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North Philadelphia is getting a digital makeover, thanks to a new initiative between Wilco Electronic Systems, Inc. and Temple University. "What we're trying to do is create a new urban ecosystem for digital entrepreneurship in North Philadelphia," says Brigitte Daniel, Executive VP of Wilco. 

 

Daniel, who just returned from an Eisenhower Fellowship-funded tour of some very impoverished areas of the world, sees mobile apps as the most effective way to bridge the digital divide.

"In Southeast Asia, people went right from landline phones to mobile phones, leapfrogging over fiber optics and wired technology and going right to wireless networks," she explains. "In the US, the majority of our apps are for gaming and entertainment. In the last two years, we've developed more social service and government apps. Very shortly, we're going to see in low income populations that the mobile phone and tablet will be the pre-eminent way for everyone to access broadband information and content."

 

Daniel says the new partnership with Temple, launched in the beginning of 2012 with the Urban Apps & Maps Studio and funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration, will target Philadelphia Housing Authority residents.

"We are calling this a public-private-people partnership because it is a collaborative effort between an educational institution and a private company that puts North Philadelphia communities, including residents, right at the center of the development process," says Daniel. "This is an area that has not experienced the same renaissance as West Philadelphia. It's an interesting opportunity to have more impact on the surrounding community than any other school in Philadelphia."

 

Daniel cites not only the digital divide, but the cultural divide between Temple students and low income residents, who live side by side. "There's been some tension between the community and the school." The initiative both encourages students to solve nearby urban problems and offers training to PHA residents. The project could have implications on a national scale.

 

Daniel credits Temple Vice Provost for Research and Business Development Tony Lowman with helping to get the new initiative off the ground, and offering an opportunity not only to develop apps for PHA residents, but with their help as well. Lowman, previously at Drexel, was the leading academic partner in the Freedom Rings Sustainable Broadband Adoption Partnership. Drexel provided 5,000 laptops to PHA residents as part of the Freedom Rings Partnership.

 

Daniel says, "If we implement this well and get the community engaged, it will be inviting, not intimidating." Some of the ideas for apps to build include streamlining the way PHA residents can find social services, and get easier access to health care and educational materials. Daniel expects measurable results in two to three years.

Source: Brigitte Daniel, Wilco Electronic Systems, Inc.
Writer: Sue Spolan
 

Drexel University looks at the entire region as an extension of its campus. Ideas flow like steam beneath Philadelphia's streets. Two professors in different departments are heading multidisciplinary teams that merge new technology with Philadelphia traditions. 

 

In collaboration with the Academy of Natural Sciences, the plan to print 3D dinosaurs has already gained national attention. In the area of music technology, Professor Youngmoo Kim is developing the first app to do real time annotation of Philadelphia Orchestra performances. The Drexel-generated iOS orchestra app will be the first of its kind in the world.

 

Paleontologist Ken Lacovara is in the process of reanimating dinosaurs. Before you jump to the obvious Jurassic Park conclusion, there are a lot of steps in between. Lacovara, a paleontologist, has teamed up with Dr. James Tangorra in Drexel's College of Engineering to scan and print out 3D dinosaur bones. 

 

Also on board is Drexel Mechanical Engineering prof Sorin Siegler, whose focus is biomechanics. "We don’t really know exactly how dinosaurs moved," says Lacovara, who wonders how a creature weighing 60 to 80 tons could move and trot. Not to mention lay an egg. 

 

With a birth canal opening at two and a half stories in the air, and an egg the size of a volleyball, Lacovara wonders how the massive dino would withstand the stress of squatting and getting up. With the help of his colleagues, creating 3D models and working out the biomechanics will answer literally tons of questions.

 

Over in Drexel's METLab, whch stands for Music, Entertainment and Technology, Youngmoo Kim takes a break from a robotics demonstration to talk about his collaboration with The Philadelphia Orchestra. It started a few years ago, when Kim made his students sit through a classical concert. "Those without classical training said, yeah, that was nice, but I didn't get it," recalls Kim. It was around the same time the iPhone came out, so he and students undertook a project to create an app that would tell listeners about the performance in real time. 
 

