Links 3/20/2014: Comcast's SEC filing on proposed deal; Coupa raises $40 million to up competition vs SAP Ariba

Follow @phillytechnews

 Subscribe in a reader
Subscribe to Philadelphia Tech News by Email



Comcast's TWC Acquisition: Shareholders Asked to Vote on 'Golden Parachutes' for Execs (Hollywood Reporter)

SEC Filings Map Out Inner Workings Of Comcast/TWC Deal
(Multichannel News)
Comcast Form S-4
Registration Statement

Netflix Says It Really Didn’t Want to Cut that Traffic Deal with Comcast (Re/code)


CitiusTech, a Leader in Healthcare Technology, Announces Investment Partnership with General Atlantic (Business Wire)

Coupa Raises $40M For Cloud Procurement Software, Takes On SAP Ariba (Wall Street Journal: Venture Capital Dispatch)


Huntsman Selects Accenture to Deliver a Strategic Information Management System Built on SAP HANA® to Reduce Costs and Improve Enterprise Performance (Business Wire)

Can the Bloomberg terminal be toppled? (Fortune)

Ben Franklin is the 2nd Most Active Investor in Greater Philadelphia (BFTP News)

State Health Insurance Exchanges Still Sick (Information Week)

More on out of home digital advertising startup Vistar Media

Tom Paine

Follow @phillytechnews

 Subscribe in a reader
Subscribe to Philadelphia Tech News by Email



The week before last, I wrote a short post about Vistar Media receiving $1.5 million in VC funding. The startup, which has its engineering offices in Philadelphia with more customer-focused functions based in New York, was founded by two veterans of Invite Media, which was acquired by Google for a reported $80 million in 2010, and one other co-founder, Jeremy Ozen. It will use a real-tme ad bidding platform as did Invite Media except in this case it will be used to place ads on what are referred to as out of home (OOH) digital displays that might be found in prominent outdoor settings, stadiums or arenas, stores, medical offices, or other of out of home locations where numerous people may pass by or congregate.

I had a chance to speak with Ozen by phone last week. It turns out that he is a UPenn graduate (materials science, finance); in fact, that is where he got to know Invite Media and fellow Vistar Media co-founder Michael Provenzano. The other Vistar co-founder, former Invite Media Chief Architect Mark Chadwick, attended Temple. Ozen had been working for Goldman Sachs in London in its European Special Situations Group monitoring a venture portfolio before returning to the States and joining Vistar. One thing Ozen emphasized to me is that Philadelphia is Vistar's official legal headquarters, althought its website lists a New York contact address. One question I had in my prior post was about Ben Franklin Technology Ventures, one of its backers, investing in a startup based out of state.

I also found out that Eniac Ventures, a New York-based VC firm focused on the Mobile space and managed by UPenn alums (hence the name) was among the investors in the round, although they were not named in the press release. Ozen also told me that Vistar had received a previous $500,000 in angel funding last year, coming from mostly within the Invite Media circle. I didn't ask whether two Invite Media co-founders, Nat Turner or Zachary Weinberg, who have a new healthcare IT startup in New York named Flatiron Health, were part of that investor group.

I asked Ozen what Vistar saw in terms of its addressable market. He said they estimated the currently monetized domestic OOH digital ad market to be $2 billion, with another $2 billion available but not yet monetized. They have not yet sized the international market, which could be quite sizable; from my point of view the penetration of digital OOH displays may be higher in some other parts of the world than in the US.

In addition to the online bidding platform Vistar has built a la Invite Media, another critical product component it has developed is what it calls "the first ad server built specially for digital place-based media." This is important because if Vistar is going to achieve its full market potential, it needs to be able to serve ads to the widest possible universe of existing digital displays, and there are challanges to this due to barriers including intermittent internet connections, network bandwidth restrictions and a lack of standards for communicating between heterogeneous devices. Vistar believes it has solved this problem; we will see if that's fully the case because its a thorny issue. Vistar has also built an API that media firms who want to deliver their advertising directly to digital displays can use.

