entrepreneurship : Innovation + Job News

Ambler's LeadiD attracts $1.7M investment by Genacast Ventures, hiring

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, August 14, 2012

There is a little known layer that exists between your computer and the company you are visiting on the web. LeadiD exists within that layer, unknown to most but sitting in a lucrative niche.

Based in Ambler, the B2B lead certification company recently closed $1.7 million in funding led by Genacast Ventures.

Ross Shanken, who founded the company and presides as CEO over 11 employees, has developed a way to weed out bad leads online. LeadiD makes its money operating as a go-between for companies looking to sell products or services and their potential customers. "We don't generate leads and we don't buy leads," explains Shanken, who says LeadiD is changing the industry with its patent pending lead certification system.

Let's say you are doing research on finding a lawyer. You fill out a form on a LeadiD participating website, and a unique 36 character identifier is assigned to that online event. The equivalent of a car's VIN, the ID lives with the lead.

By contrast, lead buyers are used to dealing with so-called black hat lead generators, who may be selling a lead generated by typing in a name and address from the white pages, or a lead that doesn't have true consumer intent behind the action. These unreliable bits of information are not going to create sales.

Shanken, while employed at TARGUSinfo, says he saw an opportunity in the lead space. "A bank might buy a mortgage lead for $50, call that lead, and find out it's not the person listed. It's a bad lead. There were operational inefficiencies. We started scoring data using demographic information, with a model that showed how likely a person was going to buy a certain product. It became clear that Targus did a good job of cleaning up the data, but had no purview into the intent of the customer."

Since its inception in January 2011, LeadiD has made a name for itself in the industry as an independent neutral third party, says Shanken. LeadiD and its clients are able to know definitely where data is from and where it traveled to prior to the ultimate recipient of the data.,"It's an authentic lead with an authentic consumer. Insurance carriers, schools, automotive companies, law offices, and more are buying data that has a Lead ID and in real time can run a kind of Carfax report."

Shanken reports that there are now over 600,000 Lead IDs created every day, and emphasizes the concept of trust in the transaction. LeadiD's revenue is largely generated through subscription fees based on expected volume, although it's also possible to pay per LeadiD audit.

Now, Shanken says five of the nation's top 10 for-profit schools are clients, and that number will rise to eight of the top 10 in the next three months. There's similar growth in the auto insurance and legal industries. LeadiD will use the Genacast funds to expand the business through hiring and marketing.

Source: Ross Shanken, LeadID
Writer: Sue Spolan

Malvern's ModSolar moving, seeking investors and adding jobs

Flying Kite Media Friday, August 10, 2012

Solar power seems like a great idea, but design and installation of solar panels is complex. Every roof is different, and power needs can vary greatly. "I was surprised how little technology was used in home improvement sales," says Mike Dershowitz, founder of ModSolar, a new B2B technology company that supports solar panel installers.

ModSolar allows the installer to use a satellite snapshot of a customer's roof and design the ideal solar array on a mobile device or a web browser. Shoulder to shoulder with the client, ModSolar has been an immediate hit. "At this point we average $100 million a week in proposals quoted on the platform," says Dershowitz, who reports that since launch close to $4 billion have been quoted on ModSolar.

Inspiration hit Dershowitz in 2010 at the Philadelphia Home Show. At that time he was an employee for JP Morgan Chase leading their mobile design department. Dershowitz knew about the iPad due out just a few months later. "I saw pretty early that the iPad was going to be a great sales tool. I felt like it could create an intimate experience between the customer and salesperson."

In early 2011, ModSolar teamed up with its first customer, who had a booth at the Allentown home show. "He generated five times more leads on the iPad app than his competitors," reports Dershowitz, who credits his CTO and co-founder Kevin Ilsen with the ability to work lightning fast on a budget."One thing ModSolar is lauded for is our pace of change compared to everyone else. I'm not 100% worried about copycats," says Dershowitz.

