Innovation + Job News

In November, Flying Kite brought you the announcement of the latest round of Startup PHL grant and seed-fund recipients, and all of the chosen CEOs were men. DreamIt Ventures’ Archna Sahay was in the audience, and she can tell you that this scene is all too common in the tech and venture capital world.

In October, Sahay was tapped to head a new accelerator at DreamIt Ventures: DreamIt Athena. She says there have been virtual, online-based accelerators or temporary "ad hoc" accelerators dedicated to women with big business dreams, but Athena is the world’s first permanent top-tier accelerator focused especially on women entrepreneurs.

The deadline for Athena’s first round of applications -- which Sahay predicted would draw up to 500 applicants from across the country -- was December 8. A $491,930 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development made the new program possible (there is already enough funding for a second round of the accelerator).

A minimum of four slots will be open for the Philly-based program, which will run from February through May of 2015 at the DreamIt headquarters at Innovation Center @3401 (a collaborative space run by Drexel and the University City Science Center).

Remember that saying about history being written by the winners? Born in India, raised in Virginia, and now a Philly resident with a decade in the finance world under her belt, Sahay has her own twist on that one.

"The future is being determined by those who are funding it," she says, and right now, most of those people are white men.
And there’s nothing wrong with white men, she insists. She appreciates all her colleagues.

"It’s not about dissing anybody. It’s celebrating diversity and celebrating the differences,” she continues. "We also have to recognize that the infrastructure has to be different to support and nurture and grow this diverse talent."

Sahay cites a recent Babson College study finding that in 2013, just 18 percent of all venture capital-funded businesses had a woman on the executive team, and less than three percent of those had a female CEO. And despite this under-representation in venture capital boardrooms, U.S. women are founding businesses at one and a half times the national average. That said, they receive less than 10 percent of the funding, delivering 12 percent more revenue with a third less capital than their male peers.

And, vitally important to Sahay, the study also found that venture capital firms with women partners are three times more likely to invest in women CEOs.

The tech-focused DreamIt Athena accelerator will connect participants to a national slate of mentors, speakers, investors and managers, and offer free workspace at the DreamIt headquarters.

"We’re really trying to get more women on that investing side of the table," explains Sahay. It’s valuable "to see someone [who] looks like you, and maybe is five years ahead of you in the game," and to learn how they achieved success.

"I think that’s really powerful."

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Archna Sahay, DreamIt Ventures
 

Don’t call Tunde Wey a chef.

“I’ve been cooking to survive all my life,” insists the Nigerian-born Detroit resident, who’s been taking his brash take on West African cuisine on a coast-to-coast tour this fall and winter.  

"I don’t know how I feel about the word 'chef,'" the former restaurant owner continues. "I don’t consider myself a chef. I consider myself a person who cooks food for people.”

Wey, who has been cooking professionally for only the last eight months, insists that all the best experiences he’s had at the table were from ordinary folks who loved sharing a good meal.

That’s the vibe he wants to bring to his LAGOS bus tour. Shortly after selling his share of a new Detroit restaurant (operating with a rotating roster of eclectic guest chefs) to his business partner, Wey had the idea for a Nigerian food tour -- it struck him on a road trip from New Orleans to Chicago.

"Somewhere between New Orleans and Minneapolis, the idea occurred to keep going and keep cooking," he says. Now, his dinners are drawing 20 to 50 people in each city.

With six stops on the LAGOS tour under his belt as of December 7, Wey is loving bringing his distinctive West African flavor to Americans. He doesn’t want to say that American food doesn’t have flavor (even if the LAGOS website declares that it’s time to "unfetter diners from the tedium that is 'modern American cuisine'"), but honestly, he’s not impressed with our carefully cultivated and portioned subtleties.

With the bold approach of African food, he insists, "there’s no mistaking what just happened. I just had some food, and it’s like, wow, that was food. That was delicious. I’m pro-flavor."

Inspired by his love for his own mother’s rice or beans with tasty fried plantains, Wey says his dishes are tried and true, adding up to the kind of dinner that makes you "take off a couple of buttons on your pants because you have to catch your breath."

The LAGOS bus, where he cooks most of the food himself with the help of one or two others, is coming to Philly on Friday, December 12, at Sabrina’s Café (1804 Callowhill Street). The event is BYOB and the $45 ticket price includes authentic Jollof Rice, peppered goat meat, Egusi (a melon seed and spinach stew), Isi Ewu (stewed goat head) and, of course, fried plantains.

