Ben Franklin Technology Partners said Tuesday it has approved investing $361,000 in four companies that are developing alternative and clean energy technologies.
The state-funded economic development agency approved an investment of $250,000 in OxiCool Inc., a Philadelphia-based company that is developing an energy-efficient cooling technology. The investment is from Ben Franklin’s Competitive Energy Consortia program, which encourages small to midsize companies to collaborate with large ones to develop alternative/clean energy technologies. OxiCool, which last year received a $150,000 investment from Ben Franklin, has a joint research-and-development agreement with the Navy and a joint development agreement with a large U.S. corporation that Ben Franklin didn’t name.
S-Bond Technologies was approved for a $50,000 investment from Ben Franklin’s Alternative and Clean Energy Technology Development and Commercialization Initiative, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The Lansdale, Pa.-based company’s Active Solder Technology enables metals to be bonded without flux. S-Bond is a subsidiary of another Lansdale company, Materials Resources International, which received a $215,000 investment from Ben Franklin in 2008.
QuantaCool Corp. was approved for a $36,000 investment, also from Ben Franklin’s Alternative and Clean Energy Technology Development and Commercialization Initiative. The Glen Mills, Pa.-based company develops technologies for removing waste heat from electronics and solar power systems.
CityRyde Inspire was approved for a $25,000 investment from Ben Franklin’s Technology Commercialization Fund, which provides funding for applied research projects that can lead to a marketable technology or product in three years. The Philadelphia company is developing software called Inspire that will enable bicycle-sharing organizations to generate voluntary emission reduction carbon credits, which can be bought and sold.
