Ben Franklin TechVentures to House Lehigh Valley Angel Investors

BETHLEHEM, PA, March 16, 2013 (Press-News.org) Ben Franklin TechVentures (BFTV) has announced the Lehigh Valley Angel Investors (LVAI) as a new affiliate partner. This partnership with LVAI will allow Ben Franklin clients greater access and exposure to more organizations and individuals who, like Ben Franklin, are involved with helping start-ups with seed and first-round investments.

Ben Franklin TechVentures will provide resources and meeting space to LVAI. Created in 2010 by a group of Lehigh Valley entrepreneurs and business executives, LVAI had been seeking a formal base of operations.

"Ben Franklin TechVentures is ideal -- a beautiful, modern facility in which entrepreneurship flourishes," said LVAI President Kyle David. "Our affiliate partnership will lend credibility and permanence to the Lehigh Valley Investors Group, as well as encourage networking among the investors and the early-stage firms occupying TechVentures."

Ben Franklin TechVentures is an award-winning technology business incubator owned and managed by the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania and located on Lehigh University's Mountaintop Campus. Ben Franklin TechVentures brings together entrepreneurs, Ben Franklin staff, and Lehigh faculty and students to accelerate the growth of the region's technology economy.

Twenty-seven early-stage firms, employing 158 people, are currently located in Ben Franklin TechVentures. Since 1983, Ben Franklin TechVentures and the Ben Franklin Business Incubator have graduated 55 successful companies, which grossed more than $620 million in annual revenue last year and created more than 5,400 jobs.

About the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania
The Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania creates and retains highly paid, sustainable jobs by linking companies with experts, universities, funding, and other resources to help them prosper through innovation. The Center strategy encompasses three key areas: developing early-stage, technology-based companies; helping established manufacturers creatively apply new technologies and business practices; and promoting an innovative community-wide infrastructure that fosters a favorable business environment for high-growth companies.

Since beginning operation, BFTP/NEP has helped to create 15,479 new jobs for Pennsylvania workers and to retain 21,459 existing jobs, to start 429 new companies, and to develop 1,127 new products and processes. The Pennsylvania Ben Franklin Technology Partners network has returned $3.50 to the state treasury for every $1.00 invested in the program. Ben Franklin Technology Partners is an initiative of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and is funded by the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority.
The northeastern center is headquartered on Lehigh's campus in Bethlehem, PA, and is part of an award-winning, four-center economic development initiative.
http://www.nep.benfranklin.org

About the Lehigh Valley Angel Investors
The Lehigh Valley Angel Investors (LVAI) was founded in 2010 by Todd Welch and a group of entrepreneurs and business executives from Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton, Pennsylvania. Angel investors provide both capital and business expertise to entrepreneurs. While focused on companies in the Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania, the group also considers investment opportunities nationwide.

Membership in the group has grown since its initiation. LVAI welcomes early-stage companies, especially those located in the Lehigh Valley, to contact them. The group meets monthly to review investment opportunities.
http://www.lehighvalleyangelinvestors.com

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern PA promotes, sustains and invests in the transformation of our regional economy through innovation and partnering. For further information, please contact us at 610-758-5200.