Another opportunity Vistar sees, according to Ozen, is in synching or correlating OOH digital display advertising with advertising delivered to individuals' mobile devices within a nearby location. That opportunity, which is very appealing to marketers, may take longer to develop.

Ozen says Vistar currently has four employees in Philly and five in New York and will be adding a few more in the coming months. WPP is a major agency Vistar is working with, and on the partner side it is working with the Wall Street Journal, Accent Health, CMT (they place ads in cabs in Philly), Adspace Mall Network and others. It claims to have 80,000 unique locations and 8 billion impressions available as part of its inventory.




permalink

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,
Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter.



permalink

Ben Franklin Technology Partners SEP invests $1.5 million in 8 companies

Follow @phillytechnews

 Subscribe in a reader
Subscribe to Philadelphia Tech News by Email

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania announced today it had approved funding of $1.5 million to be invested in eight early stage companies. Details are in the press release below:

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania Approves $1.5M for 8 Early-Stage Companies


PHILADELPHIA, PA (www.sep.benfranklin.org) – Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP) recently approved $1,535,000 in funding for 8 early-stage companies.


Companies approved for funding:


Alencon Systems, Inc. – Plymouth Meeting – Montgomery County
Approved Investment: $400,000

Dedicated to making clean energy truly competitive with today's conventional energy generation methods, Alencon designs alternative energy conversion and harvesting systems.

Alencon’s systems are both highly modular and scalable, and are capable of generating up to 100MW of power. The technology succeeds by incorporating economies of scale and higher levels of reliability.

The company is led by John Bunce, CEO; and Oleg Fishman, Ph.D., Founder & President.


Clutch Holdings, LLC – Lafayette Hill – Montgomery County
Approved Investment: $200,000

Clutch Holdings has created a mobile phone application, “Clutch,” that stores the individual’s store loyalty information, such as points and gift cards, so that they no longer need to carry around cumbersome plastic cards for each store.

The app allows customers to more easily manage, redeem, purchase and manage their assets, as well as buy gift cards for others. Merchants are able to research consumer behavior, better communicate with and market to their customers, and reduce the cost of producing and distributing cards.

Clutch is led by Ned Moore, CEO; Andy O’Dell, Founder & CCO; and Dan Guy, Co-Founder & CTO.


Digital Life Technologies – Bala Cynwyd – Montgomery County
Approved Investment: $225,000

Digital Life Technologies has created the GoNow™ eWallet Card, which can be programmed to become any credit, debit, gift or loyalty card in an eWallet, thus eliminating the need to carry multiple plastic payment cards. The card is programed by an eWallet on any smartphone and works at 100% of ATM's and POS terminals, both contactless and magnetic stripe.
The GoNow™ has a secure element that stores data in the card itself, and can be used instead of, or in addition to, the secure element in a phone or the Cloud. The card allows banks, technology companies and others launching eWallets to overcome key obstacles that have slowed adoption in the U.S. market, including scarcity of contactless payment terminals and control of secure data.
The company is led by Doug Spodak, Founder, President & CEO; Ron Fridman, CTO & SVP - Operations; and Joe O’Neill, VP - Business Development.


Finpago (Does business as EasyCopay) – Villanova – Delaware County
Approved Investment: $75,000 (Ben Franklin previously invested $100,000)

EasyCopay allows customers to quickly, efficiently and automatically pay for all of their out-of-pocket costs for prescriptions.
Customers enter their preferred card of choice for payment at EasyCopay’s website, where payment information is stored safely and securely. The company then automatically charges the card on file when a customer’s prescription is filled by his or her pharmacy, so they may pick it up without waiting to pay.

Finpago is led by Fred Hawkins, Founder & CEO; and Pamela Bufe, VP - Pharmacy Sales.


Power & Energy Inc. – Ivyland – Bucks County
Approved Investment: $250,000 (Ben Franklin previously invested $130,000)

Power & Energy manufactures ultra-high purity hydrogen purifiers that are used in semiconductor fabrication processes for LED lights, power semiconductors, solar panels and fuel cells.
The company has also developed a new hydrogen analyzer technology and a high efficiency steam reformer that converts natural gas and liquid fuels like gasoline, diesel, propane and ethanol into a stream of pure hydrogen gas, with less than 100 parts per billion of carbon monoxide, to cleanly power fuel cells.
The company is led by Dr. Peter Bossard, CEO & CTO; and Noel Leeson, President & COO.


Snipi, Inc. (Does business as Sidecar Technologies) – Philadelphia
Approved Investment: $110,000 (Ben Franklin previously invested $275,000)

Snipi has created an online marketing platform called Sidecar, which allows retailers to engage their customers through each phase of the purchase cycle – acquisition, conversion and retention. The company combines services that would traditionally need to be met by four different types of vendors, to offer paid search, comparison shopping, on-site personalization and personalized email.

Because Sidecar is data-driven and fully automated, client companies enjoy a more efficient and cost-effective marketing solution.

The company is led by Andre Golsorkhi, CEO & Founder; Mark Adelman, Director of Product Development; and Dave Galgon, Director of Operations.


Vistar Media, Inc. – Philadelphia
Approved Investment: $200,000

Vistar has created the first ad server and real-time ad exchange platform for digital place-based media (Digital Out of Home, or DOOH media) that markets directly to consumers where they live, work and play—such as in malls, doctor’s offices, elevators, gyms, airports, taxis, etc.

The technology is based on screens that present engaging, digitally-delivered video that entertains and informs customers as they go about their daily routines.

Vistar’s technology also provides clients with real-time reporting and campaign analytics, so that they can measure the effectiveness of their marketing strategies.

The company is led by Jeremy Ozen, President; Michael Provenzano, Founder; and Mark Chadwick, Co-founder and CTO.


WizeHive, Inc. – Bryn Mawr – Montgomery County
Approved Investment: $75,000 (Ben Franklin previously invested $400,000)

WizeHize is an online Software as a Service (SaaS) platform where people can upload, share and collaborate on information such as files, tasks and ideas, to facilitate communication among many sources and users.

Used by organizations such as universities, businesses and marketing agencies, WizeHive helps them improve their bottom line by improving online engagement with customers and prospects, and automate antiquated business processes otherwise being handled manually, through email chains, or cumbersome back end systems.

The company is led by Michael Levinson, Founder & CEO. Levinson is also a Founding Partner of Dreamit Ventures, a successful entrepreneurial accelerator for IT enterprises. Ben Franklin is a founding sponsor and institutional investor in Dreamit. Other WizeHive leaders include Alan (Mike) Carson, Founder & CTO; Jeff Thomas, VP – Sales & Marketing; and Claudia Piccirilli, COO.



* * * *
About Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania is a national, award winning organization for Stimulating Entrepreneurial Potential, through entrepreneurship, technology and innovation. For thirty years, Ben Franklin has grown 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, Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter.



permalink

Ben Franklin Technology Partners SEP Invests $1.375M in Seven Early-Stage Companies

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania announced today it had approved investments totaling $1.375 million in seven early stage ventures. BFTP had previously invested in two of these ventures. Ben Franklin's press release:

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania Approves $1.375M for Seven Early-Stage Companies

August 6, 2012

PHILADELPHIA, PA (www.sep.benfranklin.org) – Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP) recently approved $1,375,000 in funding for seven early-stage companies.

“We’re excited that this round of investments is comprised of such a diverse group of companies - with target consumers ranging from energy efficient manufacturers to diabetic patients to television viewers,” said RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President & CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania. “Southeastern Pennsylvania is becoming a leader in developing technologies that affect just about every facet of our lives,” she added.