It was such a hit that Kim and students applied for and won the Knight Arts Challenge. While Kim cannot be specific about the date of the public rollout, he says it will be within the year. Perhaps the launch will coincide with the orchestra's 2012-2013 season opener this fall, but Kim remains mum.
 

Kim also says that not every concert will have an accompanying app, so concertgoers who find smartphone use distasteful can choose performances without the tech overlay.

 

"There used to be a brouhaha over supertitles at the opera," says Kim, who has dual training in music and engineering. "Ten to twenty years later no one cares. If you go to an opera now and there are no subtitles, something seems wrong. Likewise, 10 to 20 years from now, no one will care if someone uses a phone at the symphony."

Source: Ken Lacovara, Youngmoo Kim, Drexel University
Writer: Sue Spolan

It's not Texas tea, but it's worth its weight in gold. Holganix, based in Glen Mills, Delaware County, has developed a sustainable and organic turf nutrient system derived from compost tea with a secret living ingredient: microbes. Holganix just received $200,000 in funding from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, following a previous $250,000 funding round in February 2011 for its environmentally safe holistic and organic lawn fertilizer.

Today, Holganix, which employs 17, celebrates its second anniversary. Founded in 2010, the company made $200,000 its first year, and projects revenues of $3 million in 2012, according to founder and CEO Barrett Ersek.

 

Those lush green campus lawns and rolling golf courses come at a high price to the environment, sprayed with chemical fertilizers and pesticides which then run off into local waterways.

 

Ersek says his environmentally benign product dramatically reduces a major source of runoff pollution by eliminating the need for conventional pesticides and herbicides. He points to a dead zone the size of New Jersey in the Gulf of Mexico, which was brought about by chemical runoff from the Mississippi River. 

 

The secret in the Holganix formula is life. The lawn care spray actually contains beneficial microorganisms made without animal or human by-products. Right now, the liquid product requires refrigeration prior to application, and Ersek says his team is also working on a granulated formula, which will capture the other 50% of the lawn care market.

 

Ersek says the first round of Ben Franklin funding went to a validation study conducted at three universities. North Carolina State, Penn State and Purdue University all reported dramatic reduction, up to 88%, in the need to add nitrogen as a fertilizer following Holganix treatment. The Holganix formula also attacks weeds, drastically reducing the need for pesticides.

 

Ersek reports that his primary customer base is in the mid-Atlantic, with a rapidly growing clientele among the Amish and Mennonite communities, who appreciate the all natural formula. Holganix is also making its way south, now negotiating with companies in Florida. Holganix is primarily a B2B distributor, but also deals directly with large institutions.

The potential market for an organic lawn care product is huge. According to Ersek, there are 44 million acres of manicured turf in the US, and over a million acres of golf courses. The Holganix formula may also be applied to shrubs and crops.

 

The idea for the business literally rose from the ashes. Ersek, who had built and sold two lawn care companies, had stockpiled fertilizer in 2008, anticipating a 60% price spike. The warehouse went up in flames. "One of our core values is gratitude," says Ersek. "Look for greater potential in every situation. You can't control what happens to you. If you respond with gratitude, you'll be OK. The loss forced me to find a better alternative."

Source: Barrett Ersek, Holganix
Writer: Sue Spolan

Philadelphia based Leadnomics is growing so fast that it's hard to project how big the lead generator will get this year. Since its inception in 2007, the company has grown 3,932%, according to Inc Magazine, which in 2011 ranked Leadnomics No. 48 in advertising and marketing companies nationwide. 

 

Stephen Gill, Leadnomics CEO, says projections for 2012 are difficult due to rapid growth, but notes that there are now over 25 full time employees at the lead generation company. "The conversion process is an art and a science," explains Gill, who works with a vast national network of hundreds of lead buyers. "There are a lot of companies in marketing, but we are a marketing and technology company," says Gill. "Our model is like Lending Tree or Service Magic." Customers are captured via search marketing and are led to a Leadnomics powered page. "All of our customers are delivered in real time."