ModSolar, based in Malvern, is completely bootstrapped and has four full-time employees, as well as several full time interns, and is in the process of hiring. Dershowitz is looking to fill two junior positions: a front end and a back end person. The company has a patent pending on its panel layout technology, and is in the process of raising a friends and family round of funding to accelerate growth. The company is also set to move somewhat closer to Philadelphia and is now seeking space in Bryn Mawr.

Source: Mike Dershowitz, ModSolar
Writer: Sue Spolan

Azavea and Temple prof team up to pack digital heat against crime

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, August 07, 2012

It's a new chapter in intelligence-led policing. Azavea, in partnership with Temple University's Center for Security and Crime Science, has released ACS Alchemist, a free open source software tool that harnesses census data for the purpose of reducing crime. Funded by the National Institute of Justice and helmed by Jerry Ratcliffe and Ralph Taylor, ACS Alchemist will be used by crime fighters and researchers nationally.

ACS Alchemist has the power to be of immense value to police commanders in precincts and districts, city planners, as well as locally to Commissioner Ramsey and team, says Ratcliffe. "Crime is not the best predictor of crime. Where crime was last year will not be where crime is this year." Rather, one must look at where crime was last year with the additional information of demographic changes.

"Normally, there's a census every ten years. In the intervening years, we have no idea what changes are taking place in the population," says Ratcliffe, a former East London police officer turned internationally known researcher. New immigrant groups or a surge in a particular age range can play a major role in crime analysis. Ratcliffe says that there are changes at the Census Bureau which will lead to a rolling collection process and yearly updates, which is a huge leap forward in terms of understanding demographic changes, poverty, unemployment and travel patterns. While the evolution of data collection is a great leap forward, tens of thousands of data points are stored online in a confusing and complex manner. Some researchers just give up, says Ratcliffe, who never meant to become an academic, but a mountaineering accident in his 20s retired him from active duty on the force.

"I've been working closely with the Philadelphia Police Department for nearly 10 years," says Ratcliffe, who has some programming background. He became interested in how changing demographics affect the likelihood of crime, but says the project required programming skills beyond his abilities. Enter Robert Cheetham of Azavea, who himself used to work for the Philadelphia Police as a crime analyst. "Azavea makes the indecipherable actually fathomable," says Ratcliffe.

Cheetham, for his part, says he has been working with the police in one capacity or another for a decade, and gives props to the current leadership. "Ramsey is very much interested in data driven policing. It's the center of what he did in DC, and he brought that set of ideas with him."

Previously, Ratcliffe worked with the Philly PD to create The Philadelphia Foot Patrol Experiment, during which violent crime was reduced by 23% by when teams of officers walked the beat past the city's most crime ridden corners. Incidentally, Ratcliffe says the number one reason for crime is not poverty, lack of education, drugs or poor upbringing. Rather, it's opportunity.

Source: Jerry Ratcliffe, Temple University, Robert Cheetham, Azavea
Writer: Sue Spolan

1K in 1 day, Wordpress for women event, gets local thanks to AWeber

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, August 07, 2012

A thousand women around the world will be getting help building their own Wordpress websites as part of the new One K in 1 Day initiative, a completely free event which takes place Sept. 9 and is organized by UK-based Startup Training School. Here in Philadelphia, AWeber will host a local, extended version of the program, with help from website designer Lisa Snyder of Silver Hoop Edge.

"Startup Training School is a customer of ours," says Liz Cies, Public Relations Specialist for AWeber and event organizer. "We do email marketing software for small business." In addition to hosting the Philly meetup, AWeber is giving 250 free accounts to the first 500 people who register.

Women interested in participating need to register in up to two places: once for the international live webcast, which happens from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and once for the in-person event, which runs from 10:30 to 2:00 at AWeber's Huntingdon Valley offices.

The point, says Cies, is to assist women in establishing an online presence for business or personal use. "The big focus is to help women learn to market themselves online," says Cies.There will be Wordpress experts on hand, and registrants will receive a checklist of to do items prior to the event, such as purchasing a domain and finding a web host.

