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
Philly Tech News is reporting that First Round Capital has invested in locally-based advertising company AdCopy, the company that inserts advertising into CAPTCHAs. Though we can’t verify it anywhere else, our friends at PTN are typically on point, so keep an eye out.

We’re a bit late on this, but Safeguard Scientifics’ Kevin Kemmerer extrapolates on one of the questions asked by Technically Philly during his Q&A earlier this month. Kemmerer, EVP and managing director of Safeguard technology group, explains why  Safeguard, a publicly traded company, is different than other VC firms.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners has invested nearly $1.8 million in nine local companies. Read our complete coverage here.

First Round receives praise for thinking ahead in this Silicon Alley Insider piece about the current and future state of venture capital. If you’re new to private equity, we highly suggest you give it a read.

MIGHT BE WORTH YOUR TIME

The President and CEO of BFTP, RoseAnn Rosenthal, has been named to the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The council is selected by the U.S. Commerce Secretary and other board members include Jerry Yang, founder of Yahoo.

The New York Times gives a nod to Golden Seeds, the angel group with a presence in Philly that focuses on companies helmed by women.

GIVE A GLANCE

Speaking of Safeguard, the company is due to report its earnings on Thursday, July 29th.

Quaker BioVentures and New Spring Capital were named in a $6 million round for Nitric BioTherapeutics.

Fresh off of its investment in Lighthouse Inc, LLR Partners has invested $35 million in IOD, a medical information services company. IOD, basied in Green Bay, Wisconsin, serves over 1,800 hospitals.

Osage Ventures was named in a $4.33 million filing for Instamed, a healthcare payment network based in Bala Cynwyd.

There’s a new angel fund in NYC that aims to make a splash in the Mid-Atlantic tech angel market. ARC Angel fund, co-founded by the founder of VC rag The Funding Post, says its members average deals of $100,000 to $500,000. Call us crazy but that’s a little high to be considered “angel,” right?

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

According to the VCs assembled in New Jersey for the New Jersey Technology Council conference, VC activity is primed to heat up in the coming months. Bala Cynwyd-based Osage Partners was among the local firms in attendance. “If you can survive the last three years, then you have something,” said one attendee.

Ben Franklin Technology Partner has anounced nearly $600,000 in investment, including $50,000 going to Viddler. If you remember, Viddler told us in October: “We’re done funding.”

MIGHT BE WORTH YOUR TIME

South Plainfield-based Petra Energy has raised $40 million to hire 30 employees. None of the funding sources were local. The company makes solar panels for utility poles.

Thanks to their love of blogging and their penchant for making a new deal every 15 minutes, First Round Capital is the most trafficked VC website in the country. No other local firms made the list.

GIVE A GLANCE

NestStage Capital has gone intercontinental and invested 2 million ($2.75 million) in the French company Resto in. The startup allows users to order restaurant-quality food online. Though, being Europe and all, it is still unclear whether you tip the delivery boy.

And now for the most low-tech VC deal you’ll ever see: Pret-Mose has raised $20 million, led by locally-based Murex Investments, to purchase Hitcharama Recreational Vehicles of Turnersville, NJ. We can only hope it is to use the RVs to film a road trip reality show.

Osage Ventures travels north to Boston and adds to its current investment of Landslide Technologies. The company, which develops business software, also hired a new CEO.

DreamIt and Wizhive co-founder Mike Levinson is going public in his search for talent. Levinson has posted to Monster.com his need of “bright, creative, rising stars.”

The VC Roundup will deliver Philadelphia private equity news hot and fresh every Tuesday morning.

A company screen shot of the Protosphere

Bala Cynwid-based Osage Ventures has announced a Series A investment in ProtonMedia, a company that specializes in creating virtual worlds.

Stopping just short of calling its main product “The Matrix,” ProtonMedia’s primary product is “ProtoSphere” — a platform that customers use to hold virtual meetings and classes. The software allows for voice chat, document transfer and custom avatars, among other features.

The Lansdale-based company is already profitable, boasting some pretty large customers including Comcast and AstraZeneca.

The deal is an all-local transaction. Osage is being joined by Bethlehem’s Originate Ventures for a combined cash influx of $2.5 million. ProtonMedia says it will use the money to beef up its sales and marketing teams while improving the company’s technolgy.

The company, founded in 1998 by Temple alum Ron Burns, has been profitable for “four or five” years, launching the Protosphere in 2006.

If you’re really curious, download the demo, or see a video below of ProtonMedia’s walkthrough of their virtual world: