Ben Franklin Technology Partners
Government fundHarrisburg · Pre-Seed–Growth · 6 people tracked
Investment thesis
Ben Franklin Technology Partners focuses on accelerating innovation and economic growth across Pennsylvania. It provides early-stage and growth capital to technology startups and helps established manufacturers modernize operations and adopt advanced technologies. Beyond funding, the organization delivers hands-on business and technical support and connects companies to mentors, investors, and strategic partners. Operating through four regional partners covering the entire Commonwealth, its mission emphasizes job creation, regional economic impact, and strengthening Pennsylvania communities by turning entrepreneurial ideas into thriving enterprises.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.
Team · 6 people
from the firm's website
What they invest in
from 16 of 19 portfolio companiesDigital Health ×5Biotech ×4SaaS ×4AI & Machine Learning ×3GovTech ×3Healthtech ×3Medical Devices ×3Consumer ×2
HQs:United States×14
Investments · 19 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2026 · 22024 · 35 dated
Eliksa develops regenerative medicine therapies for rare diseases, processing acellular biological products in its own cGMP facility.
BiotechDigital HealthMedical Devices
Co-investorsMilitia Hill VenturesBioAdvance
Grassroots Unwired provides mobile-first canvassing and field-organizing technology for political campaigns and nonprofit organizations, supporting voter outreach, fundraising, and constituent data capture.
FintechGovTechImpact & Social GoodSaaSYardley, US
RUSS OSTER(CEO)
Co-investorsBullpen CapitalRobin Hood Ventures
SLAP is a massively multiplayer "real life" game that blends physical games like Assassin with digital objectives and strategy, letting players compete against opponents and climb city and global leaderboards.
ConsumerGamingSocialCape Elizabeth, US
Ian Andolsek(Executive Officer, Director)Bruce Hack(Director)Sukriti Chadha(Director)Lauren Steidl(Executive Officer, Director)
Board seatScott Nissenbaum· per SEC Form D · $1.2M raise · filed Jun 2026
Co-investorsBroad Street AngelsDorm RoomRobin Hood Ventures
Ajaya Bio develops bispecific therapies designed to eliminate disease-driving cells while sparing healthy ones, using its BOLT-360 discovery platform built around hybrid binders, precise activation, and advanced linkers.
BiotechDeep TechPhiladelphia, US
Mohit S.(Founder)inMohit Sachdeva(Executive Officer, Director)in
Co-investorsThe Innovation Space
Scranton, US
Michael Averto(Executive Officer, Director)Jason DePietropaolo(Executive Officer, Director)
Co-investorsAfore CapitalBarrel VenturesBreak Trail VenturesFour Acres CapitalSupernode Ventures
Ghost Robotics develops legged (quadruped) robots, including its Vision 60 platform, along with the proprietary electronics, software, and control systems that run them.
Defense TechHardwareRobotics
Avik De(Co-founder)Gavin Kenneally(Co-founder)Jiren Parikh(CEO)
Co-investorsAlumni VenturesAsimov VenturesBasecamp FundConvergePrototype Capital
Houwzer is a real estate brokerage that reduces commission costs for home buyers and sellers by employing salaried agents and proprietary transaction software.
B2B MarketplacesConsumerFintechMarketplacesPropTechNew York, US
Mike Maher(Founder)inTed Mucellin(Executive Officer)Greg Phillips(Executive Officer)Kevin Baird(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardJay Minkoff(Executive Officer, Director)
Co-investorsBAM VenturesBroad Street AngelsEudemian VenturesEdison Partners
Innovation Works is a Pittsburgh-based startup investor whose portfolio page presents companies across software, robotics, healthcare, and hardware in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
BiotechDeep TechRoboticsSector AgnosticPittsburgh, US
NeuroFlow builds behavioral health integration platforms that identify population behavioral health risk, engage individuals with acuity-specific resources, and give care teams data to make decisions.
