Ignite Philly 5 marks age of social entrepreneurs, city’s Google bid

Organizer Geoff DiMasi hands a check to Girls Rock Philly for $1175

Last November, we asked if the Philadelphia technology community was ready to take the next step. Tonight, at a trimmed-down Ignite Philly, we got a glimpse of what those next steps may look like. The event, which forces speakers to cram a presentation into a fast-moving five-minute speech was better attended and was better at holding the attention of attendees than its predecessor (see our humble slideshow).

Fresh on the heels of new technology-based tax incentives, City Councilman Bill Green and Philadelphia CTO Allan Frank kicked off the event by announcing the city’s effort to lure Google’s new Fiber project to the city, an effort that began earlier this week using a #phillyfiber hashtag campaign (much more about the effort here).

Shortly after the rushed Google announcement and after Indy Hall co-founder Alex Hillman‘s subtle rebuttal, the night was characterized by a string of presentations focusing on social entrepreneurship.

The event was one of over 60 Ignites taking place on six continents as part of Global Ignite Week. As part of the Philadelphia event, the organizers were able to donate the event’s 235 five dollar ticket sales to raise $1,175 for Girls Rock Philly, a summer camp that helps young girls become musicians.

After the jump we hand out some awards for the event including best quote, best presentation and the “Kids Table” award.

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TicketLeap stealthily raised $2.5 million in additional funding last year

Update: edited MentorTech info.

According to SEC filings, TicketLeap scored $2.5 million in a funding round that included MentorTech Ventures.

While the money was raised in September of last year, the appropriate SEC filings didn’t get filed until last week. The company choose not to seek any publicity for the new round.

In a phone call to Technically Philly, CEO Christopher Stanchak said the funds weren’t for anything specific and were meant to “scale up” the business.

MentorTech was also included in the company’s 2008 Series A round for $2 million and MentorTech managing partner Michael Aronson sits on the TicketLeap’s board of directors.

MentorTech exclusively funds business involving Penn grads or students, including the health system. According to his LinkedIn, Ticketleap CEO Christopher Stanchak is a Wharton ’03 graduate.

VC Roundup: GoodCompany goes to NYC, ETF changes name

Welcome to the VC Round-up, where we’ll parse through venture capital news related to Philadelphia-based private equity firms and the companies they fund. Subscribe to the roundup as an email newsletter. If you have any VC-related news to pass along to us, please drop us a line.

DEFINITE READS

GoodCompany Ventures is kicking off a handful of events up and down the east coast to discuss the social good of entrepreneurship and to raise awareness about the fund’s 2010 incubator. First up: The 67th Ward. The panel will be moderated by Fred Wilson, founder of Union Square Ventures and well-read VC blogger. The fund promises Technically Philly that a Philly event is in the works, but for now we’ll be at the NYC edition. So if you managed to snag tickets, be sure to say hello.

Tengion, a Quaker BioVentures backed company is raising money for an IPO.

ETF Ventures has changed its name to SeventySix Capital. Presumably because of the company’s West Conshohocken location right off of the Schuylkill Expressway. Or, as another theory suggests, they’re big basketball fans.

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Is local TV news exaggerating social media addiction?

It’s been a pretty standard affair for local news, recently.

Find someone “addicted” to social media�someone who is on sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter at work, perhaps utilizing it too much, too, by way of mobile phone. Then, seek an expert. Maybe a psychiatrist who’s work lately has perhaps included folks who are addicted to social media, though none claim to have evidence of an increase in these kinds of people and none specifically recognize of any of these types of patients in their clientele.

So far, NBC10 and 6ABC have covered the topic, overindulging in the mostly evidence-less theory to pandaemonium-like proportion.

And somewhere in the middle of it all�and very prominently placed in both news reports�is Nnamdi Osuagwu, local writer and owner of publishing platform Ice Cream Melts who recently penned a fictional book called Facebook Addiction.

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Event Highlights for March 1-7, 2010

Updated 3/4, 7:32 a.m.: Fixed a misspelling.

Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but are there more birds chirping and an opportunity to wear one less layer before we head out the door? Is that Spring coming? We sure hope so.

If you make it out this week, you’ll want to stop by either Ignite Philly 5 or Net Squared Net Tuesday, on, uh, Tuesday evening. Or heck, do both. Who’s to stop you, rebel? On Thursday, hit up the PHP Area Meetup Group, where they’re gonna tell you that Notepad is just, like, sooo not cool anymore; by itself, anyway. Whatever you decide, just remember: the weeks of this cold abyss are quickly coming to an end.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check�our complete calendar for more.

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