This week, CEO Council for Growth members Temple University and Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania announced “a new joint initiative: Temple Ventures—Powered by Ben Franklin. The new initiative is a $1 million startup accelerator designed to assist startup companies advancing Temple-created technologies.”

 

The organizations cited the CEO Council’s report “Technology Transfer and Commercialization in Greater Philadelphia” as reason to form the partnership, saying “A collaborative approach to advocacy for and funding of early-stage companies is essential for their growth, as well as the growth of the regional economy and technology sectors […].By forming this new partnership, Temple and Ben Franklin have taken a bold step in answering this charge, with each contributing $500,000 to the $1 million joint pool of funds to be invested in ventures developed from Temple’s discoveries in advanced technologies. Ben Franklin will manage the fund and provide mentoring and access to its networks to assist those early-stage ventures.”

 

More on the initiative can be found at templeventures.org.