"Philly, get ready!" says Wey. "Cuz I’m coming!"

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Tunde Wey, LAGOS
 

A version of this story originally appeared in our sister publication Keystone Edge.

Independence Blue Cross, through its Center for Health Care Innovation, and Drexel University are embarking on a new research collaboration aimed at improving the delivery of health care and controlling costs. 

Researchers are currently evaluating a number of areas for study including:

• Identifying Independence members at risk for hospitalization and re-hospitalization, as well as identifying members who would benefit from Independence’s chronic disease outreach programs.
• Applying machine learning techniques to unstructured data, such as notes from members’ interactions with doctors and other health professionals, to predict future health problems or customer service issues.
• Evaluating health interventions that can reduce the number of avoidable emergency department visits.
• Improving the detection of fraudulent claims, predicting when fraud is likely to occur and developing strategies to help members protect their medical identity.

Though the specific research projects won’t be identified for a few months, they will "involve new ways to use data to improve health and lower costs," explains Independence spokeswoman Ruth Stoolman. 

"Each project will have a principal investigator designated from Drexel and a corresponding lead investigator from Independence," she adds. "The analyses will take place at Independence and at Drexel (all appropriate HIPAA [patient privacy] protections are in place). Some projects may also involve outreach and intervention with members and/or providers. Those interventions may be done by Drexel or Independence depending on the nature of the project and the outreach."
 
"We're already seeing some impressive early results from informatics projects we’ve designed, as well other research partnerships we’ve initiated, to improve our members’ health," said Somesh Nigam, Independence’s senior vice president and chief informatics officer, in a statement. "We’re going to see tremendous growth in machine learning and predictive analytics over the next few years, and it’s very exciting for Independence to be at the center of that work."  

Independence and Drexel also teamed up in 2012 to create a business analytics certificate program for Independence associates through the Krall Center for Corporate and Executive Education in the university's LeBow College of Business. Now in its third year, the program focuses on developing a deeper understanding of how to make databased decisions and teaches analytic techniques for identifying opportunities to enhance health care quality and services.

Source: Ruth Stoolman, Independence Blue Cross
Writer: Elise Vider
 

A version of this story originally appeared in our sister publication Keystone Edge.

Philadelphia is the latest outpost for Chicago’s The Bunker, the country’s first incubator for veteran-owned businesses in the tech sector. Mike Maher, a 2005 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and co-founder of Benjamin’s Desk, a co-working community, is executive director of The Bunker’s new Philly affiliate. 

"We have a special obligation to provide opportunities for our veterans to achieve success once they return home," explains Maher. "With this program, we are making it a priority to promote and recruit veterans to be leaders in our startup and business communities. Veterans make exceptional entrepreneurs and our region is poised to benefit from their leadership."

The Bunker -- which is temporarily located at Benjamin’s Desk in Center City while Maher looks for permanent space -- will initially assist five startups beginning early next year. Technology startups are the focus, but any veteran-led and operated business is eligible. 

Source: Mike Maher, Benjamin’s Desk
Writer: Elise Vider
 

Part of a healthy society includes the arts, and part of an individual life well-lived includes the arts, says Drexel University Department of Creative Arts Therapy chair Dr. Sherry Goodill. So why shouldn't the modern healthcare system include them as well?

That’s part of the goal of Drexel’s new Parkway Health and Wellness Clinic, a 23,000 square-foot facility that opened in November on the second floor of the Three Parkway Building at 1601 Cherry Street. It’s a new center for patient care and research through the university’s College of Nursing and Health Professions.

"We had a vision to develop a clinical practice integrated with the research that we do here," explains Dr. Sue Smith, chair of Drexel’s Department of Health Systems & Sciences Research.

The Clinic, a teaching as well as a treatment and research facility, is open to a wide range of patients with physical and behavioral health issues. They offer primary care services (focusing on women's health and occupational therapy), physical therapy for athletes and those with medical conditions, and more. 

According to Dr. Smith, Drexel’s Creative Arts Therapy PhD program is unique in its field. She also asserts that creative arts therapy is "an up and coming area that is not as well developed as some other health divisions."

