Success Stories

Ben Franklin’s initial investments in 2005 and 2006 helped the company grow at its earliest stages, inside founder Bill Marvin’s house, with a full-time staff headcount in single-digit numbers. Since then, InstaMed has scaled to 300+ full time employees, the majority of whom are located in its Philadelphia headquarters at 18th and JFK Blvd. The facility includes a new 3,200-square-foot Collaboration Center, which InstaMed uses to engage the entrepreneurial community through programming and events.

In May of 2019, JP Morgan announced its purchase of InstaMed for $500 million, keeping the company and team in its Philadelphia headquarters. InstaMed continues to give back to the Philadelphia’s innovation ecosystem in multiple ways, by actively hiring local talent and by supporting ongoing collaboration inside the regional technology community.

Ben Franklin invested in Lia Diagnostics, and has provided funding through the TAF and FabNet programs for assisting with prototyping and support of production. Lia Diagnostics also participated in the Ben Franklin hosted Investors’ Circle/Village Capital/Hitachi health care mini accelerator, and is part of the Ben Franklin/PACT Mentor Connect program. Ben Franklin funding and assistance helped to grow the staff, develop prototypes, secure its patents, and secure additional investment.

Lia’s product eliminates plastic, has no electronic readouts, and costs less to produce. Being flushable, it provides privacy for the women that use it by keeping this most intimate information in their own control. Named as one of Time Magazine’s Top 50 Inventions for 2018, Lia has received FDA clearance and plans to manufacture its product in the US, with components to be produced in Philadelphia.

Core Solutions understood that among existing EHR systems – platforms that share and communicate health data between payers, providers, patients and more – other competitors’ systems did not adequately incorporate mental and behavioral health into a complete story for patient health and treatment.

Ben Franklin’s first investment was in 2007 in early formation, and subsequent rounds in 2014 and 2015 to scale their growth, helping to attract interest from additional investors. An eager advocate of Ben Franklin’s support for Core Solutions’ growth, CEO Ravi Ganesan is an active member of Ben Franklin’s Success Teams, a leadership peer-guidance program for Ben Franklin companies.

With an engineering background and a previous role in product development at a medical device manufacturer, Greg knew that common surgeries and procedures for heart conditions—such as angiograms, angioplasty, and stenting—require intricate work in artery repair. For patients who require emergency procedures, surgeons need vascular access and closure. The efficiency and precision of the surgeon’s procedures is a life-or-death matter. But before Essential Medical, the existing tools available in the market were less than ideal. This meant that unintended consequences of cardiac procedures could be severe. The downstream effects could range from extended patient discomfort to compromised functions to loss of limbs and even loss of life.

Then in 2010, Essential Medical developed two products, MANTA and X-Seal. X-Seal is the company’s CE-Marked vascular closure device with superior handling and closure features. X-Seal closes femoral arterial punctures made during cardiac catheterization procedures involved with angiograms, angioplasty, and stenting. The device works to significantly reduce complications associated with such procedures.

Between 2010 and 2016, Ben Franklin invested in five rounds of growth for Essential Medical, providing both capital and consultative support. Greg and his team accelerated their growth during this time, as they accessed the necessary resources and insight to help them secure further funding and partnerships for growth.

In October 2018, Essential Medical was purchased by industry-leading medical device manufacturer Teleflex, also based in the Philadelphia region.

Between 2014 and 2018, Ben Franklin invested in four rounds of funding for Allevi, including a Technical Acceleration Fund loan for early stage development. Allevi benefitted from technical assistance for prototyping through Ben Franklin’s FabNet program. The support Allevi received through Ben Franklin enabled the company to help develop its bioprinters, software, bioinks, and application-specific kits.

In 2018, Allevi grew its headcount to ten full-time employees while also securing $1.3 million in follow-on funding. In addition, the company has secured 11 patents since 2015. The researchers using Allevi products include leading universities, companies, and government organizations­—namely, MIT, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, and the U.S. Army. Allevi finds constant inspiration in its community of users who are performing world-class research using their unique platform.

Brian and Rick left their former company and started Boomi in a space above a pizza shop in Conshohocken. In 2002, Ben Franklin invested in Boomi to help secure critical resources, including software developers and consultants. With guidance from Ben Franklin, Boomi was also able to grow its board of directors by sourcing independent board candidates.

An early Boomi customer was the local start-up Half.com, co-founded in 1999 by Josh Kopelman, a local serial entrepreneur, Ben Franklin alum, and noteworthy venture capitalist. Half.com became one of the largest sellers of used books, movies, and music CDs in the world. The company used Boomi’s software to help its computers digitally connect to other retailers selling through its site. When ebay bought half.com, the sale placed Kopelman on the path that led to his role at First Round Capital today.

In 2010, Boomi was acquired by Dell, and it continues to thrive in its headquarters in southeastern Pennsylvania (Chesterbrook). It ranks among Philadelphia’s best places to work. After selling Boomi, Co-founder Rick Nucci went on to form Guru, the growing customer service solution-focused company in Center City. Guru has raised nearly $35M in its series A and B fundraising, both led by FirstMark. Meanwhile, Boomi CEO Bob Moul continued to develop and spin off two firms (Artisan Mobile, Cloudamize), and served for four years on Ben Franklin’s board of directors.