Companies approved for funding:

ARB Geowell – West Conshohocken – Montgomery County – Approved Investment: $125,000

ARB Geowell has developed a novel geothermal heating/cooling platform that permits better heat transfer in the underground well. Using a unique design that provides more surface area and better contact with the earth, ARB Geowell’s system offers higher energy efficiency. In most cases, the increased efficiency allows the project to eliminate the need to drill multiple holes on site, and thus markedly lower the cost of construction.

Its target market ranges from residential homes to commercial buildings, schools and developments.

The company is led by Harry R. Halloran, Jr., President; Kathryn Coffey, COO; and Albert A. Koenig, Ph.D., Vice President.


Brad’s Raw Chips, LLC – Pipersville – Bucks County – Approved Investment: $100,000

Brad’s Raw Chips, manufactured with an advanced dehydration system, was launched when its founder and creator, Brad Gruno, made significant changes in his life and discovered the health benefits of eating raw. In order to still be able to enjoy crunchy snacks, he began making his own raw chips in his kitchen.

The snacks he developed are now the basis of the company’s line of healthy, crunchy snacks made from dehydrated raw, healthy foods—such as fresh vegetables, nuts, and seeds. All of the company’s products contain no chemicals, preservatives, trans-fats, or gluten.

The company’s products are sourced from local farms whenever possible, and are considered “raw’ because they are not baked or fried, but rather are dehydrated to preserve all the nutrients and enzymes. It is currently developing other raw food products including dips, granola, pizza crust, and crackers.

Brad’s Raw Chips is led by CEO & Founder Brad Gruno, and COO Walter Gruger.


Drakontas, LLC – Glenside – Montgomery County – Approved Investment: $250,000

Drakontas has created mobile collaboration software that helps teams share information while working together, via smartphones, tablets, computers, etc. to enable real-time exchange of critical data.

Their solutions primarily serve government factions, such as police, military, fire, emergency response, and public service teams; helping them to improve operations and efficiency, make decisions more quickly, and enhance their own and the public’s safety.

Drakontas’ flagship product, DragonForce™, combines geo-tracking (which allows for tracking of personnel on maps and floor plans), a whiteboard for coordinating tactics, shared media and files of critical information, and text messaging; to allow law enforcement teams to act faster, safer, and more efficiently.

The company is led by Dr. Brian Regli, CEO; James J. Sim, President & COO; Dr. Alan Kaplan, CTO; and Joseph Madgey, CAO.

Continue Reading

Ben Franklin Southeastern Pennsylvania approves $675,000 in funding for six startups

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania today announced it had approved funding for six early stage companies totaling $675,000. The press release is below:


Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania Approves $675K for Six Early-Stage Companies

May 7, 2012

PHILADELPHIA, PA (www.sep.benfranklin.org) – Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP) recently approved $675,000 in funding for six early-stage companies.

“This round of investments reflects the growing number of entrepreneurs choosing to create their web, app, social media and mobile technology companies here, in our region,” said RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President & CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania.


Companies approved for funding:

Cross X Platform, LLC – Audubon – Montgomery County – Approved Investment: $100,000

Cross X Platform (CXP) accelerates the capacity of professional services firms to scale and deliver the sustainable results that business leaders expect. CXP’s top-tier clients leverage the company’s shared services platform – including cloud-based collaborative sales and recruiting engines, efficient back-office support, leadership and capital – to increase speed and operational agility to better serve clients and expand the business. And with CXP managing most non-core business functions, clients are in a superior position to improve delivery outcomes and time-to-market advantages across mid-to-large organizations and Fortune 500 companies.

CXP is led by Terry Williams, co-founder and CEO. Williams is also Managing Partner of NextStage Capital, a Mid-Atlantic region venture capital firm focused on financing start-up technology companies.

Christopher Betzler is the co-founder and CFO; and Christopher Mengel is the VP of Marketing.