Dance, music, or the literary and visual arts can have a major positive impact on patients with emotional or behavioral challenges. As with any new health discipline, researchers are working on building the evidence for what those exact mechanisms of change are, explains Dr. Elizabeth Templeton, a clinical assistant professor and coordinator of Creative Arts Therapies' clinical services.

"Arts themselves can be inherently therapeutic and healing," says Dr. Goodill. "What we do in creative arts therapies is harness that…for individual treatment goals."

Dr. Templeton explains how something like dance-based therapy works. A typical early session is similar to a talk therapy model, but builds to something more holistic.

"It’s an awkward transition: communication through words to communicating through movement," she says. But since movement can express things that can’t be expressed in language, "How do we create a relationship through movement?"

Ultimately, integrating elements of movement and dance helps the patient "experience the body in new ways," with new methods of sensation and feeling grounded that "reverberate" through a person’s mind and feelings, to effect change in his or her behavior.

Examples of this include body stances that underscore healthy boundaries and standing up to others, or movement and balance exercises that help the patient revise crippling black-and-white ways of thinking. Exploring these ideas through the body, and not just through conversation, "can be translated to a conceptual, reframing level" that improves the patient’s daily life, says Dr. Templeton.

To learn more about services available at the Parkway Health and Wellness Clinic, call 215-553-7012. 

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Sources: Dr. Sue Smith, Dr. Sharon Goodill, and Dr. Elizabeth Templeton, Drexel University Department of Creative Arts Therapy
 

Locally-focused businesses are a popular narrative nowadays, but the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia and the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia are urging a second perspective for anyone concerned about the region's economic future.

It’s not just about local business and it’s not just about politics, says Josh Sevin, managing director for regional engagement at the Economy League. "If you care about school funding, if you care about crumbling bridges, you should care about exports," he insists. "Because it really is a pathway to growth in our region."

In November, to that end, with the help of a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (aiding multiple initiatives), the Economy League announced the launch of a major study of our region’s underutilized export potential.

"Other smart and aggressive metros are understanding what their export growth opportunities are," and organizing their existing resources better, which "really translates into jobs," says Sevin.

With its harbor, air and rail hubs, Philadelphia could be a major U.S. player in the export economy, but it’s currently languishing near the bottom of the domestic top ten.

"In typical Philadelphia style, people don’t realize how much we’re at the big boy table," muses Sevin. "We're not London [or] New York in terms of global business, but we are a serious, serious economy."

And we need to start acting like it.

"There really is surviving advanced manufacturing in our region," he adds, mentioning aircraft equipment, chemicals and plastics, and advanced medical equipment.

In addition, Philadelphia needs to shift its thinking about exports -- it's not just goods; our economy has gotten increasingly service-intensive. Services that the U.S. offers abroad, from medical training to architectural design, and the international students that Philly’s many world-class universities draw, all count as exports.

Maximizing the opportunities to expand the markets for these goods and services overseas could have a huge impact on the local economy. If we were to double our annual export growth rate, the Economy League estimates, it would mean 40,000 new jobs in the region within five years.

The Economy League and Philly’s World Trade Center will partner with several local institutions for a year-long project that will develop and disseminate a customized, data-driven metro export strategy for Greater Philadelphia. Locals can look for an initial market assessment this summer and a full metro export plan at the end of 2015. 

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Josh Sevin, Economy League of Greater Philadelphia
 

The next wave of Bitcoin growth just got closer to shore with the announcement that AlphaPoint, a financial tech platform provider, has been selected by Bitfinex, a major digital currency exchange, to enhance its backend technology.

AlphaPoint, with offices in Philadelphia, New York and San Francisco, also recently announced $1.35 million in funding, including $250,000 from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania. 

Bitcoin, the most widely used digital currency with an estimated market value of $5 billion, experiences about 80,000 transactions a day. Bitfinex claims to be the largest U.S. dollar/Bitcoin exchange.

AlphaPoint's Exchange Platform is capable of processing nearly a million transactions a second.

"By offloading some of the backend functionality to the AlphaPoint Exchange Platform, Bitfinex can focus on strategic goals and its most important asset: customers," says Vadim Telyatnikov, a Philadelphia-based serial entrepreneur who joined AlphaPoint as CEO this summer. "As the digital currency market matures, our solutions allow organizations -- from powerhouse players like Bitfinex to startups looking to launch an exchange -- to remain one step ahead of the market."

