VC Roundup: BFTP invests in 5, Venmo gets funded

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

Ben Franklin Technology Partners has invested $800,000 in five locally-based companies. Three of the companies (Aklero, EyeIC and Jenrin) are getting their second round of funding from BFTP, while Glastone Associates and Quantason are receiving thief first round of funding. The companies are in the medical and financial industries.

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Event Highlights for March 8-14, 2010

Can we all stop and agree how freakin’ nice it was this weekend?

And there’s even better news: everyday this week is slated to have a high of at least 55 degrees. So ditch your winter coat and skip the usual routine of heading home straight after work. Our event calendar is jam packed you have no excuse to miss out.

This week: the 140 conference strikes again, PSL get happy (and possibly political) and 8static throws down with a free show.

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Friday Q&A: Adam Dotson from SeventySix Capital

Adam Dotson

Technically Philly would like to begin with an apology.

In Tuesday’s VC Roundup, we speculated that ETF Ventures chose their new name based on their proximity. Turns out, the opposite was true.

“The reason we wrote it out (as SeventySix instead of 76), actually, was to not be associated with the highway,” says Associate Adam Dotson.

When the VC firm formally known as Eastern Technology Fund changed its name this week, it was mostly due to the rise in popularity of exchange traded funds, a sort of mutual fund for alternative investments. The resulting confusion between ETF the firm and ETF the investment vehicle prompted the group to rebrand themselves as SeventySix Capital: an homage to what Dotson calls the “entrepreneurial spirit of our founding fathers.”

The company also wanted to have a clearer connection to Philadelphia.

Below, we ask Doston for the rejected names as well as the difference between Philly startups and 67th Ward or D.C. startups.

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Comcast Roundup: Xfinity is the new iPod, more channels on the way and more

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an e-mail subscription for our Comcast news updates.

DEFINITE READS

Another week, another round of questions from Congress about the NBCU/Comcast merger. In this week’s episode, both companies deflected accusations that the merger would result in significant job losses. Also: Brian Roberts gets stuck in a well.

Thanks to its new “World of More” effort to digitize all channels, the company will will be able to offer 30 more channels to basic subscribers.

The Inky’s Joey D chatted with CFO Michael J. Angelakis. Among the highlights: Comcast believes Xfinity is to Comcast as iPod is to Apple or Windows is to Microsoft.

Below: Comcast gets a new DVR mobile app … and a new public service announcement.

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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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MC Hammer offers thoughts on Philly entrepreneurship, delivers keynote at Wharton Technology Conference

MC Hammer addresses the Wharton Business Technology Conference

Depending on whom you ask, MC Hammer is a rapper. Or a dancer. Or a reality TV star. But today, the former diamond-certified recording artist addressed the Wharton Technology Conference as MC Hammer: entrepreneur and social media evangelist.

“I’m a super geek,” the DanceJam.com CEO said with a smile, referencing the song “Super Freak” by Rick James and the sample track behind his best known hit “Cant Touch This.”

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Local, national VCs back “Startup Visa” law

Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rich Lugar (R-Ind.) have proposed a new type of visa for foreign entrepreneurs that have received capital and are looking to start a company in America.

The new visa can be awarded to anyone who has raised at least $250,000 ($100,000 of which must come from a U.S. investor) and is able to create five jobs and $1,000,000 in revenue in two years. The bill has received support from the National Venture Capital Association and 160 VCs offered support in a letter to congress, including three partners of First Round Capital.

As reported by Technically Philly, Mayor Nutter is undergoing comparable efforts to attract technology companies and startups using the city’s tax structure as an incentive. What if the city promised additional bonuses to recipients of the Startup Visa? Especially those who’d like to start a video game studio?

What we learned at our Fishbowl / A thank you

TP founders Brian James Kirk (left) and Sean Blanda (right) listen to suggestions from attendees.

A huge “thank you” from the bottom of our techie hearts to the roughly 25 people that came out last night to our Fishbowl and one year anniversary after-party.

With the help of Philly Startup Leaders, a mix of entrepreneurs, TP readers and PSL members all gathered together in at the University of Arts to hear our vision for the future of Technically Philly and to offer both praise and criticism.

At the event, TP told a condensed version of our history and outlined our six planned revenue strategies. Three of which (advertising, jobs board and events) we have made some sort of progress on. We then opened it up to the attendees and heard a wide spectrum of ideas that were of infinite value to us, both as journalists and as businessmen.

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