AI & Machine LearningDigital HealthHealthtechMental HealthPhiladelphia, US
Christopher Molaro(Co-founder & CEO)inAdam Pardes(Co-founder)inAlan Wayne Tamarelli(Director)
Co-investorsCorewell Health VenturesEcho Health VenturesHLM Venture PartnersMemorialCare Innovation FundRed & Blue VenturesChestnut Street Ventures
Haverford, US
Joseph Troy(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)Christopher Leo Troy(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)Anthony Mark Troy(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)Christopher Troy(Executive Officer, Promoter)
BoardGary Enzor(Director)Jeffrey Davison(Director)
Co-investorsActivate Venture Partners
Percy provides data-driven sleep diagnostics and behavioral sleep therapy tools for healthcare providers treating sleep disorders, particularly for neurodivergent populations and people with chronic medical conditions.
AI & Machine LearningDigital HealthHealthtechMedical DevicesWellness & FitnessWashington, US
Conner Herman(Founder & CEO)
Co-investorsTechstars
RecoveryLink is a HIPAA-compliant digital platform offering peer-based recovery support tools and an electronic recovery record for individuals and recovery support providers.
Digital HealthMental HealthSaaS
Co-investorsDorm Room
SFA Therapeutics develops oral therapeutic candidates based on deuterated short-chain fatty acids to treat autoimmune and oncologic diseases.
BiotechHealthtechPhiladelphia, US
Ira Spector(Founder)inAlla Arzumanyan(Founder)inMark Feitelson(Founder)in
Co-investorsAcequia Capital (AceCap)Farvatn VentureImmeasurableNorth South VenturesY Combinator
Tolerance is a compliance platform that runs continuous automated checks against the NIST 800-171 standard and collects assessor-ready evidence for teams handling Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).
CybersecurityGovTechSaaS
Co-investorsDorm RoomAmadeus Capital PartnersBioAdvanceColumbus Venture PartnersCriteria Bio VenturesEast Innovate+4 more
Tozuda manufactures non-electronic impact indicators that detect when helmet damage occurs, signaling compromised safety through color change.
HardwareIoTSaaSPhiladelphia, US
JESSICA GARCIA(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardMELISSA WITHERS(Director)in
Co-investorsRevUp CapitalTechstars
Vistar Media operates a programmatic advertising platform for out-of-home (OOH) media, offering demand-side and supply-side tools that connect marketers, media owners, and audiences.
AdTechMarketing TechMedia & Entertainment
Co-investorsAdvancit CapitalEniac VenturesMercury FundValhalla Partners
Rows marked “SEC filing” are inferred from directors named on the company's SEC Form D — public regulatory data, not a portfolio list published by the firm.
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companies
Pa · timesleader.com · Aug 17, 2026
Tolerance · medscape.com · Aug 10, 2026
Ajaya · business-standard.com · Jul 14, 2026
Percy · startupfortune.com · Jul 13, 2026
Innovation Works · technical.ly · May 27, 2026
Ghost Robotics · 34st.com · Apr 3, 2026
ChannelApe · nasdaqprivatemarket.com · Nov 21, 2025
Integrated Reality Labs · mobilegamer.biz · Mar 11, 2025
Frequently asked questions
- What stage does Ben Franklin Technology Partners invest at?
- Ben Franklin Technology Partners invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Growth stages.
- What is Ben Franklin Technology Partners's typical check size?
- Ben Franklin Technology Partners typically writes checks of $50K – $250K.
- What sectors does Ben Franklin Technology Partners focus on?
- Ben Franklin Technology Partners focuses on Advanced Manufacturing, Deep Tech, Sector Agnostic.
- Where is Ben Franklin Technology Partners located?
- Ben Franklin Technology Partners is headquartered in Harrisburg, US.
- Does Ben Franklin Technology Partners lead rounds?
- Ben Franklin Technology Partners typically participates in rounds rather than leading them.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the teamAngelo Valletta, Ben Franklin Technology Partners Northeast | Testimonial for LifeAire
LifeAire Systems · Angelo Valletta
LVEDC Interview with Angelo Valletta, President of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of NEP
LV EDC · Angelo Valletta
Images
Co-investors · 2
Alumni Ventures (AV) is a venture capital firm that co-invests alongside lead VCs in startups, backing founders with capital and access to a large investor and operator community.
First Round Capital is an early-stage venture firm that backs companies at their earliest moments, often before they are named, across enterprise, AI, consumer, healthcare, fintech and hardware sectors.
Firms observed investing alongside Ben Franklin Technology Partners, from public investor directories. Shared companies are the overlap with Ben Franklin Technology Partners's recorded portfolio.
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