The $1.35 million in funding will enable AlphaPoint to "significantly increase our development team and assist with our international growth; a large portion of those hires will be made in our Philly office," says spokesperson Natalie Telyatnikov. 

"The applications for digital currencies are just starting to take shape and we're at a key turning point," adds Vadim. "AlphaPoint will continue to help accelerate the growth of this industry by empowering businesses with the ability to provide every person in the world easy access to buy and sell digital currency.”

Source: Natalie Telyatnikov, AlphaPoint
Writer: Elise Vider
 

Public Workshop founder and director Alex Gilliam calls the blue Schwinn adult tricycle known as the Mobile Maker Cart a "cabinet of curiosities," but then admits that that’s not quite right.

"Cabinet of possibilities. That’s better," he says of the one-of-a-kind mobile workshop conceived and assembled with the help of $180 and a team of 16-20 year-old Public Workshop members at the University City Science Center’s Department of Making + Doing.

The cart’s young designers fashioned several surprising elements out of wood, including pedals, handlebars, a chain-guard and even a smartphone speaker. The Mobile Maker Cart has tools, storage space, an expandable workbench, a small battery-powered generator and a folding canopy, and it’s open to anyone in the neighborhoods it visits.

So far, these visits have included block parties in Powelton Village and Spruce Hill, and stops are coming up in November at various vacant lots on Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia. (Mobile Maker Cart activities are funded by ArtPlace America.)

"Humans are wired to copy one another," says Gilliam of the Public Workshop mission, and why the Cart, offering an opportunity to observe and participate in the creative process in public spaces, is a perfect example of it.

“We originally learn by touching and interacting with the world,” he adds, and we experience a remnant of this every time we absentmindedly put a pen in our mouth while thinking.

Youngsters might drive adults crazy with time-honored toddler activities such as banging pots and pans together, but "that is their way -- and originally your way -- of understanding what a pan is, and what acoustics are," he insists. Once we grow up, not everyone feels like an artist, writer, director, architect or designer. But given the opportunity, "everyone likes to build," and hands-on activities spark "a chemically different process" than sitting in a meeting or completing paperwork.

Whether it’s a shovel, saw or a sledgehammer, the chance to connect with others over a physical task releases endorphins, which foster a sense of teamwork and inclusion, a sharpened memory, and the tenacity needed to get things done, Gilliam continues.

Public space is "the original Internet," he adds, where we connect, learn and collaborate in the way we really evolved to. "People are tired of talking about stuff, they just want to do…We’re pushing all those buttons."

When Mobile Maker Cart visitors are impressed by the gear onboard, and learn that, for example, an item was made by a sixteen-year-old girl, "it changes the conversation very quickly. People think, if a teenager can do it, maybe so can I."

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Alex Gilliam, The Public Workshop
 

On November 12 at Philadelphia's Innovation Lab, PIDC, First Round Capital and the City of Philadelphia announced the launch of the Startup PHL Angel Fund.

Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Alan Greenberger, who spoke at the event, said that many people have asked him whether investments like this are a risk the City should be taking.

"The answer is simple," he said, speaking to a large crowd of local startup leaders, packed with aspiring millennial entrepreneurs. To continue transforming Philadelphia into a notable draw for the country’s best ideas, "we cannot afford to do nothing."

Two years ago, the City of Philadelphia, PIDC and First Round Capital teamed up to launch the Startup PHL Seed Fund, and at this event, leaders announced the Seed Fund’s latest investment: $400,000 for Velano Vascular, a medical device company based in Philadelphia and San Francisco, that has pioneered a way to draw blood without needles.

Startup PHL has many other facets, including its Call For Ideas grant program and Startup PHL Funds, the latter of which has given a combined $1 million in seed or angel investments to six companies over the past year.

Mayor Michael Nutter, First Round Capital founder Josh Kopelman and PIDC president John Grady were all on hand to help announce the latest addition to the Startup PHL initiative: the Startup PHL Angel Fund, which will dole out investments of $25,000 to $100,000 dollars to "very early-stage companies."

The inaugural Angel Fund recipients briefly took the microphone. Jason Rappaport's Squareknot is a new app that applies the principle of Google Maps -- where users can see and compare different travel routes -- to the creation of crowd-sourced step-by-step guides for other tasks.

Locating in Philly was "a very deliberate bet" that it was right atmosphere for his startup, said Rappaport, who also considered Silicon Valley, New York City and Boston.