Other local One K in 1 Day meetups are scheduled to take place in Eilat, Israel and Austin, Texas. Organizers say building one's own website does not need to take lots of time or money, and women with children can participate completely online, in the comfort of their own homes.

Startup Training School, founded by Lea and Jonathan Woodward, hosts monthly online sessions to teach all facets of web based marketing and content creation. By the way, AWeber promises that there will be confections on hand.

Source: Liz Cies, AWeber
Writer: Sue Spolan

Center City's HigherNext gets an A for funding; hiring marketer, developer

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, August 07, 2012

You come out of school, a whole lot of money spent on that degree, and the next thing you know it's nearly impossible to get a job. "We help students and recent college grads make a less painful and more efficient entry into the job market," says John J. Brady, COO of HigherNext. "It's a very tough market right now for those folks." Consider a confounded 22 year old, fortified with a college degree, playing by the rules, and emerging into a very tight market.

HigherNext revealed late last week that it is about to close its second round of funding led by Next Stage Capital, with 83% already spoken for, and the remainder just about in the bag. The Center City based startup, with offices at Venturef0rth, began life in May 2011.

HigherNext administers a Certified Business Laureate skills test which rates aptitude in a variety of employer friendly areas: marketing, accounting, finance, Microsoft Office skills and writing.

For just $79, the test taker answers HigherNext's questions at any computer, with proctoring via webcam. Brady calls the process super secure, and it comes with a money back guarantee at the laureate level. Test results, says Brady, likening them to Advanced Placement exams prior to college, provide prospective employers with a very detailed analysis of a candidate's skill set.

"The higher ed community has been getting a lot of pressure from several presidential administrations about outcomes based assessment," says Brady. "There's a lot of discourse on the cost of higher education. We believe it is worth it. We feel it is our place to help those students who wish to stand out, regardless of where they went to school."

HigherNext now has 5 employees, with two more open positions for a marketing account manager and a web developer. Brady says that while he is not at liberty to disclose specific numbers, registrants for the Certified Business Laureate test are now in the thousands. HigherNext also runs a blog filled with tips for job seekers, and offers a free crash course in business skills.

Source: John J. Brady, HigherNext
Writer: Sue Spolan

United By Blue's do-good approach to apparel working well, hiring 'several' in coming months

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, July 31, 2012

They do the work of a non-profit, but United By Blue is a for profit company. Started by Temple University grad Brian Linton, the clothing company, guided by a deep sense of social entrepreneurship, aims to clean up the world's waterways.

Linton, an American by birth who grew up in Asia, founded the eco-entrepreneurial venture in 2010. He says, "We sell sustainable apparel that leverages technology, social media and environmental activism."

Now 200 stores in the US and 60 stores in Japan carry the United by Blue clothing line, in addition to online sales. The company headquarters is at 12th and Callowhill, where seven are employed full-time and Linton says there are plans to hire several more staffers in the next few months. United By Blue is set to hire a full-time developer within the next few weeks, bringing a job that was previously outsourced in house. UBB also hosts up to eight interns per semester in the spring, summer and fall.

For every product sold, UBB removes one pound of trash from oceans and waterways through company organized and hosted cleanups. "We've done 85 cleanups in 17 US states, removing 138,000 pounds of trash, working with about 1,900 volunteers," says Linton.

UBB also has two major corporate partnerships. Subaru of America donated two new Outbacks in April 2012, and a co-branded line of apparel sells on the Subaru website as well as in dealerships. "We wouldn't have expected it from a car company, but they can move a significant amount of apparel. The Subaru customer is the United By Blue customer." UBB also partnered with Sperry, known best for its sailing shoes and apparel.

The concept behind the company name is that we are all united by blue. We all need water to live. Its not a theory; it's a fact.

"Life does not exist without water," says Linton, a seasoned world traveler. "Water on the streets of Philadelphia could be on streets of Beijing years later. If we mistreat water, the implications are for the whole world."