 

Leadnomics, with $5.8 million in reported annual revenue in 2010, works with nationally scalable companies in insurance, financial services, education and brand partnerships, reaching tens of thousands of potential customers a day, according to Gill, who plans to move into mortgages, senior care and home services in the coming months.

 

Gill has been working in the interactive world since 2003, starting his first business, which provided online tech support, while still in high school. At Rowan University, Gill says he stumbled into marketing. "I started doing paid search marketing for clients in dating and eCommerce." He met Leadnomics co-founder Zach Robbins at Rowan, and the duo moved from New Jersey to Philadelphia in 2009.

 

Today's expansive offices in the Cira Center are a vast improvement over previous incarnations, which included a home based office as well as workspace leased from a law firm. The 10,000 square foot space allows for company growth. "I hope we will have enough room here," says Gill. "We try to scale the business. People are not proportional to revenue." Nonetheless, Leadnomics is offering hiring bonuses for developers and online media buyers, which it is actively recruiting.

 

Gill attributes the company's success to the combination of proprietary technology and a marketing background. "Conversion is key," he says of leads. "Consumers want to get to a site that's trusted and safe. They are searching for a solution to a problem. The customer first sees you, and you bring them down a funnel. You get them comfortable talking to you before you ask for a lot of personal information."

 

Gill also looks forward to expanding the company's presence in New York City, where he plans on expanding the satellite sales office to accommodate a greater number of New York based clients.

Source: Stephen Gill, Leadnomics
Writer: Sue Spolan
 

Sumo moves. Last time we checked in, Sumo Heavy Industries was operating as a virtual company. The eCommerce design, development and consulting firm takes that whole location, location, location thing very seriously and is now at Fourth and South.

 

"It's very grown up," says Bart Mroz, who leads a tour of the multilevel space. "Altogether we are now 25 people," says Mroz, who began the company with partner Bob Brodie in 2010. He says the fifth floor suite at 525 South 4th Street can hold around 10 people, with five now working in the space. 

 

Sumo's windows overlook the TLA. Inside, Mroz and team handle the online retail needs of clients including Eternal, Bonobos and Listrak. "We're planning on hiring," says Mroz, who is looking to woo developers and project managers. "We buy lunch every day." 

 

Sumo is on a two week billing cycle. "Everything we do is based on two weeks. Our structure, our billing, and our jobs. We break out projects in two week sprints, and our clients and contractors get paid every two weeks," say Mroz.

 

"We went from four clients to six or seven clients in the last year," says Mroz, who attributes growth to word of mouth. "Most of our clients are long term engagements."

And as far as Sumo Heavy taking on South Street?

"We don't need much. Give us Internet access and we're good to go."

Source: Bart Mroz, Sumo Heavy
Writer: Sue Spolan

Source: Gretjen Clausing, Deborah Rudman, PhillyCAM
Writer: Sue Spolan

The pleasant sound of a Lokalty chime will soon be audible all over University City. Philly start up Lokalty, which rewards frequent local shoppers and cross promotes merchants, is now expanding westward from Center City. Over a dozen UC merchants have signed on since the company crossed the banks of the Schuylkill about a week ago. 

 

Launched in October 2011 by Penn grads Balu Chandrasekaran, Philip Tribe and Bipen Sasi, the name Lokalty is derived from Local plus Loyalty. "These days, business names are influenced by a domain name search," says Chandrasekaran, who changed the C to a K. But the uniqueness of the name is actually a good thing, adds Tribe, who comes from a product design background. "Lokal business means it's in our network," he says. The company tagline, "Keep it Lokal," has become a bit of a marketing boost.

 

Lokalty membership is not tied to a credit card, unlike LevelUp, which isn't a direct competitor except in the area of retail counter real estate. Both companies use a dedicated smartphone built into a plastic box to read customer QR or bar codes. 

