Ben Franklin announces funding approved for six ventures

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania today announced it had approved funding for six ventures, including three in digital technology, two that are medically oriented, and one that might be considered to be in the"green tech" area. The investments totaled slightly more than $1 million. BFTP's press release is shown below:


Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania Approves More Than $1 Million For Six Early-Stage Companies


October 17, 2011

PHILADELPHIA, PA (www.sep.benfranklin.org) – Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP) recently approved $1,025,000 million for six early-stage companies.

“These companies demonstrate the determination of entrepreneurs to start and run businesses even during the most difficult economic circumstances,” said RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President & CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Companies approved for funding:

AssetVUE - Bristol – Bucks County – Approved Investment: $200,000

AssetVUE provides hardware, strategies, support, assembly and upgrades for data centers. The company has developed an inventory management and migration system based on RFID technology used primarily within the Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) framework. The tool enables data center operations teams to make decisions related to IT asset management and monitoring, IT asset security and, migration of IT assets from an existing to a new facility.

Once assets are in place and validated, AssetVUE ensures those assets stay where they belong with real-time asset tracking and activation of security check points (e.g. located at the doors of the data center, warehouse, shipping dock, or IT staging area).

AssetVue is led by Sean Cotter, President; and Gary Aron, Vice President of Business Development.

Essential Medical, LLC – Wayne – Montgomery County – Approved Investment: $250,000
(Ben Franklin previously invested $250,000)

Essential Medical is developing innovative products for use in cardiac catheterizations in leg arteries.

The company is led by Greg Walters, President and CEO.

MobileReactor LLC (dba OneTwoSee) – Devon – Chester County – Approved Investment: $200,000

OneTwoSee products and services allow TV viewers to use mobile devices to play along with their favorite shows and other viewers in a fun and meaningful way, while providing advertisers with a sophisticated platform for reaching those viewers.

MobileReactor, LLC is led by Chris Reynolds, CEO; Jason Angelides, COO; and Stu Farber, CTO.


Novetas Solutions – Philadelphia – Approved Investment: $200,000
(Ben Franklin previously invested $300,000)

Novetas Solutions processes and markets recycled glass that is crushed through a patent-pending grinding process. The company’s main product, New Age Blast Media, is an alternative, expendable abrasive used for blast cleaning and preparation of surfaces for subsequent painting or coating.

The product has been sold in the US since 2008. Glass grit is becoming a preferred expendable abrasive due to growing health concerns related to traditional blasting media (e.g. crushed coal slag), better productivity, and improved final quality results.

Novetas Solutions is led by Paul Mellon, Jr., President and CEO.


Real-Time Tomography – Villanova – Montgomery County – Approved Investment: $150,000
(Ben Franklin previously invested $425,000)

Real-Time Tomography develops state-of-the-art image processing and image reconstruction solutions for the next generation of 2D and 3D medical imaging systems. Real-Time’s software imaging products are cost-effective and provide efficient solutions for manufacturers of medical imaging systems. These solutions can easily be adapted to optimize new and existing systems, accelerating manufacturers’ products time to market.

Real Time is led by Susan Ng, President and CEO, and Peter Ringer, CTO.

TicketLeap, Inc. – Philadelphia – Approved Investment: $25,000
(Ben Franklin previously invested $500,000)

TicketLeap, Inc. is an e-commerce company that enables event organizers to sell tickets to their events online. Services include event registration, event promotion, and virtual box office software.

The company also provides barcode scanning, instant credit card swiping, customized ticket design, and ticket tracking services.

TicketLeap, Inc. is led by Christopher Stanchak, Founder & CEO; Tim Raybould, CFO; and Keith Fitzgerald, CTO. Christopher Stanchak previously worked at GSI Commerce, a global
e-commerce leader, where he managed the National Hockey League's online operations.


* * * *

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.

Highlights: Last Week on Philly Tech News

I looked at which Philly-area companies show up on the 2011 Information Week 500.

A roundup of some of the major recent events at VC Firm First Round Capital.

A Utah firm acquires Nokia Navteq's Malvern operations, forming a new company named Radiate Media and retaining many jobs in Malvern.

And I report on CEO George Jensen's suspension at USA Technologies (he has since resigned), and explore some history on a Yahoo message board that might be relevant to it.



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Daily Links 10/17/2011: What will happen to Daily Deals market; too many small startups?

