Building 100 Innovation Center Open House Brings Together Network of Like Minded Parties
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Building 100 Innovation Center Open House Brings Together Network of Like Minded Parties
Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania held their Starving Entrepreneur Annual Open House this past Wednesday. In attendance were portfolio companies, network partners and executives at Ben Franklin’s Navy Yard headquarters in the Building 100 Innovation Center.
BFTP/SEP is a branch of the economic development program focused on building the technology-based economy through funding, business development and partnerships with regional networks. Ben Franklin strengthens education, research and development and commercialization by engaging and partnering with both early stage and developed enterprises.
Generally, Ben Franklin works with a portfolio company by identifying like minded parties within their network able to assist and collaborate with the company which will also get a series of loans and or grants to develop innovative technology with significant commercial potential. People at the event were members of this network including alumni who share their experiences and mentor the newer crop of companies.
Last year at this time Ben Franklin was celebrating its 25th anniversary, and the move of BFTP/SEP headquarters from Market St. to the new Navy Yard location. The Philadelphia Navy Yard is located in South Philadelphia on the Delaware River, and was the first naval base established in the United States. During the closing of the base in 1995 the City and PIDC quickly took action and began to develop the area as an office, research and industrial park. The Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) is a private organization that leverages resources to accelerate employment in the region. PIDC is currently developing the energy based tech park to better support the burgeoning Philadelphia green economy. The Navy Yard is a designated Keystone Innovation Zone/Keystone Opportunity Zone KIZ/KOZ allowing companies that locate to the Navy Yard competitive incentives for doing business in the area.
BFTP/SEP moved into the newly transformed barracks which has become the Building 100 Innovation Center, to centralize their operations in a location perfectly suited to accommodate the regions growing green energy sector. The Innovation Center now houses BFTP/SEP offices and incubator space; the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center (DVIRC); a Penn State University engineering program, offering Masters of Software Engineering and Masters of Systems Engineering degrees; Drexel University offices; and Emerald Stage2 Ventures, a venture fund initially seeded by Ben Franklin that now invests primarily in Med IT companies.
The gathering was held in the foyer of the Building 100 Innovation Center where nearly 100 members of the community dined on Pizza, chips and soda, the topic of discussion was largely a sharing of strategies and advice depending on whom you spoke with, some of the attendees were alumni sharing stories of recent contracts signed; while others were entrepreneurs relatively new to Ben Franklin, busy conducting market research for new ventures. Ben Franklin’s plan revolves around cooperation and involvement to combine outside expertise and in-house know-how in a sustainable arena that generates fresh ideas and new perspectives to tried and true wisdom with the key points of knowledge, capital and networks.
Some of the companies present were:
- Monetate http://www.monetate.com
- Collages.net http://www.collages.net
- DermAvance http://www.dermavance.com
- Audiofy http://www.audiofy.com
- BuLogics http://www.bulogics.com
There was a lot of energy in the air over prospects for the coming year, and a sense of purpose that dictates: good ideas can become reality. With help they can be turned into businesses that will build a new economy that is environmentally friendly, able to create jobs that are high paying and intellectually rewarding, and in the process make our lives better. One of the points that became clear is that when building or investing in a company it is important to understand that there are a number of factors to consider, one being that many times the investments are made with people who are compatible with the principles of the organization, and able to adapt in the long-term to changing markets and economies; finally it is important to have an idea that will actually be of benefit, supported by solid evidence, coherently demonstrated to individuals who are able to put money behind the people and ideas shaping the economy and landscape.
Read more
BFTP/SEP http://www.sep.benfranklin.org
Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) http://www.pidc-pa.org
Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center (DVIRC) http://www.dvirc.org
Penn State University at the Navy Park http://www.sgps.psu.edu/prospective/ academicprograms/engineering/navy_yard/engineering.ashx?linkidentifier=id&itemid=672
Philadelphia Navy Yard http://www.navyyard.org
Emerald Stage2 Ventures http://www.s2vc.com
For a complete list of tenants of Building 100 Innovation Center http://www.sep.benfranklin.org/who/tenants.html
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