 

Lokalty is a cloud supported consolidated version of all the separate customer loyalty tags people carry in wallets and on keychains. The idea is that when you earn points for shopping at one Lokalty business, you can reap rewards at any business in the Lokalty network. Buy enough coffee at Elixr and get free food at Manakeesh.

 

Growing the company has been tricky, says Chandrasekaran, who says he and his partners have taken on a difficult task, marketing to businesses and consumers at the same time. "It's the classic chicken and egg problem." While Lokalty means marketing for retailers, "most small business owners would rather hear sales pitches that address the cost side instead of the revenue side."

 

The business benefits of Lokalty participation may take time, but Chandrasekaran cites the example of newcomer Spread Bagelry, which saw several dozen new customers directly related to Lokalty participation. The participating merchant is privy to valuable metrics, and can get to know customers on a first name basis. Lokalty, says Chandrasekaran, is a year round marketing program, as opposed to less frequent offers like discount coupons and seasonal sales.

 

The fully bootstrapped Lokalty is set to release a new version of its smartphone app within the next few weeks, according to Tribe, and the company, which launched with 7 merchants and is now up to 29, hopes to achieve critical mass via placement in dozens more businesses around Philadelphia and the Main Line. 

Source: Balu Chandrasekaran, Philip Tribe, Lokalty
Writer: Sue Spolan

He has a big, long, hard to pronounce name, so Gigi Kizhakkechethipuzha generally goes by the moniker Gigi K in Philadelphia entrepreneurial circles. Kizhakkechethipuzha's website Free Court Dockets is, he says, the only place online to get a federal case docket for free. The site, with a brand new design, will relaunch on or before February 14.

Otherwise, attorneys and legal researchers must use the Public Access to Court Records (PACER) Case Records locator system, which is about to raise prices 25 percent, from $.08 to .10 per page, starting in April 2012.

 

Kizhakkechethipuzha explains that while researchers have been charged per page for US District Civil or Criminal, US Bankruptcy, US Appellate, US Federal Claims, or US International Trade records since 2005, 14 universities were exempt until 2009, when even that avenue was closed.

According to an article in Ars Technica, "PACER locks public documents behind a paywall, lacks a reasonable search engine, and has an interface that's inscrutable to non-lawyers."

 

While activist Carl Malamud and Senator Joe Lieberman fought for the public's right to access to the documents, the paywall remains, and the search function remains a hurdle for lay audiences. Two large firms, LexisNexis and Westlaw, offer a more user friendly interface, but that ease comes at a premium price.

The King of Prussia startup Free Court Dockets has a different pricing structure, explains Kizhakkechethipuzha. The cost of obtaining the records will be covered by advertising revenue on the site and user donations.
 

Kizhakkechethipuzha, who lives in Collegeville, originally got into legal information services via inspiration delivered nearly to his front door. His neighbor, an attorney, was explaining how court scheduling orders often got mixed up, and a lawsuit could result from a missed court date. Kizhakkechethipuzha developed Docket Digest, which was an automated system to download and extract court dates to keep attorney calendars straight. While Docket Digest is no longer in existence, Free Court Dockets grew out of it.

Kizhakkechethipuzha, whose office is in King of Prussia, also operates several other startups, including Courtport, for legal research, Gami LLC, which offers outsourced business processes and applications (Kizhakkechethipuzha works with developers based in India), and Talentoid, an online job recruitment resource.

Source: Gigi Kizhakkechethipuzha, Free Court Dockets
Writer: Sue Spolan

It would be incredibly useful to predict disasters before they happen. That's the goal of Near-Miss Management, a new company co-founded by Ulku Oktem and Ankur Pariyani, who met at the University of Pennsylvania, where Oktem taught and Pariyani received his PhD. 

