It has been quite a month for Ben Franklin Technology Partners (BFTP) and their latest roster of funding recipients. A visit from Vice President Joe Biden was just the beginning as BFTP received a $6 million grant to further the efforts of TechVentures, a small business incubator helping new business owners succeed in Pennsylvania. Once the VP had stepped off the podium, it was time to introduce the newest Northeastern business roster, complete with $400,000 in grant funding. Now, two of those companies have been selected to the TechVentures program, giving them business assistance and a temporary home at the newly funded Lehigh University facility.
Electrikus and ElementID will be joining the 23 early-stage firms already at TechVentures. Electrikus has designed a line of smart battery back-up systems for homes and ElementID provides info automation software for businesses. With their facility growing by leaps and bounds, BFTP is excited to offer business services to more companies like Electrikus and Element ID, ones they believe will benefit from an incubator environment.
Many of our companies are looking for a place to start, like two guys in a garage looking for a real office, says Laura Eppler, Director of Marketing for Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The benefits of being in a business incubator are many. There is a shared synergy amongst early-stage firms, referrals to folks in the Ben Franklin solutions network like lawyers and accountants, and everything works gradually as we edge these companies closer and closer to graduating from the incubator.
Since 1983, the BFTP regional site and TechVentures have graduated 44 successful companies, grossing more than $675 million in annual revenue, and creating more than 4,000 jobs. This new facility will create as many as 200 sustainable, highly paid technology jobs and retain 100 more jobs at new, start-up companies in its first three years. It will also provide job and internship opportunities for up to 20 university students each year.
Source: Laura Eppler, Ben Franklin Northeast
Writer: John Steele