This year's other Angel Fund recipients are Tesorio, a service that helps companies self-finance their daily operations, and VeryApt, a new app that combines user reviews with "big data analytics" to streamline and personalize the apartment-hunting process.

"If we’re going to ask the private sector to do something, 99 times out of a 100, the public sector’s going to have to jump in too," said Mayor Nutter. "If you're an entrepreneur, Philadelphia is the place for you…and we want you right here."

The evening also included an announcement from the Commerce Department -- the third round of Startup PHL’s Call for Ideas grants is now open; over $200,000 has already been invested in ten different initiatives and organizations.

Greenberger urged attendees to apply with their most robust ideas. The deadline for applications is Friday, January 2, 2015.

 Writer: Alaina Mabaso

Bringing a new concept from pitch to actual business is intense enough, but how about attempting it all in one weekend? That’s the idea behind Philly's ninth annual Startup Weekend, coming up November 14 through16. That’s fifty-four hours, to be exact, for participants to muscle their entrepeneurial ideas "from concept to launch."
 
The Startup Weekend, a Seattle-based nonprofit, got its start in Boulder in 2007. Thanks to a grant from the Kauffman Foundation, Startup Weekend is now an international name that has reached almost 30,000 aspiring entrepreneurs at over 325 events. This November, Philly is far from the only spot hosting a Startup Weekend. Cities such as Accra, Ghana, and Auckland, New Zealand, will join in, along with many U.S. cities.
 
In an exciting twist, this is the first year local winners will go on to compete for a shot in the 2014 Global Startup Battle, which is welcoming 30,0000 participants to events in 100 countries.
 
Philly Startup Weekend spokesperson Alisha Hettinger says this year’s incarnation, taking place at Drexel’s Thomas R. Kline School of Law (3320 Market Street), is expected to kick off with "anywhere between 100 to 150 pitches."
 
Attendees will listen to the one-minute pitches and then vote on which ideas they like most. The most popular concepts will get an instant team of advisers, designers and developers for two fast-paced days of work. (In past years, web and mobile applications have gotten the most play.)
 
On Sunday evening, the teams will make a five-minute pitch to a panel of three judges, including Drexel University’s Charles Sacco. The top three teams will win access to a host of business services and move on to compete in regional Global Startup Battle events, which offer a range of major support services as prizes.
  
For more information or tickets to the pitching event or the Sunday night presentations, click here.

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Alisha Hettinger, Philadelphia Startup Weekend
 

Like a little water science with that happy hour beverage? The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University is re-launching a "science café" program, previously held at the Cherry Street Tavern, at Old City’s National Mechanics.

The new monthly program is called Tapping Our Watershed. The first presenter (6 p.m. Monday, November 17) is Carol Collier, the Academy's senior advisor for watershed management and policy and director of Drexel's Environmental Studies and Sustainability program. These "happy-hour-style lectures" on the science of local rivers will happen on the third Monday of each month and be similar to the existing Science on Tap events run through the Academy and other local partners on the second Monday of the month.

Collier’s presentation is called "The Future of the Delaware River Basin: Why We Need to Think Holistically." It’ll be a chance to learn about what’s stressing our modern waterways, and what we can do to help.

"What I’m hoping for mostly is for people who are experts to talk about these issues in a supportive environment…and for those who are less experienced to realize there is so much work being done," says Meghan O’Donnell, a staff scientist at the Academy who manages the Tapping Our Watershed seminars. "I think that a lot of this goes under the radar for people." 

O’Donnell coordinates field research for the Delaware River Watershed Initiative, funded by a $35 million commitment from the William Penn Foundation. It’s a "really expansive" project, she explains, monitoring the waters and ecosystems flowing from the headwaters of the Delaware River, up in the Poconos, all the way to Philadelphia. Partnerships with about 40 other organizations help to monitor 35 different sites four times a year.

"We’re pretty much on the go all the time," she adds. "We just finished our algae and fish surveys, and now we’re moving on to fall chemistry."

O’Donnell appreciated the original Cherry Street venue but is looking forward to the facilities at National Mechanics, with its larger space and A.V. accoutrements. She hopes the expert commentary in the informal setting will help "people to feel relaxed and grab a beer after work, and still keep themselves informed on what’s going on in the watershed."

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Meghan O’Donnell, The Academy of Natural Sciences
 

Just after the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance released its 2014 Portfolio report, an in-depth study of the attendance, programming, administration and finances of 473 regional organizations, it announced the appointment of a new president.