GroupAppz Inc. – Fort Washington – Montgomery County – Approved Investment: $150,000

As individuals around the world are increasingly turning to social networks as their primary means of accessing information, communicating and collaborating; so are businesses - making it necessary for them to leverage these networks for applications and online computing services.

GroupAppz was founded to address this need, developing mobile and web based apps which improve group-oriented activity. By exploiting the power and widespread adoption of popular social networks and ubiquitous mobile technologies, the company’s platform allows groups and their members to create, manage and share their processes and activities online, build membership, engage with their members, deliver news and information, and conduct commercial transactions, enabling them to be more productive and successful.

The company is led by Stephen Layne, CEO and co-founder. Layne has started five companies, all which have been successfully sold or merged with multinational firms including, Sprint, IBM, Xerox, and The Active Network.

Joseph Cellucci is the CTO and co-founder; and Elizabeth Murray is a co-founder and head of Operations.


PeopleLinx, LLC – Philadelphia – Approved Investment: $150,000

PeopleLinx improves the way businesses respond to the unique challenges and opportunities thrust upon them by social media technologies – such as LinkedIn®, Facebook®, blogs and Twitter®.

While social media presents tremendous opportunities, most organizations lack the strategies, best practices, training, and tools needed to minimize risk while maximizing return on their social media sales and marketing efforts – which is where PeopleLinx steps in, with software that shapes and directs employees’ use of social media tools.
PeopleLinx Advisor™ develops the strategic foundation from which the social media information contained in an organization’s employee database can best be defined, accessed and utilized with optimum efficiency. PeopleLinx Navigator™ provides in-depth training and guidance needed to ensure that personnel set up, maintain and continuously optimize their social presence and usage of social media tools. PeopleLinx Connector™ gives organizations the ability to harness their employees’ collective social network relationships, and leverage that data to drive the goals of both the individual and the organization.

The company is led by Nathan Egan, Chairman & CEO. Prior to PeopleLinx, Nathan was an early employee at LinkedIn, where he helped create and execute the sales process for their corporate solutions.

Other company leaders include Rick Genzer, COO; Patrick Baynes, Senior VP of Social Business Solutions; and Rick Eastland, CFO.


SnipSnap App, LLC – Philadelphia – Approved Investment: $50,000

What if snipping a coupon was as simple as snapping your smartphone camera? That's the idea behind SnipSnap, the first app to scan, save, and redeem printed coupons on your mobile phone.

The technology allows users to more efficiently and effectively organize their coupons, maximize their savings, and be reminded to use their coupons before expiration dates. They are also enabled to share their coupons via social networks.

SnipSnap is successfully taking advantage of much of Philadelphia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. In 2011, the company was shaped by Dreamit Ventures, a nationally renowned entrepreneurial accelerator, which is funded and supported by Ben Franklin. This year, SnipSnap is part of the inaugural class of companies at the Project Liberty Digital Incubator, housed by the Philadelphia Media Network, funded by the Knight Foundation, and operated by Ben Franklin. This April, SnipSnap won Philly Tech Week’s Switch Philly competition.

The company is led by Ted Mann, CEO; Kostas Nasis, CTO; and Kyle Martin, VP of Product.


Syandus, Inc. – Exton – Chester County – Approved Investment: $25,000
(Ben Franklin previously invested $150,000)

In an effort to produce more knowledgeable and experienced doctors, Syandus, Inc. has developed unique medical education programs that use learning simulations to help doctors better learn to diagnose and manage diseases.

ALIVE MedTM Digital Delivery Platform uses simulation models, 3-D animation, and game technology to enable interactive education for healthcare professionals, allowing them to better learn and adopt new therapies.

The intelligent simulations enable doctors and other healthcare practitioners to explore complex disease states, and learn how specific drugs and therapies work in the human body. Rather than watching a video, or a slide presentation, doctors can actually interact with 3D virtual patients, and dive into an organ system to observe the impact of disease.

The company is led by president and CEO Douglas Seifert, Ph.D.


