Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania Approves $1.4M for Nine Early-Stage Companies

Ben Franklin Technology Partners
of Southeastern Pennsylvania Approves $1.4M
for Nine Early-Stage Companies

PHILADELPHIA, PA (www.sep.benfranklin.org) – Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP) recently approved $1,430,000 in funding for nine early-stage companies, including six IT companies, two life sciences companies and one alternative energy company.


Companies approved for funding:

HealthQx, LLC – Wayne – Delaware County
Approved Investment: $150,000

HealthQx, a healthcare technology company, wants to turn Americans into more informed consumers of healthcare services, and facilitate cooperation between payers and providers.

HealthQx uses its software and data analytics to develop a system for the fair and objective benchmarking of payers and providers throughout America. The goal is to achieve better healthcare outcomes at a reduced per capita cost.

The company is led by Mark McAdoo, CEO; and Bill Conlan, Founder/COO.


iMomentous, Inc. – Horsham – Montgomery County
Approved Investment: $250,000

iMomentous delivers a highly scalable mobile technology platform that enables companies to recruit, retain and engage their talent. The company’s technology provides a more intuitive and convenient way of interacting with prospective and existing employees. The system is capable of facilitating job applications, employee referrals, employee communications and collaboration.

iMomentous can customize the system to fit specific needs for clients, who are able to optimize their corporate career site and integrate messaging, video, social media or aid in profile management, content management and track analytics.

The company is led by Mahe Byireddy, Co-founder & CEO; Hari Bayireddy, Co-founder & COO; and Michael Shenkman, VP Finance.


MBF Therapeutics, Inc. – Ambler – Montgomery County
Approved Investment: $50,000 (Ben Franklin previously invested $16,500 in Technology Commercialization Funding)

A veterinary oncology company, MBFT is advancing the quality of cancer care for companion animals with innovative and humane therapies for the treatment of dogs and cats with cancer. They are developing targeted immunotherapies and small molecule drugs that specifically disrupt tumor cell metabolism and stimulate potent, systemic immune responses without affecting normal, healthy cells and organs.

The availability of effective cancer treatments is one of the most significant unmet needs in veterinary medicine today. MBFT’s state-of-the-art oncology products are intended to meet the growing demand for effective cancer treatments, which address not only symptoms but also the underlying disease.

MBFT is led by Thomas Tillett, President & CEO; Travis Meredith, DVM, MBA, Diplomate ACT – Founding Partner; and Lorraine H. Keller, Ph.D. – EVP Technology, Founding Partner.


Miria Systems, Inc. – Norristown – Montgomery County
Approved Investment: $200,000

Miria Systems is a provider of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solutions and Energy/Environmental Management applications via cloud computing. In addition to ECM, Miria delivers Engineering Document Management, Accounts Payable Management, and Data Capture Management Software Solutions to Fortune 1000 firms in engineering, general business, and energy/environmental industries.

These services assist companies and clients with complex content and business process requirements where document conversion, workflow, media management, indexing, versioning and revision management are critical to their business needs.

The company is led by Martian W. Michael, CEO; Ronald Siena, President, IBM Solutions Group; and Robert Vogel, COO and VP of Technical Services.


QLIDA Diagnostics – Philadelphia
Approved Investment: $250,000 (Ben Franklin previously invested $250,000)

QLIDA develops next-generation biomarker diagnostic tests. The company’s proprietary platform can be used for diagnosis of life-threatening diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, through the use of a nanotechnology-based protein detection.

QLIDA has been collaborating with Drexel University to develop its proprietary test, Quantum-dot Linked Immuno-Detection Assay (QLIDA), to create a quantitative biomarker detection platform, enabling early detection of proteins associated with disease. The company is currently developing an ultrasensitive test for cardiovascular disease to be used in point of care testing.

QLIDA is led by Michael Boyce-Jacino, Ph.D., CEO, previously founding CEO of BioNanomatrix, Inc (now BioNano Genomics), and Michael Neidrauer., PhD, CSO.