Maud Lyon is coming to Philly from Detroit -- she's been executive director of CultureSource (an organization modeled on the Cultural Alliance) since 2008.

The Ithaca, N.Y. native is enjoying getting to know Philadelphia.

"Already in my brief time coming back and forth, I’ve been to four [arts and culture] festivals of some kind," says Lyon. "These really add to the vibrancy of the community. I think the Philadelphia arts and culture scene is one of the most amazing collections of arts and culture opportunities…in the country -- it goes far beyond the visual and performing arts to encompass history, tourism, art education, science, community development and more."

The Cultural Alliance’s 2014 Portfolio found that local nonprofits are "slowly recovering from the Great Recession," with overall attendance at cultural organizations between 2009 and 2012 up 3 percent and overall revenue also up by 3 percent. The region saw 17 million visits to cultural institutions last year, with cultural nonprofits spending over $1.1 billion annually. That includes 24,000 jobs, from full-timers to independent contractors.

Challenges remain, like dips in local individual and corporate giving (art philanthropy across the country at large has increased by more than 20 percent). But a 17 percent increase in Philly-area school kids’ visits to cultural institutions is a hopeful sign for the future.

Reports like the Portfolio are a big part of why Lyon is excited to helm the Cultural Alliance, an organization she calls a "national leader" in the field because of the "quality and consistency of their research," which is used as a real agent of change in local communities.

"Both Philly and Detroit are hotbeds of innovation," insists Lyon. They’re both "urban centers going through big transitions," with similar problems in public education.

"I understand and have a passion for what it takes for these organizations to cooperate and do well,” she adds. Her biggest goal is to help member organizations “thrive and be sustainable community assets” through effective fundraising, outreach and collaboration.

Her experience in Detroit as it emerges from bankruptcy will be valuable in Philadelphia. She sees arts and culture -- with their important role in a city’s image -- as vital to Detroit’s recovery, and, according to the Cultural Alliance, she played a key role in protecting the collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts from city creditors.

The experience taught Lyon a lot about how local conversations on arts and culture can spark nationwide discussion on social and economic issues vital to any city’s future.

"The power of art is not always directly economic," she says. "It’s about unifying people around a common cause."

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Maud Lyon, The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance

 

Malvern native Matt Madonna is getting only four hours of sleep a night -- when he’s lucky. That’s what happens when you start medical school at the same time your groundbreaking fitness app is preparing to launch.

The Northeastern University graduate majored in health sciences and worked in New York City as a personal trainer with Equinox. But Madonna discovered a big problem: most people couldn’t afford the service. On average, a starting session with a personal trainer can cost $110 to $130.

"It’s crazy," he says. "Who can afford that? There’s got to be a better alternative. The people who needed the training the most weren’t getting it, because they don’t have that [room] in their monthly budget."

Madonna, who rowed crew at Northeastern, began to research fitness and training apps, but couldn’t find anything that was easy-to-use and accessible to a wide range of sports and workout needs. That’s when he got the idea for Athlee, an app he plans to launch in Philadelphia next year.

"We’re like a fusion of Instagram and a really well laid out fitness map," he explains.

Athlee is a one-of-a-kind social network dedicated to fitness, where users (without ads or a monthly fee) can sign up and find other gym mavens or sports players who are sharing training programs. If you like someone’s training methods, goals or results, the app can provide "a standardized library of exercises," demonstrations and tutorials tailored to that workout, all vetted by health professionals.

The app’s platform allows for as much or as little gym-time sharing as you please.

"You can share your program if you want to," says Madonna. "If you don’t want to, it’s completely fine, you can be by yourself."

For those who choose to, the ability to share your progress with other users is a "double motivation," he adds, because you can get inspired by someone else’s workout, and then show your friends you’re doing it.  

An in-app store will let athletes access advice from a specific trainer. Madonna is currently signing up as many as ten trainers per week, each with at least six years professional experience. They’ll help with programs as diverse as weight loss, body-building or figure competitions, or sports from hockey to cross-country.

He designed the whole thing himself, spending countless hours mastering Photoshop on his own to create the platform. Then, something happened.

Seeking funders for his venture in late August, Madonna reached out to the author of rowing magazine story, a former teammate and alum of the University of Pennsylvania. Two days later, they sat down together, and Madonna got the dollars to move ahead with full development of the app -- an initial infusion of $50,000, with $20,000 more pending -- by the following week.   