Zonoff, Inc. – Malvern – Chester County – Approved Investment: $200,000

Home automation systems are relatively difficult to install and use, unless one wants to do only one thing, such as lighting. To remedy this problem, Zonoff has developed the Diplomat Home Control Platform – a suite of hardware and software products that integrate into individual automation networks (no matter the brand or function), and make it easy to add new automation products at any time.

Zonoff is also developing software to transform the Connected Home to the Intuitive Home – allowing a Zonoff home automation system to learn and become self-adaptive to the residents’ behaviors. For example, if during weekday evenings residents turn off indoor lights at 11 p.m., then lower the thermostat to 65 degrees followed by activating outdoor lighting and a security camera, only to reverse the process weekday mornings; Zonoff software will learn these actions and automatically invoke them without human interaction.

Automation subsystems that Zonoff can program include window shades, lights, thermostats, home entertainment systems, and more.

Zonoff is a company spin-off of BuLogics, another Ben Franklin portfolio client, focused on establishing wireless control and automation.

The company is led by Mike Harris, Founder and CEO. Harris previously co-founded AnySource Media. AnySource, a Ben Franklin alumni company, was a pioneer of Internet-TV technology that was successfully acquired by DivX in 2009.

Zonoff is also lead by Michael Balog, Ph.D., CTO; Bob Cooper, CMO (acting); and Natalie Cooper, Director of Finance.


* * * *
About Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania is a national, award winning organization for Stimulating Entrepreneurial Potential, through entrepreneurship, technology and innovation. For thirty years, Ben Franklin has provided the 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 $155 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. 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.

Daily Links 7/5/2011: Philly's CityRide gets funding and methodology validaton

CityRyde Gets Funded, and Methodology Validation to Turn Bike Rides into Cash (PR Web)

Slideshow: Most Active VC Firms to Date in 2011 (PE Hub)
First Round Capital fifth most active in terms of number of deals.

Sun Valley Moguls Shift Focus to Media Models (Bloomberg)

Verizon to kill unlimited data plans on July 7 (VentureBeat)

LightSquared gets $265M as the FCC weighs its fate (Gigaom)


Lockheed Martin Team Completes Design Milestone for GPS III Program (PR Newswire)

SAP Business One Gets New Hosted, Subscription Model (PC World)

Deloitte Wants Software Lawsuit Kept Away From Jury (PC World)

ASG Software Group Completes Acquisition of PERFMAN (Business Wire)



permalink

Daily Links 6/30/2011: DreamIt Ventures teams up Ben Franklin Tech Partners, local angel investors, to keep more startups in Philly

Accelerator DreamIt Ventures gets on the cash bandwagon (Gigaom)
Aims to team up with local angels and Ben Franklin Technology Partners to keep more promising startups in Philly.
Ben Franklin press release.

Domain-name expansion likely to create turf wars (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Obama in Philly Thursday
Comcast exec, young professionals host two DNC events to raise campaign cash (NBC Philadelphia)

Comcast Gets Two More Weeks To Respond To Bloomberg Complaint
July 13 Deadline Moved to July 27 (Multichannel News)

Scripps Sets $1 Billion Buyback in Sign Cable Programmer Won’t Seek Buyer (Bloomberg)

Why Adobe is losing the mobile development war (GoMo News)
Lancaster's appMobi introduces appFlash.

Delaware, Philadelphia advertisers team up (Wilmington News Journal)

HP: Break ‘Em Up? (Forbes: The Tech Trade)

SAP’s four dimensions of SaaS success (Enterprise Irregulars)

ShopRunner kicks up the pace
The Amazon Prime competitor plans an e-wallet and a monthly subscription option. (Internet Retailer)
One of the important pieces left over after eBay acquired most of GSI Commerce.

Technology-in-education conference reaches out to tweeters (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Lokadot Launches Free iPhone App for Philadelphians and 'Old City' Tourists for 4th of July Weekend (PR Newswire)



permalink