To date, UBB has been bootstrapped and is self-sustaining, and Linton says that the company will be looking to raise a round of funding this fall to pursue more retail outlets as well as bolster its online presence.

Source: Brian Linton, United By Blue
Writer: Sue Spolan

Growth by shrinkage: DocDep moving to Logan Circle, expanding offerings

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Farid Naib founded Document Depository Corporation to solve a problem in his own business, and gambled that the organization of documents was a pain point for many venture capital and private equity companies. With the disappearance of physical file cabinets, DocDep, as it's better known, steps in to provide organized storage of business paperwork.

"When I sold my company to a publicly traded French firm, we were doing due diligence. We needed tax returns from Singapore from 4 or 5 years ago. We were running a pretty global operation," says Farid of his previous company FNX Limited. "We moved offices several times. Some things got misplaced; some things were in Japanese. We took a million dollar valuation hit because corporate governance didn't appear to be in place. GL TRADE, the company that acquired FNX, required a $3.5M warrant escrow. They held onto it for 3 years. For a little bit of software we could have avoided that pain."

The escrow was subsequently returned, but Naib saw a clear need.

The company, founded in 2009, is moving to new quarters at 2 Logan Circle in Center City, but rather than expanding physical space, it's contracting a bit, even as it grows in other ways. It is a fitting move for DocDep, which is all about efficiency and shrinking a business footprint to manageable size with two main revenue-generating products: Radar, for document management, and Sonar, specifically aimed at investment management for VC and PE companies and increasingly relevant in light of reforms brought about by the Dodd-Frank Act.

In 2010, DocDep received $100,000 in funding from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern PA, and in 2011 raised a seed round led by Robin Hood Ventures.

"The DocDep plan for growth, now and in the future, is to continue expanding sales by consistently adding functionality and developing our products," says Naib, who is busy at work planning the company's next release to follow SmartCap, the free online cap table tool released in February of this year. "It will be a variation of the products we already offer; we will be developing an app that will cater to the High Net Worth Individual. Just the like our apps we are currently offering, it will assist in the organization and management of critical information. This High Net Worth Individual app will focus on managing personal investments and real estate, and organizing important information such as wills, trusts, and financials. "

Naib is also spending less time at DocDep HQ since he became an operating partner at LLR Partners, a growth private equity firm based at the Cira Center. He says has no plans at this point to sell DocDep.

Source: Farid Naib, DocDep
Writer: Sue Spolan

In a better place: Project Liberty's newest participants get to work

Flying Kite Media Thursday, July 26, 2012

Project Liberty has moved into a much better place, both literally and figuratively. The new media incubator announced its next trio of participants this week. Rumble, StartUP Production and Transout are all startups that have a good reason to be smack in the center of operations at Philly.com, helmed by Interstate General Media.

IGM, formerly known as Philadelphia Media Network, has moved from the iconic white tower at 401 North Broad to the old Strawbridge and Clothier building on Market Street between 8th and 9th. Project Liberty is a collaborative effort by Interstate General Media, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which provided $250,000 in overall funding, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Dreamit Ventures (which just announced expansion to Austin) and Drexel University.

Joining Project Liberty is Cory Donovan, who relocated to Philadelphia from Virginia this past winter when his wife moved north. He takes on a newly created 20 hour per week post as Project Manager.

Mark Block, VP of External Relations for IGM, says, "We as a partner and The Knight Foundation agree there was room for improvement." SnipSnap, Cloudmine and ElectNext, which made up the first round of entrepreneurs at the incubator, experienced a number of challenges that have informed changes in the program's location, format and management.

"We addressed issues on a number of fronts," says Block. "The incubator sits in the exact center of the floor, with access to all divisions of the company. It's a fully open space, and an open environment." Block adds that participating Drexel Co-op students are seated between the IT Department and Project Liberty, becoming a liaison. Donovan's day to day presence is in contrast to the initial cycle, where guidance was only intermittently available.