Rumble News Ltd – Philadelphia
Approved Investment: $150,000

Rumble’s technology platform is designed to give newspaper publishers a rapid, low-risk, scalable solution to reach, engage and monetize mobile consumers and extend the brand relationship.

The company provides a solution for both the design and activation of a newspaper mobile app and integrates a consumer dashboard. The goal is to seamlessly transform content for consumption over mobile devices so newspapers can start building their mobile audience within hours.

Rumble is a graduate of the Project Liberty Digital Incubator. Project Liberty, funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, is operated by Ben Franklin and hosted by Interstate General Media. Project Liberty stimulates the establishment and growth of digital media startup companies in the Philadelphia region.

Rumble is led by Al Axoulay, Co-founder and CEO; Uyen Tieu, Co-founder and CRO; Itai Cohen, Co-founder and COO; and Kostya Volkov VP R&D.


Solar Grid Storage – Philadelphia
Approved Investment: $250,000

Solar Grid Storage’s mission is to assemble, deliver and finance a solar photovoltaic (PV) energy storage system as an integral component of solar plants placed behind the meter for commercial and industrial hosts.

Current PV energy storage is relatively nascent, but is gaining attention and acceptance for a variety of reasons, including its potential for high efficiency. The company’s first project is a battery installation at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

The company is led by Thomas Leyden, CEO; Chris Cook, President & General Counsel; Don Bradley, Founder & SVP of Business Development; Luis Ortiz, Executive Vice President & CTO; and Dan Dobbs, Co-founder & CFO.


tapCLIQ (Transout, Inc.) – Philadephia
Approved Investment: $100,000

tapCLIQ, developed by Transout, is a user engagement and advertising platform for mobile devices that offers contextual interaction at moments when the user is most receptive. Their ad solutions offer the easiest engagement for end users, and provide insightful experiences for advertisers and publishers.

User engagement and advertising on mobile devices is generally characterized as inconvenient and even annoying. tapCLIQ is changing that for both consumers and advertisers.

tapCLIQ is a current Project Liberty Digital Incubator client. Project Liberty, funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, is operated by Ben Franklin and hosted by Interstate General Media. Project Liberty stimulates the establishment and growth of digital media startup companies in the Philadelphia region.

The company is led by Chirantan Bhatt, Founder & CEO.


Zaahah (StartUp Productions LLC) – Philadelphia
Approved Investment: $30,000

Zaahah, developed by StartUp Productions, instantly connects users with shared interests. It allows users to create separate profiles for different interests (i.e. business, personal, academic, etc.) and connect with others searching for the same topics. Zaahah also includes features such as chat and private email addresses.

Zaahah includes a toolbar (Firefox) and website (www.zaahah.com); is HTML 5 compliant and works on tablets.

Zaahah is a graduate of the Project Liberty Digital Incubator. Project Liberty, funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, is operated by Ben Franklin and hosted by Interstate General Media. Project Liberty stimulates the establishment and growth of digital media startup companies in the Philadelphia region.

The company is led by James Sisneros, Founder & CEO; Beinvenido David, Chief Architect & Developer; and Jamie Jay Hall, Lead – User Experience and Design.





About Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern PA

Celebrating our 30th Anniversary, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania is a national, award winning organization for Stimulating Entrepreneurial Potential, through entrepreneurship, technology and innovation. Ben Franklin grows technology companies and partnerships through Capital, Knowledge and Networks that help innovative enterprises compete in the global marketplace, generating wealth and supporting regional economic growth. Ben Franklin has invested more than $165 million to grow more than 1,750 regional enterprises, across all areas of technology. It has launched university/industry partnerships that accelerate scientific discoveries to commercialization. The Ben Franklin Technology Partners is an initiative of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and is funded by the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority.

For additional information, please visit www.sep.benfranklin.org,
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