Athlee will do select beta testing through the end of this year, and Madonna hopes to launch it in January 2015 (prime New Year’s resolution time). The date and location of the launch are TBA, but Madonna thinks Boathouse Row would be the perfect spot.

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Matt Madonna, Madonna Technologies LLC
 

Four early-stage companies, including one making its first foray into the U.S. market, are settling in at the University City Science Center's Port Business Incubator. 

CETICS Healthcare Technologies is a medical device company based in Germany. With its analysis technology and digitalization of sample profiles, the company's products drastically simplify how in-vitro diagnostics are used, opening new application areas in quality control, chemical stability testing, toxicology, and process optimization and control.

In Philadelphia, the company is launching a new product for genotoxicity testing. The TOXXs Analyzer is an automated method for fast quantification of DNA strand breaks and DNA repair capacities. 
 
In the longer term, CETICS is developing a new generation of breakthrough in-vitro diagnostic products known as "Spectral Biomarkers" that can provide early, non-invasive diagnoses of Alzheimer Disease, prostate cancer and liver fibrosis.

HaRo Pharmaceutical, another new Port company, is conducting research and development focused on the treatment of high-risk neuroblastoma, funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). HaRo was the only small molecule therapeutic company -- out of 75 startups nationwide -- admitted to the Innovation Corps Team Training Pilot Program (ICORPS),  an NCI/National Institutes of Health-sponsored intensive commercial development course.
 
Hyalo Technologies is a biotech and pharmaceutical company developing an innovative nanotechnology drug delivery system that promises to drastically reduce systemic side effects and increase patient compliance. Potential applications include cancer, pain management, wound healing and dermatology.

Legal Science Partners (LSP), spun out of Temple University's Beasley School of Law in 2013, builds tools for the legal profession. LSP's knowledge management platform, The Monocle, allows easy, low-cost access to legal information across jurisdictions and topics. Meanwhile, products such as LawAtlas.org and Workbench convert unstructured legal text into structured question-and-answer formats.

LSP is currently building custom platforms in particular areas of law such as Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention Laws for the National Institute for Drug Abuse and Everytown for Gun Safety, and is planning to release a prototype in the coming weeks of its 50StatUS, which will include pay-per-use statutory data in the business law sector.

Source: Kristen Fitch, University City Science Center
Writer: Elise Vider

The University City Science Center has partnered with Flying Kite to showcase innovation in Greater Philadelphia.
 

Three young entrepreneurs, committed, they say, "to getting back to the basics of good business: high-quality innovative products, unparalleled customer satisfaction, social responsibility and having the smallest environmental impact possible," have launched Maholla Products, an eco-centric lifestyle products company in Malvern.

The company name comes from a mixture of the Hawaiian word "mahalo," meaning thanks or gratitude, and the slang greeting "holla."

"'Mahalo' is a really powerful word that encompasses how we approach people, life and our company," says co-founder Evan Hajas. "We chose 'holla'… to mean 'keep in touch' or 'see you soon.' The combination of the words, to us, is a respectful and friendly greeting. It sums up our company in one word. We respect our customers and our products, and want them to keep in touch. When we sell a product, that is just the beginning of our relationship with the customer -- we don't want it to be a cold 'see-you-never' sale."

Hajas, along with co-founders Andrew Lees and Jim McHugh, recently launched Grassracks, a line of easy-to-hang, bamboo racks that can be used to hang skateboards, bikes, skis, etc. Grassracks make a stylish statement and are made of 100 percent bamboo, a highly sustainable material.

Grassracks are manufactured in Malvern and Ohio, and sold online in a few brick-and-mortar locations around Philadelphia.

"Our product is unique in that brick-and-mortar stores buy them for use as in-store displays, but also to sell to end consumers,” explains Hajas. "That has allowed us to develop some creative referral programs that have worked out great for us and the retailers."

Maholla is currently developing some new home decor lines. "Even some that dip into the audio and accessory industries, but those are still a little hush hush," adds Hajas. "We started this company to live the American dream. We're three young guys that are committed to making high-quality products, being good to our customers, and doing what we can to protect the environment and raise the bar in terms of environmental awareness for companies."

Source: Evan Hajas, Maholla Products
Writer: Elise Vider