BEN FRANKLIN TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS is a partner in Keystone Edge. They will be sharing insights from their leadership and news from their portfolio companies in the Ben Franklin On: section.
Once again, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern Pennsylvania (BFTP/CNP) solicited budding entrepreneurs, researchers, software developers and existing small businesses for its annual BIG IDEA contest.
To help kick off the Startup Alleghenies initiative, this year’s contest targeted the counties located in the Southern Alleghenies and Central PA. The response was amazing. In less than two months, nearly 2,000 people visited the site and more than 100 uploaded the application. It was a difficult job, the preliminary judges narrowed the pool of contestants down to ten. On October 6, these entrepreneurs were notified that they are finalists.
The Ten Finalists:
- Adam Stokes with muonSoft (Blair County)
- Anthony Biddle with Siterite (Blair County)
- Heather Moyer with Crossroads Consulting (Cambria County)
- Ryan Kieta with Real Design (Cambria County)
- Justin Capouellez with Boomerang Beacon (Cambria County)
- Hunter Swisher with Phospholutions (Centre County)
- James Wang with SimplrTechnologies (Centre County)
- Donald Nixon with Nixon’s Technical Service (Clearfield County)
- Joseph DiGangi with AssureTech (Huntingdon County)
- Mark Kasterko with MT Arms (Somerset County)
This year’s cash prizes will be awarded to four winners: First Place: $25,000; Second Place: $15,000; Third Place: $7,500; and a People’s Choice Award: $2,500.
In Addition To The $25,000, The First Place Winner Will Also Receive:
- A Pre-Seed Grant from Ben Franklin valued at up to $10,000
- A one-year pass to seminars offered by Ben Franklin’s eMarketing Learning Center valued at $3,000
- A free consult (and proposal prep), valued at $3,000 on how to access Federal R&D grant money from the Innovation Partnership.
Ben Franklin Technology Partners has been running our risk-free BIG IDEA contests for nearly 20 years. The winners will be announced on November 16, 2017.