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Area entrepreneurs compete for funding in ‘Venture Idol’

By PHILLIP LEROY Times Leader Intern

Three fledgling company entrepreneurs faced off in Ben Franklin Venture Idol on Thursday at the Hilton in Scranton.

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Apeliotus Vision Science’s CEO John Edwards throws his pitch for his company at the Venture Idol investor panelists.

Shelby Fisk / The Times Leader

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Instead of singing to three judges as in the TV reality show, “American Idol,” and competing for a record deal, entrepreneurial companies were pitching to a panel of investors to receive business funding. Approximately 250 guests in attendance voted on who they thought was best. The winner, Apeliotus Vision Science’s CEO John Edwards , will receive $5,000 worth of investments in his company based in Hershey. Apeliotus Vision Science is a company developing a diagnostic for the detection of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of adult blindness in developed countries.

The event was emceed by Pennsylvania State Treasurer Rob McCord.

McCord acknowledged the importance of entrepreneurial success by saying, “in times past, we were using computers as big as this room.”

“(There are) a lot of great innovations going on now that are allowing people to save money or time, and over time we’ll be especially grateful, not just for the wealth created or the jobs created but for the quality of life improvement,” McCord said.

The event in Scranton was aimed at illustrating a significant means by which early stage entrepreneurs seek and obtain seed capital.

Laura S. Eppler, director of marketing for Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania, said that job creation and retention in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area is high. She added that they’re looking for companies to succeed so those companies can create more jobs.

“Technology-based jobs pay 33 percent higher than non-technology jobs. Technology is both lucrative and long reaching over time. Our purpose is to create family sustainable, high-tech jobs that are highly paid,” Eppler said.

The contest portion was part of a daylong series of activities and programs at the Hilton. In the morning, a “speed dating” session was featured, in which 20 pre-selected companies delivered multiple rounds of two-minute “elevator pitches” to individual and institutional investors with the goal of piquing their interest by the time it takes to ride an elevator.

At the luncheon, keynote speaker Jack Tighe, president and CEO of TMG Health, offered remarks. TMG Health, a Ben Franklin client and major Scranton area employer, offers business process-outsourcing services to the Medicare, Medicaid and retiree health plan markets as well as operational outsourcing solutions and information systems for health plans, providers and insurers.

The day concluded with a networking reception hosted by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, the Scranton Lackawanna Industrial Building Company, Ben Franklin Technology Partners, the Pennsylvania Angel Network and the Northeastern Pennsylvania Venture Partnership.

The idea to bring Ben Franklin Venture Idol to Scranton was initiated by Austin Burke, president of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce and SLIBCO, with support from John Sider, deputy secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. The Scranton Chamber, SLIBCO, the NEPA Venture Partnership, and the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of NEPA have provided significant business and financial assistance to the region’s business technology community, and are sponsors of the event.