Donovan and Block go way back, having attended Johns Hopkins for business school together a decade ago. "It's important that an institution that includes The Inquirer and philly.com provides resources for up and coming companies," says Donovan. "At the end of the day, our goal is that companies stay here in Philadelphia."

Of Donovan's previous work experience as the Executive Director of the Roanoke - Blacksburg Technology Council, Block says, "Cory's expertise comes into play. He knows the kinds of contacts and resources these companies are going to have to reach out to."

Rumble, whose founder Al Azoulay is from the Middle East, combines social sharing with mobile media. StartUP Production's Zaahah is a social search engine, developed by James Sisneros, and Transout’s tapCLIQ breaks ground in the fast growing area of mobile advertising.

Source: Mark Block, Cory Donovan, Project Liberty
Writer: Sue Spolan

Free and Open Source Software Convention coming to Philly next month

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The creators and supporters of free and open source software have always bucked the current of commercialization. It's events like FOSSCON, the Free and Open Source Software Convention, that allow developers to gather and gain strength in numbers. FOSSCON 2012 takes place Saturday, Aug. 11, at Venturef0rth at 8th and Callowhill.

Organizers are looking for free software enthusiasts, user group members, coders and users to join them at the grassroots event, aimed at creating a common meeting place for people all over the Northeast US.

"We've been doing FOSSCON for 3 years now," says Jonathan Simpson, event coordinator. "The first year was actually in upstate New York, but we moved to Philly. I live outside Philly myself so it's personally a lot easier running an event an hour away instead of several." Plus, he adds, Philly is a pretty FOSS-friendly city.

The event features six general-interest talks, and workshops on topics including development, community building, hackerspace activities, and more. Ubuntu PA and Hive76 will be on hand for demonstrations and workshops.

The community will have a chance to explore topics from 3D printing to privacy. Keynote is Bradley M. Kuhn, Executive Director of the Software Freedom Conservancy.

"There are other FOSS events around the world and in the US," says Simpson, who mentions CPOSC in Harrisburg, and SELF, which serves the Southeasterm US. "This is the only one that goes by the FOSSCON name, but there is a longer term plan to spawn others."

FOSS tends to put control in the hands of users, says Simpson, and that represents a threat to the control of media companies, as well as to most of corporate America. "FOSS, as well as the culture it encourages, endangers that control." Simpson also cites Linode, which has been a conference sponsor for years, as a great example of a successful services based FOSS company.

"The temptation to close the source of software is real, especially in the startup world where competition is really aggressive. FOSS are beneficial in the long run, but those benefits are often ignored to protect short term gains. Reminding computer scientists and entrepreneurs of the benefits of FOSS, and that their latest project is 90% dependent of those FOSS softwares, is important work," says Simpson.

Basic admission to FOSSCON is free, but organizers encourage attendees to level up to paid admission of $25 to help keep the event open to as many people as possible.

Source: Jonathan Simpson, FOSSCON
Writer: Sue Spolan

Secret to Monetate's success? Don't talk about Monetate

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Fast growing Monetate's Blair Lyon, VP of Marketing, has been getting an increasing number of inquiries on the company's customer acquisition strategy, which does not rely on traditional methods. There's a secret to Monetate's marketing success, and it's all about content.

Monetate's content marketing platform represents industry best practices, resulting in a dramatic increase in lead conversions. "Since launching the content program a little less than a year ago, there's been a thousand percent higher lead flow than we had previously," reports Lyon. "In terms of the buzz metrics, which includes brand awareness through things like retweeting and sharing, it's well over 600% higher than before we started the program."

Monetate gives away content in exchange for loyalty among B2B customers. "One of the things that drew me to working here was the chance to explore this non-interruptive form of advertising," explains Lyon. "We develop content that answers questions and has a high educational value." Not only does Monetate operate two blogs, but under the Resources tab of its website, it offers video, case studies, white papers and eBooks, all of which fall within the purview of the marketing team.

When Lyon arrived at Monetate after founding his own interactive ad agency TMX, much of the company's blog content referred directly back to Monetate. But no more. "Eighty plus percent doesn't talk about Monetate at all." The conversation is shifted away from Monetate and toward the customer.