 

Suppose the BP Gulf oil spill could have been prevented. Or the disaster in Bhopal. Oktem and Pariyani have created the remarkable, patent pending, Dynamic Risk Predictor Suite, comprised of three software programs and four add-ons that are able to predict major problems before they happen, saving billions of dollars annually.

 

"It's an area I started to work on more than 10 years ago," recalls Oktem, who is a senior research fellow at the Wharton School in the Risk Management and Decision Processes Center. "We started out focusing on personal near misses." For example, if a worker slips, but doesn't fall down, that's considered a near miss and an indicator of future problems. 

 

Oktem says the science of close calls has been gaining momentum. It was her work with the chemical industry that sparked an interest in practical applications of a problem that was previously in the realm of academic theory. "Near misses are a leading indicator of accidents," says Oktem. If you look back at unfolding events in the aftermath, adds Pariyani, there will always be several near misses leading up to any major accident.

 

The software suite Near-Miss Management has developed is designed initially to address issues in the chemical industry, and will easily apply to a wide range of businesses, including airlines, pharmaceuticals, energy, defense, finance and insurance.

 

"We expect that once our software is running in a few plants, it will catch on very fast," says Oktem, who cites an annual loss of about $10 billion in the chemical industry due to accidents and unexpected shutdowns. "People who are responsible for risk management of chemical plants are a close knit group. The key is getting the first few companies, and we expect to do that this year."

 

The bootstrapped Near-Miss Management, based in Center City, includes three on the management team and five programmers. Near-Miss Management will demonstrate its software tomorrow at the upcoming Philly Tech Meetup at the Quorum of the University City Science Center.

Source: Ulku Oktem, Ankur Pariyani, Near-Miss Management
Writer: Sue Spolan

Zaahah is a new collaborative search and online desktop that combines beauty and brains. James Sisneros, who created the recently launched site under the aegis of his company startUP Productions LLC, has just raised seed funding from a group of independent angel investors from South Jersey. The undisclosed sum will carry the startup for the next six months, according to Sisneros, who begins seeking a Series A round this week. 

 

Sisneros came up with the idea for Zaahah while taking an executive course at Wharton. The platform takes social search one step further. First, Zaahah allows users to separate work, personal and academic profiles, rather than lump them all into one massive favorites bin.

 

But the real genius of Zaahah is in the networking. When search results are returned, Zaahah lets users know who else is searching on the same topic. Users can communicate in a completely firewalled manner. Each user has an anonymous Zaahah email address. This functionality will be particularly helpful for researchers at different academic institutions or companies. 

 

"It will eliminate redundant effort," explains Sisneros. "If we are in different offices searching on the same problem, we will see that." Students across the country will be able to connect on shared topics. Zaahah also allows users to chat in real time as well as store search criteria, annotated results and related documents in the cloud.

 

Sisneros has teamed up with Edventure Partners to launch Zaahah through colleges and universities nationwide. "There are classes at 12 universities who will market Zaahah for the semester. They're responsible for market research and public campaigns. A team of 300 people is doing the marketing for me." Sisneros has a four year exclusive agreement with Edventures, which will be marketing his search engine at 66 universities over the next two years. Zaahah now employs three developers and two marketing specialists, all on a full time contract basis.

 

Zaahah, which can also be accessed via browser plug-in, does not look like any other search engine out there. As opposed to a blank slate, the landing page is filled with attractive images that correspond to popular search terms. Ads run down the right side of the page. Sisneros also plans to create a hybrid advertising and discount program for Zaahah users, who will receive eight email offers a month for deals on products and services based on search topics.

Source: James Sisneros, Zaahah
Writer: Sue Spolan

You can PackLate if you want to. Steve Barsh, CEO of the Conshohocken based vacation rental company, reports explosive growth in recent months following a deal with Travel Holdings Inc., and its better known subsidiary Tourico Holidays, a worldwide distributor of vacation property rentals via massive travel sites. "If you go on the American Airlines website and book a vacation home, it’s a PackLate property," explains Barsh, as one example.  While PackLate's involvement  on these larger sites is unbranded, according to Barsh, PackLate still reaps the benefits, receiving a commission for each rental.