SAP boosts third quarter profit on TomorrowNow loss writedown
Currency fluctuations hit operating profit (Computerworld UK)

Cloud impact: SAP changes upgrade and maintenance policies (ZDNet Blogs)

Supply Chain Consultants, Reflecting Its Evolution and Growth as a Software Provider, Changes Name to Arkieva (Business Wire)

Is Boston spawning too many start-ups, and starving growth companies for talent? (Boston Globe: Innovation Economy)
Does the same question apply to the Philadelphia area?

How Critical Is TV Everywhere?
It May Be the Future of Pay Television — But Not All Are Sold (Multichannel News)

Jonathan Storm: Peacock looking plucked as NBC cancels shows (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Scoop: Skype founders gunning for Netflix with Vdio (Gigaom)

Hulu Owners May Seek IPO for Video Website After Halting Auction (Bloomberg)

Why SEI shares lag the market (Philly.com: Philly Deals)

AMETEK Acquires Reichert Technologies (PR Newswire)
One of Ametek's largest deals in a while.

Are daily deals really dying? (GSI Commerce Blog)

Microsoft's plan for bringing its BI tools to iOS, Android, and Windows 8 devices (ZDNet Blogs)



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Synchronoss Exec Speaks to C-Level Peers at NJTC Conference

Esther Surden
Publisher & Editor, New Jersey Tech Weekly

At the two-day New Jersey Technology Council (NJTC) Executive Leadership Summit in Jersey City last month, keynoter Stephen Waldis, chairman, president and CEO of Synchronoss Technologies Inc. (Bridgewater), addressed his fellow C-level executives, explaining his philosophy that “controlled growth over time is the most sustainable” growth and provides the most long-term value.

Later in his speech, Waldis, whose firm has grown from startup to thriving N.J. public company, discussed why much of the firm’s R & D occurs outside N.J. The company chose to locate its global R & D facilities in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, near Lafayette College and Lehigh University, schools with excellent engineering programs. The R & D labs are attractive to engineers from Penn State University as well, Waldis said. Synchronoss employees appreciate being able to work with cutting-edge technology in an area where the cost of living isn’t as high as in New York and New Jersey, Waldis said. He added that the company has acquired developers overseas who are skilled in a certain state-of-the-art software set Synchronoss needed but for which it couldn’t find the talent in the U.S.

At the beginning of his talk, Waldis focused on his company’s growth strategy. Synchronoss, whose flagship ConvergenceNow and ConvergenceNow Plus+ software platforms automate subscriber activation, order management and service provision from any channel to any communications service across any network or device, has grown about 25 percent year over year since its inception. The firm operates using a software as a service (SaaS) business model and gets paid per transaction/customer activation.

When Synchronoss was poised for growth, a key management tool the company used was acquiring a “marquee customer” who could prove the value of the software services. That customer was AT&T Inc. Synchronoss wound up being the company that handled activation of the Apple iPhone via the iTunes store, no small feat. After the company proved its value and its product’s ease of use to AT&T during the iPhone launch, it was able to take that experience and apply it to all its customers. This has led to its acquiring business from other carriers. Recently Verizon Wireless said it would be partnering with Synchronoss to have all new connected devices activated on their new 4G network via the company’s innovation lab as a way to accelerate many more devices on their networks faster and provide a better experience for consumers. Waldis emphasized that Synchronoss examines every aspect of its ongoing operations every year, including ensuring that the person at the top, he himself, has the skills needed to achieve the company’s objectives. He said that its board of directors—populated with individuals who have more business and telecom experience than he does—conducts an annual audit of his abilities and skill level. Synchronoss is equally tough on its managers and execs. As a result, Waldis said, he has drastically changed the kinds of functions he performs and has had to give up control of many tasks he likes to do. However, by ceding control, he has focused on larger issues and helped the firm grow.

While many small businesses start out by employing friends and family—which can be great at the beginning—the latter are not always best for a company’s long-term growth, Waldis added. He told a story about one of his firm’s first executives. That individual was excellent when the company was small but couldn’t handle the multitasking involved in running a larger company and had trouble keeping the many balls in the air. His point to fellow executives: at every stage of growth, make sure your executives’ skill sets and abilities are compatible with your company’s objectives.

Waldis shared that he had learned a lot from working with Apple on the iPhone release because Steve Jobs and other employees were relentless in their focus on the customer’s experience. They needed to know exactly what would happen as a result of each action a customer might take. Innovative companies don’t introduce products that are only 80 percent ready to go, Waldis said; they focus on the remaining 20 percent, even though it’s the hardest part to execute.