Lyon sees content as a way to enter the customer's circle of trust. If a CMO, CIO or IT Director finds great information on the Monetate blog, the company will be top of mind when it's time to make purchasing decisions.

"We identify different types of buyers. In our case, there are 8 distinct persona types we want to influence. The next overlay is the sales process," says Lyon, who creates a taxonomy of sales targets. Awareness, research, evaluation and final contracts each have their own sublevels, leading to a total of 8 categories. "We do a lot of A/B testing," says Lyon, whose team will pull articles or change headlines depending on the metrics.

There are a total of 11 full time people on Monetate's marketing team, three of whom are tasked specifically with content marketing. "We have a director of content marketing, a managing editor, and a senior editor." Compared to the cost of running ads in the Wall Street Journal, what amounts to easily several hundred thousand dollars in annual salaries pales by comparison, given the results.

Lyon points to the way information is packaged, and puts a lot of stock in infographics, which are shared and reposted for months after they're released.

He adds that the various ways to package information work well in combination. "I don't think any single program works in a vacuum." An infographic may go out with a press release, video, webinar, or white paper. "We present a well rounded story with a lot of content elements. We're always thinking about packaging and repurposing as many ways as possible."

The Conshohocken-based firm, which provides cloud-based technology for ecommerce marketers, experienced nearly 300% revenue growth in 2011 and continues to expand rapidly. Monetate CEO and founder, David Brussin, was just named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 for the Greater Philadelphia region.

Source: Blair Lyon, Monetate
Writer: Sue Spolan

Next month's Geek Awards will be ladies night

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

After the Philadelphia Geek Awards organizers finalized the nominees for next month's big bash at the Academy of Natural Sciences, something else had changed besides the categories for the second installment of what organizers have lovingly described as the Daytime Emmys version of the Webbys.

"It wasn't until after we finished going through nominations that we realized there were more women this year," says Tim Quirino, cofounder of Geekadelphia, the all-things-geeky blog and community that continues to grow.

Make no mistake, this year's Geek Awards -- already sold out for Aug. 17 (but overflow tickets have just been released) - are indicative of Philadelphia's feminine firepower. No fewer than nine lady nominees dominate the event's 14 categories, which moved away from the "new" theme to include more static categories (like Indie Game Developer of the Year) that will have more staying power.

Most notably, three women are up for Geek of the Year, including Tristin Hightower (Girl Geek Dinners), Gerri Trooskin (Franklin Institute) and Roz Duffy (TEDxPhilly).

Last year, only five women were represented individually among all the nominees. While the influx of women in the program might not have been entirely deliberate, it is clearly a product of Geekadelphia opening up the nomination process, receiving upward of 100 pages of nominations from across the region.

"Thanks to cool events like the Women in Tech conference and cool organizations like TechGirlz and Girl Develop It, I'm constantly hearing about the interesting things (local women in tech) are up to," says Geekadelphia cofounder Eric Smith. "The increase in nominations reflect them being passionate about making themselves heard."

Says Quirino: "There are more women doing things in the Philadelphia tech scene than before."

And next month, one of them will be called Geek of the Year.

Source: Eric Smith, Tim Quirino, Geekadelphia
Writer: Joe Petrucci

Need funding? Challenge a billionaire to a chess match for $1M in Series A funding like this guy did

Flying Kite Media Thursday, July 19, 2012

How to get the attention of a billionaire? Challenge him to a game of chess. AJ Steigman came up with the idea to play a high stakes chess match with Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, venture capitalist, and top ranked player.

Steigman, who recently relocated his company Soletron to Philadelphia, is looking to win a million dollars in series A funding if he can checkmate Thiel.

"Peter and I have very similar backgrounds in chess," says Steigman, who is ranked 2,274 internationally and 2,283 in the US, compared to Thiel, who ranks 2,199 internationally and 2,287 in the US. "In today's economic climate, a lot of people don't have the resources to go after their dreams. This match would signal something to the market, and to entrepreneurs, that unconventional tactics pay off."

