-founders: Brendan McCorkle, CEO; Marc Weil, CTO; and Ilya Braude, Technology Lead.

CloudMine is a member of the inaugural class of companies in the Project Liberty Digital Incubator, an effort among Philadelphia Media Network (PMN), the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Ben Franklin, Dreamit Ventures and Drexel University. The Incubator is designed to stimulate the establishment and growth of digital media startup companies in the Philadelphia region.


EyeIC, Inc. – West Conshohocken – Montgomery County – Approved Investment: $150,000 - (Ben Franklin previously invested $575,000)

EyeIC is a cutting-edge medical technology firm dedicated to commercializing imaging technologies for medical applications.

EyeIC was founded around patented technology developed by Dr. Jeffrey Berger and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine who were interested in the application of information technology to medical imaging. While the initial uses are in ophthalmology, MatchedFlicker has broader applications throughout medicine.

MatchedFlicker was recently approved for patient use by the Food and Drug Administration.

EyeIC is led by Philip Heifetz, President and CEO; and Steve Bakanov, MS, Ph.D., Technology Director.


Tadpoles – Philadelphia – Approved Investment: $50,000

Tadpoles utilizes both web-based and mobile app technology to link together childcare and education providers to parents. For providers, the app provides services including attendance records, medical and emergency information, and schedule streamlining. Parents can receive photos and videos of their kids, behavior reports, reminders, and more.

The service is free for providers, and parents pay a monthly subscription fee for photos and video, but notices are provided at no charge.

The company is led by co-founders Andrew Monroe and Bill McHugh.


Holganix LLC – Glen Mills – Delaware County – Approved Investment: $200,000
(Ben Franklin previously invested $250,000)

Holganix owns and markets the Holganix System, a turf health enhancer that is both more effective and less expensive than the leading fertilizer products on the market. In addition, Holganix eliminates the pesticides, nitrates and phosphates typically found in such fertilizers. Holganix’s holistic, organic approach leads to greener plants and bluer water than other products.

Holganix, LLC is led by Barrett Ersek, CEO; Stephen Lange, Vice President R&D; Paul Commons, CFO; and Dave Thompson, Vice President Operations.

Holganix was recently profiled on an Executive Leaders Radio show, hosted by Ben Franklin.


Plehn Analytics Corp. – Philadelphia – Approved Investment: $150,000

Plehn compiles unique economic and financial reports that enable its clients in the financial services industry to make more informed decisions. The reports contain information from publicly available U.S. government-supplied data.

Plehn’s capability stems from familiarity with complex government processes, access to more than 100 government agencies, a deep understanding of the underlying data, advanced statistical and econometric research, and the ability to ensure consistency in the resulting reports.

The company is led by Dr. Jose M. Plehn-Dujowich, Founder, Chairman, & Chief Research Officer; Dr. Ivan Ruzic, President & CEO; and Kevin Sheetz, Managing Director of Banking.


Prezacor, Inc. – Newtown – Bucks County – Approved Investment: $250,000

Prezacor® is a medical products company that is developing and marketing an innovative pain management technology used in patches applied to painful areas of the body.

The Prezacor® scientists created a thin, flexible semi-conductor device that can accept an electrical charge, act as a holding capacitor, then release the accumulated energy at lower frequencies and intensities.

The company is led by Dr. James Pachence, CEO; Dr. Gary Karpf, Founder & Chief Scientific Officer; and Dr. Robin Karpf, Vice President of Design & Development.


QR Pharma, Inc. – Berwyn – Montgomery County – Approved Investment: $110,000
(Ben Franklin previously invested $500,000)

QR Pharma is a specialty pharmaceutical company founded to develop novel treatments for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative disorders. The company has two compounds in clinical development: Posiphen® targets early stage Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and may stop or slow the progression of the disease.

The company is led by Maria Maccecchini, Ph.D., Founder, CEO & President; and John Bennett, COO.

In 1992, Ben Franklin invested in Dr. Maccecchini’s Symphony Pharmaceuticals, which sold to Transgenomic in 2001. Dr. Maccecchini was recently profiled on an Executive Leaders Radio show, hosted by Ben Franklin.


RCD Technology, Inc. – Quakertown – Bucks County – Approved Investment: $160,000

RCD Technology develops and manufactures high performance RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags that are tailored to specific, high value, technically challenging applications.

The company has developed successful solutions in asset tracking, people tracking, vehicle access control, medical samples tracking, and national ID card markets for customers including the U.S. Department of State.

RCD is led by Dr. Robert Oberle, Ph.D., Founder & CTO; Sandra Garby, Founder & Vice President of Operations; and Ken Horton, Chief Executive Officer.


Stabiliz Orthopaedics, LLC – Philadelphia – Approved Investment: $120,000

Stabiliz Orthopaedics is a medical device company focused on developing, refining and bringing to market innovative and proprietary orthopedic medical devices. The primary applications for its principal technologies are in the treatment of traumatic bone fractures.

Stabiliz is led by Dr. Doug Cerynik, President & CEO; Dr. Susan Harding; Bradley Grossman, MBA, Vice President of Operations; and Michael Adelizzi, MBA, Vice President of Research & Development.


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About Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania is a national, award winning model for technology innovation, and a catalyst for Stimulating Entrepreneurial Potential. For more than 28 years, we have invested in innovative enterprises and created commercialization pathways and partnerships that generate wealth through science and technology. We offer entrepreneurs and established businesses the Capital, Knowledge and Networks to compete in the global marketplace. We have invested more than $150 million to grow more than 1,700 regional enterprises across all areas of technology.

Ben Franklin’s programs and partnerships with universities, corporations and investors strengthen the region’s innovation infrastructure. Together with partners across the region, we are fostering the formation of a Greater Philadelphia energy cluster…Power Valley. We are the commercialization partner for the Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster (GPIC) national energy hub, and the founding partner of the Energy Commercialization Institute (ECI). We are founding partners of The Nanotechnology Institute (NTI), Emerald Stage2 Venture Fund, and numerous other programs and initiatives.

Ben Franklin is part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Partnership.



For additional information, please visit www.sep.benfranklin.org, Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter.



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