Hershey company's product to reduce blindness wins Ben Franklin Venture Idol competition
Published: November 6, 2009
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Linda Morgan / Staff Photographer John G. Edwards, chief executive of Apeliotus Vision Science, based in Hershey, speaks during Ben Franklin Venture Idol, in which he was competing for an investment in his company.
A Hershey company developing a product to reduce blindness captured the top award Thursday in an entrepreneurial competition.
"It's important that the community came out and that there's this level of interest for startup entrepreneurship in Pennsylvania," John Edwards, chief executive of Apeliotus Vision Science, said after his company won the $5,000 top prize during Ben Franklin Venture Idol at the Hilton Scranton and Conference Center.
About 250 people turned out for the program, which was co-hosted by NEPA Venture Partnership, a consortium of regional economic development agencies that plan to provide access to $10 million in financing for promising startups. The event included presentations by entrepreneurs seeking funding and head-to-head sessions with investors and venture fund managers.
"Venture capital these days is incredibly scarce," said state Treasurer Rob McCord, who was master of ceremonies at the event. "This area is well positioned for entrepreneurial growth."
Mr. Edwards' company, which was formed in 2008, developed a device that provides early detection of age-related macular degeneration, a disorder that leads to blindness and affects 30 million people worldwide. The device, which will be marketed to medical and opthalmic companies, sells for about $25,000 and the company projects it will turn a profit in 2012.
The $2,000 second-place award went to RantNetwork Inc. The Bloomsburg-based technical company developed a cell-phone-based application that translates 72 languages through voice and image transmissions, including menus and signs. The product, which is being distributed through telecommunications companies and directly to consumers, projects sales of $23 million in 2012.
Chaperone Technologies Inc., an East Stroudsburg biotechnical company, took the $1,000 third-place prize. Chaperone is developing an antibiotic to treat infections that resist other medical remedies, including MRSA, a deadly staph bacteria that infected more than 250,000 people nationally in 2005.
Contact the writer: jhaggerty@timesshamrock.com
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