Steigman, a chess prodigy who's been getting media coverage for his game since age 5, is no stranger to the big leagues. After co-founding Soletron in 2010 with Shane Robinson, he has already created strategic partnerships with top names: Bruce Chizen, former CEO of Adobe and Oracle board member; AND1's Tom Austin; Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes; and VCs John Friedman, founder of Easton Capital, and Bob Rice from Tangent Capital. Soletron's legal counsel is Baer Crossey, located here in Philadelphia.

Steigman describes Soletron as Etsy for street wear, and Spotify for retail. "Soletron is a social networking e-commerce platform in lifestyle retail verticals." Holding no inventory of its own, Soletron provides a platform for up and coming designers in Brooklyn, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Philly.

The social aspect of Soletron is blowing up, with enormous growth, from 1,000 followers in February to 82,000 today. The company blog boasts 5,000 articles, and Steigman says a patent-pending social networking technology is the driving force moving forward.

Steigman is currently participating in a summer internship program at Wharton, and plans to make Philadelphia his permanent home, after living in over seven cities in the past year. "I really want to relocate and centralize," says the South Florida native.

The chess match concept appeals to an international audience, and is beginning to get worldwide press. Steigman awaits Thiel's response. "I don't know any sport or activity where someone has challenged someone else for an investment."

Source: AJ Steigman, Soletron
Writer: Sue Spolan

Old City's LTL Prints, now with spinoff Artsy Canvas, becomes Philly startups' printer of record

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Remember that stunt CloudMine pulled a couple of weeks back, sticking its logo to the water tower atop its 8th and Callowhill building? The only way those guys were able to pull that off was by sticking it on.

LTL Prints delivers durable materials in an evanescent world. A startup itself, the Old City based printing company is quietly responsible for supporting entrepreneurs and consumers alike, from massive peel and stick wall logos, to small but chic name badges for conferences, to wall wrapping murals. LTL's (Larger Than Life) prints are created on a highly durable fabric, using a special adhesive that makes repeated removal and hanging easy.

LTL is a Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern PA success story. Launched in December 2008 out of Indy Hall, LTL originally received $75,000 in convertible debt, which was paid back early, according to LTL co-founder Kendall Schoenrock, who launched the company with Carsten Petzold. The internationally recognized LTL even offers a massive peel and stick portrait of Benjamin Franklin (derived from the hundred dollar bill) suitable for dorm walls.

LTL operates out of a basement at Front and Market Streets, where a giant printer spits out graphics up to 15 hours every day. "We're swamped," says Schoenrock, who employs a total of 15 with 12 staffers in Philadelphia. LTL's website ships worldwide, with prices ranging from $15 to $165, depending on size (up to 7 feet wide).

The logos that adorn the walls of national, international and local luminaries like CloudMine, Leadnomics and DuckDuckGo give LTL business cred, but consumers can also order six color murals of flowers, sea life, maps, goofy graphics or upload their own images to the crowdsourced catalog. LTL offers a partnership program for individuals to open their own online shop. The company does orders, payment and shipping, and partners receive a 15% commission on uploaded images sold through LTL.

Schoenrock says his company's recently launched spin-off business, Artsy Canvas, came from an identified need for gallery inspired canvas prints, with more of a fine arts focus. On offer are reproductions of Degas, Cezanne, and Manet. Take that, Barnes Foundation.

Source: Kendall Schoenrock, LTL Prints
Writer: Sue Spolan

DreamIt's new managing director eyes 'high-impact' expansion

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Bringing Karen Griffith Gryga on board as Managing Director at Dreamit Ventures last month has a whole lot of strategic advantage. The co-founder of FashInvest and Executive Director at MidAtlantic Investors Group, Gryga provides the five-year plan for Dreamit's growth. DreamIt has cachet in the startup world.

