The sum is the organization’s largest quarterly investment to date.
Ben Franklin Technology Partners has started off the fiscal year by setting the bar high. The organization recently announced that it made investments in 25 early-stage Philly-area companies in the first quarter, for a grand total of $4.4 million. And the number is the organization’s largest quarterly investment to date.
In 2016, Ben Franklin decided to double down on Philly’s digital health sector and the commitment to these early stage companies is clear this quarter. The ten deals in the category, which amounted to $2.1 million, represent 40 percent of the quarterly investment total. While there were nine deals in the information technology sector, the sector received about half as much investment dollars as the digital health sector. The organization made six deals across health and Physical sciences industry altogether. Most of Ben Franklin’s investments this quarter were in new companies. About 24 percent of the investment went to companies that Ben Franklin had previously funded.
Read more about the companies in each sector below.
Digital Health
The startups funded in this category include:
- Allevi
Allevi, Inc. wants to help create an ecosystem to create 3D tissues and one-day organs for both pharmaceutical and clinical use. Their platform the Allevi 2 makes it easy for scientist to print and pattern multiple cell types into different geometries. - Stel Life, Inc.
Stel’s mission is to transform the smart vitals devices industry. As healthcare organizations adopt various Internet of Things (IoT) devices, Stel simplifies the landscape by seamlessly connecting bluetooth vitals devices to health records without complex setup, WiFi, or mobile applications. - Guiding Technologies Corp.
Guiding Technologies has developed a software platform called GAINS which incorporates artificial intelligence to transform Applied Behavior Analysis instruction for treating autism. GAINS provides real-time process and decision support for instructors updated by student performance. - Strados Labs
Strados Labs offers a simpler way to manage stress, anxiety, and conditions such as asthma with a patent-pending wearable smart sensors that automatically monitor and log wheezing, coughing, and shallow breathing patterns in real-time. - HGE Health
HGE Health has developed a clinical services platform that enables Providers and their COPD patients to improve a patient’s quality of life and respond to early changes their day-to-day symptoms. - Neuroflow
NeuroFlow is a digital health solution that analyzes real-time biometric data for mental health and enhanced performance applications. - Oncora Medical
Oncora Medical develops software that is revolutionizing the way doctors treat cancer with radiation. Oncora’s vision is to enable data-driven, personalized radiation therapy by providing radiation oncologists with a web-based software platform that allows them to significantly improve the care of their patients using historical data. - Ristcall
RistCall’s mission is to improve patient safety & experience by simplifying patient-nurse communication using smart watches. - Roundtrip
RoundTrip provides healthcare professionals — including case managers, unit secretaries, social workers, nurses and other transport requestors — with a simple, web-based portal and mobile platform that connects patients with on-demand, non-emergency medical transportation such as medical cars, wheelchair vans, and stretcher vehicles when and where they need it.