The Leadership Summit included a CEO of the Year award ceremony, which took place on the second day. Honored were Steven Abramson, president and CEO of Universal Display Corp. (Ewing), named Public CEO of the Year; John Bailye, CEO of EKR Therapeutics Inc. (Bedminster), named Private CEO of the Year; and Caren Franzini, CEO of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (Trenton), Not-for-Profit CEO of the Year.



Esther Surden is Publisher and Editor of   New Jersey Tech Weekly , and a contributor to Philly Tech News. This article originally appeared in New Jersey Tech Weekly.



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Philly Tech People News 10/16/2011

Monetate Names Bruce Ernst VP of Product Management (PR Web)

Comcast Ventures Appoints Tina Warner to Lead Communications, Marketing and Brand Awareness from New Headquarters in the Bay Area (Business Wire)

Canoe Names A&E's Kelly VP Of Affiliate Relations
Advanced-Ad Venture Also Officially Announces Hiring of Bokor, Patel and Promotion of Pizzuro (Multichannel News)

SCTE announces board, operations committee (CED Magazine)
The Society of Telecommunications Engineers is based in Exton.

ValueVision Appoints Customer Advocacy Veteran Nancy Kunkle as Senior Vice President of Customer Experience (Marketwire)
Another QVC vet goes to ShopNBC.

ISGN Corp. names Gupta CFO (Housing Wire)

Richard J. Carroll Promoted to Chief Business Development Officer at IPR International, LLC (Press Release)

Utah firm acquires Nokia Navteq's Malvern operations; forms Radiate Media

Tom Paine

A Salt Lake City-based company, Matchbin (now Radiate Media), has acquired Nokia Navteq's Traffic.com operations in Malvern, it announced yesterday. Nokia had announced on September 29 that it would close the Malvern office, as I reported. Chris Rothey, former head of NAVTEQ Media Solutions, will become Radiate Media’s new chief executive officer. Radiate Media will continue to provide traffic content solutions through an ongoing arrangement with Navteq. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Radiate Media's press release says it has "has over 230 employees located in Malvern, Pa., Salt Lake City, Utah, and other offices across the United States". Joe DiStefano reports in the Inquirer that Radiate Media’s President and COO Hal Widlansky (previously CEO of Matchbin) says all 191 engineers, technicians, sales people, and other Traffic.com workers in the Malvern office are now employees of the combined Matchbin-Traffic.com. But Navteq said at the time the shutdown was announced that 300 employees in Malvern would be impacted, so its not clear what will happen to the other 100 or so employees.

The headquarters of the combined company was not specified, although its CEO and about 80% of its employees are located in Malvern.



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DreamIt-Backed CloudMine Lets App Developers Bypass The Backend Pain, Focus On Their Product (TechCrunch)

Without Dennis Ritchie, there would be no Jobs (ZDNet Blogs)

Daily Links 10/14/2011: Union Square invests in Gabriel Weinberg's DuckDuckGo

Overnight line for iPhone in Center City (Philly.com)

Union Square invests in search engine Duck Duck Go (VentureBeat)

DuckDuckGo is growing - welcome USV et al.! (Gabriel Weinberg's Blog)

Hulu Owners Cancel Auction, Will Keep Control of Video Service (Bloomberg)

Hulu: Analysts Weigh in on Future of Company, CEO Jason Kilar (Hollywood Reporter)

SAP Reports Higher Third-Quarter Earnings; Stock Climbs (Bloomberg)

SAP pre-announces strong Q3 results (ZDNet Blogs)

Dell World: Boomi's Reach Expands (Information Week)
Expect a major announcement about enhancements to its product line next week.

Netflix: FiOS Internet Is Actually Best For Streaming
Company Publishes Updated Numbers That Separate Telcos' DSL and Fiber-Based Services (Multichannel News)

USA Technologies CEO suspended amid probe into Internet posts

Tom Paine

Malvern-based USA Technologies, a provider of cashless payment solutions for vending machines, said yesterday in a filing with the SEC that chairman and CEO George Jensen had been suspended pending a probe into internet posts he had made, the nature of which have not yet been specified.

The company says it expects Jensen will resign his positions as chairman, CEO and board member "in the near future". Chief Operating Officer Stephen Herbert is serving as interim CEO.