Continuing to grow an international presence, Gryga joins Managing Partner Kerry Rupp overseeing day to day operations. Rather than see the accelerator as discrete cycles, Gryga's vision extends to overall growth down the line. "Kerry and I are joined at the hip these days," says Gryga, who holds a dual Wharton MBA and Masters in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania.

Gryga is a multitasker. Her background in computer systems dovetails with her interest in fashion and design, and her venture capital chops will facilitate oversight of DreamIt operations in both geographic and fiscal progress. "The idea is an expansion of resources," she says of her dual experience in raising and managing funds. "I started in the industry in the early 90s. The Dreamit model is so compelling. You have very successful entrepreneurs in both the founders and the companies. It's almost harking back to the original days of VC."

Gryga cautions that Dreamit's accelerator model is not infinitely scalable. "The power in the model is the intensive hands on process between mentors and entrepreneurs. The focus is on expanding in a way that's high impact, not that's everywhere."

Now in its New York/Israel cycle for summer 2012, Gryga is putting her many talents to use as a mentor for Israeli Dreamit startup Bazaart. "They really had a good tech foundation in terms of proprietary technology. It's very early in the development of their product. We put in a lot of brainstorming into focus, direction and approach. Within a matter of weeks to arriving in the US, they met with the CEO of Free People and the Hearst Media CEO. They're having conversations you would never expect anyone in a pre-beta state to have."

Gryga reports that the Dreamit managing team is now sifting through around 400 applications received by the July 6 deadline for Philly's fall 2012 program. Participating companies will be announced in late July or early August and once again will be in residence at the University City Science Center.

Source: Karen Griffith Gryga, DreamIt Ventures
Writer: Sue Spolan

Are Energy Commercialization Institute's investments approaching critical mass?

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Sometimes it's the small things that make a big difference in energy efficiency. The Energy Commercialization Institute awards grants to cleantech startups with a proven track record. Bird droppings on solar panels are a literal barrier to efficiency. Not something you think about, but it makes sense. Shu Yang, PhD., a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania and one of five recent ECI grant recipients, earned to develop a nonstick coating for photovoltaic cells.

ECI also funded Drexel profs Emin Caglan Kumbur, Ph.D and Yury Gogotsi, Ph.D for energy storage technology; Alexander Fridman, Ph.D, leading a Drexel University/Temple University team to create clean energy from biomass, coal and organic wastes; a new electrospinning/electrospraying process for energy fuel cells from Drexel's Yossef Elabd, Ph.D; and a Drexel/Penn initiative to create thin-film solar cells from Andrew Rappe, PhD. Total for the recent round was $500,000.

The ECI is funded by the State of Pennsylvania and created by a consortium that includes Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Drexel, Penn and Penn State.

It's a new focus on commercialization, says Tony Green, PhD., Director of the ECI as well as its forbear, the Nanotechnology Institute. "The NTI model led to the ECI model which led to EEB Hub," explains Green. "The difference is that NTI is based on a platform, while the ECI is an application." Rather than focus on nanotech, the ECI mission is not about any specific technology. "The buzz phrase is alternative and clean energy."

For the first time, says Green, the ECI is now getting metrics on commercialization, licenses and jobs created through ECI grants. While the state-funded NTI has a 10-year track record, Green and company are about to release a semiannual report that credits ECI with the creation of over 50 jobs in the last two years.

"We have already accrued almost 150 intellectual property assets, applications and issued patents," says Green. "We've executed 18 licenses and options. With only 700K project funding, we've created three startups in the last year, and that number is going to grow. Universities are doing a lot better at commercializing technology. ECI projects are not technologies that are basic research. The intellectual property already exists."

Green looks to MIT and UCSD as big names in higher ed tech commercialization. "We can do the same thing, but not through a single institution. It's a consortium." The cumulative capabilities are much greater, says Green. The ECI also works with small institutions like Fox Chase Cancer Research Center and Philadelphia University, where there might be one researcher doing groundbreaking work. "We want all boats to rise," adds Green.

Source: Anthony Green, ECI
Writer: Sue Spolan