After raising $1 million in seed funding from colleagues in the VC world, PackLate is poised to double staff this year. With six employees now, Barsh is actively seeking developers to expand the business. He is also looking for office space in Center City, and has a very specific picture in his head: a century old, well-varnished hardwood floors, lots of light and exposed brick. PackLate, reports Barsh, is also about to enter a series A round of fundraising.

The company started for fairly personal reasons. Barsh, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist who was a partner in DreamIt Ventures, owns vacation rental properties in Park City, Utah. While trying to rent the properties through popular sites like VRBO, he and his wife realized that there was a lot lacking, like real time functionality. Typically, a renter locates an owner's listing, inquires via email or phone, sends a check and waits for confirmation. The whole process from discovery to confirmation can take days.

By contrast, PackLate provides instant payment and instant confirmation. The other big difference bedsides timeliness, says Barsh, is that PackLate works solely with property managers, not individual owners, and that’s how it is able to offer real time booking capability. It’s a different psychographic from AirBnB customers, says Barsh. PackLate started as a B to C company, and Barsh describes the recent partnership with Travel Holdings as a 90 degree pivot, repositioning as a B to B company and solving a distribution problem. It is still possible, additionally, for individuals to book properties on the site directly.

The great majority of PackLate bookings are inbound US travelers, with Florida at the top of the itinerary. He notes that Orlando is the number 2 travel destination in the world, bested only by Paris. Vacation homes are hot right now, says Barsh. People the world over crave an authentic travel experience, as opposed to a hotel stay.

If you are interested in joining the PackLate team, the top job requirement is a positive attitude, says Barsh, who offers unlimited vacation time and lots of travel for interested developers.

Source: Steve Barsh, PackLate
Writer: Sue Spolan

The shark, it turns out, has an immune system worthy of human envy. Biotech startup Ossianix, located at the University City Science Center, is developing groundbreaking immune system treatments based on antibodies found specifically in the shark. "In terms of evolutionary biology, the shark has one of the the simplest immune systems. It is a much smaller antibody structure than in humans, but still very potent," says Ossianix founder and CEO Frank Walsh. "You can engineer that structure to attack a whole variety of pathologies."

Ossianix just announced a strategic investment by global pharmaceutical giant H. Lundbeck A/S in the form of a Convertible Promissory Note. While the exact dollar amount has not been disclosed, Walsh says the investment will cover the next three years in the life of his very early stage research company. Ossianix hopes to grow to 10 employees by the end of 2012. Walsh is also seeking standard funding from several pharmaceuticals.

After leaving Wyeth following its takeover by Pfizer, Walsh decided to start his own company, naming it after Ossian, a mythological Celtic figure. Says Walsh, "When you start a company, you can come up with a name aligned with the technology, or something unaligned so if you change strategic direction, you don't have to change the name."

The product Ossianix hopes to generate will be made entirely of synthetic compounds based on the naturally occurring structures in the shark. Walsh reports that while there have been a number of academic studies focusing on shark antibodies, Ossianix is the only biotech pursuing the application from a therapeutic point of view.

The shark based antibody is applicable to a variety of diseases, says Walsh, and initial research is two areas. "The first is being able to deliver antibodies to the brain in much higher concentrations than can be achieved by current technologies. There's a lot of interest in the pharmaceutical industry to attack the processes in Alzheimer's, MS and Parkinson's disease. Central nervous system disorders are a major area of focus," says Walsh. The second area is in ALS research, creating a strategy to build muscle to combat the loss of power associated with the ailment also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

As far as larger trends in pharmaceutical research, Walsh says that for the first time in decades, R&D spending at pharmaceuticals like Pfizer is on the decrease. As a result, the big players are becoming much more dependent on outside companies for early innovation. "For me, that's one of the exciting things about starting Ossianix, building a credible small company in that early space."

Source: Frank Walsh, Ossianix
Writer: Sue Spolan