Jensen has served as CEO of USA Technologies since 1992. The company says whatever it was he did will not impact its historical financial results.

USA Technologies (NASDAQ: USAT) shares are down 15.5% to $1.20 so far today.

More as it develops.



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Daily Links 10/13/2011: TruePosition says standards manipulated by competition

What We Are Seeing (A VC)

CLWR Soars 16%: Pre-Announces Q3 Revenue, Profit Upside (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

Liberty Media Unit (Berwyn-based TruePosition) Says Standards Manipulated By Competitors (Forbes)

First Azure-hosted Microsoft ERP service due in Fall 2012 (ZDNet Blogs)
Thats a year from now.

Dell Puts Recent Acquisitions to Work (PC World)

Connectify Brings Iridium Global Network Connectivity to Wi-Fi-Enabled Devices (PR Newswire)
The Philly-based company recently received funding from an investment firm connected to the US Intelligence community.

Waste Management Announces Strategic Investment in Recycle Rewards (PR Newswire)
I am still skeptical about Recycle Rewards'(Recyclebank"s) economics; it has been a close call in several communities and there are some who have chosen not to renew.

Deal With Time Warner Brings the CW to Netflix (New York Times: Media Decoder)




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First Round Capital Roundup 10/12/2011

What's new in the world of First Round Capital

Tom Paine

Two of First Round Capital's most recent investments are in Pantheon, a San Fransisco-based SaaS platform for Drupal sites, and Kiwi Crate, a subscription service that delivers hands-on crafts and activities for young children (see Josh Kopelman's blog post on Kiwi Crate and the subscription business model ). Seth Goldstein, co-founder of Turntable.fm, was among the other investors in Kiwi Crate.

One venture that is perhaps a bit different than First Round's typical portfolio company is California-based DNAnexus, which today announced a $15 million funding round led by Google Ventures and TPG Biotech, with First Round participating. DNAnexus is focused on delivering a cloud-based solution for "big data analysis" of DNA to both the commercial and academic communities. First Round Capital led a $1.55 million round in the company in 2009, a fact that I had entirely missed up to now. First Round's Rob Hayes is on the DNAnexus board.
Simultaneously with the funding announcement, DNANexus announced a technology collaboration with Google to provide access to "the most comprehensive archive of publicly available DNA data through a hosted Sequence Read Archive (SRA) site". It will maintain the database previously managed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), which is phasing out support of the SRA due to Federal budget cuts. DNAnexus will use Google Cloud Storage to host the database and provide continued access for medical research.

Looking for more FRC activity in the Philly area? Josh Kopelman recently tweeted: "Cool stealth mode #FRC Philly company is looking for interns. Office is near @upenn. Any @Wharton students interested? If so @ message me". No word on what type of company this might be yet. The only other active Philly-area based companies in First Round's portfolio that I know of now are Lifeshield Security, Monetate, PackLate, and Relay Network, which is still in somewhat of a stealth mode. New York-based Solve Media has an office here. Am I missing any?

Kopelman also tweeted that GrubWithUs, the Chicago-based website that lets people plan and join in dinner get-togethers at restaurants, was now available in Philadelphia, although there is no indication of that yet on the GrubWithUs site.

TaskRabbit's founder, Leah Busque, is stepping down as CEO, it was announced today, to be replaced by former Hotwire CEO Eric Grosse. Busque will remain in a key role; though it hasn't been exactly determined, it will likely be product-focused. Boston-based TaskRabbit, which helps users find people to whom they can souces out errands, raised a $5 million Series A round from Shasta Ventures and First Round in May.

Mobile payment processor Square, which raised $100 million in June with a +$1 billion valuation, says it is now processing payments at a $2 billion annual rate. Twitter Executive Chairman Jack Dorsey is founder and CEO of Square. Meanwhile, web-based banking startup BankSimple, which also has a Twitter pedigree (BankSimple co-founder Alex Payne) announced it will be going live next month. The company will also be moving its headquarters from New York to Portland, Oregon.

On demand car service Uber recently launched in Chicago and Seattle, but nothing happening in Philly yet.


New York-based LiveIntent, which delivers display ads within emails, last month closed $8 million in Series B funding lead by Shasta Ventures, with other earlier investors including FRC participating in the round. Another adtech venture in First Round's portfolio, Yieldex, raised $10 million led by Triangle Peak Partners and Hearst Interactive Media, along with previous investor Amazon, bringing the New York firm's total funding to about $22 million.


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