Erie Innovation Fund Gets $500,000 from ECGRA
ERIE, PA - Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern PA announced today that the Erie Innovation Fund has received an additional $500,000 investment from the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority (ECGRA).
Established as a public-private partnership two years ago, the Erie Innovation Fund provides local entrepreneurs and small, established manufacturers with access to capital to develop new products, start new tech-based companies, or gain access to a new market. Ben Franklin will match this investment with another $500,000 and encourages other area entities to further support this important local resource.
To date, seven area companies have received an investment from the Erie Innovation Fund, which was originally seeded with $700,000 from ECGRA and $700,000 from Ben Franklin. Perry Wood, the Executive Director of ECGRA commented, "Partnering with the Ben Franklin Program, which has been investing in technology startups and manufacturers for 30 years, resulted in a pool of available capital for the area in the amount of $1.4 million. That money has been deployed, and leveraged an additional $2.1 million in private resources. We are pleased to be able to invest another $500,000 to continue with this very successful program."
Stephen Brawley, CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners added, "Creating a pool of local capital that targets Erie County entrepreneurs and manufacturers has already helped several Erie County-based companies, who were in various stages of product development, begin to commercialize their efforts and hire additional employees. We are proud to have worked with each one of them. Those who are interested in applying for an Erie Innovation Fund investment, can phone Ben Franklin's Erie office at 898-6650."
