These 11 companies got nearly $1M total in state tax credits

Eleven local tech companies received nearly $1 million in state tax credits through the Keystone Innovation Zone program, according to a release. The program awards tax credits to tech and life sciences companies within certain “Innovation Zones,” like University City.

Interest in Keystone tax credit program has soared, as 13 companies applied for it in 2013, up from three in 2012, said Kristen Fitch of the University City Science Center, which oversees the program for the University City zone. This is most likely because, in 2012, the state made tech companies eligible for the program, which previously only accepted life science companies, Fitch said.

Some companies, like Center City-based RJMetrics and the Science Center-based Optofluidics, will use the credit — up to $100,000 — to hire a new employee, founders said in a release. Other companies sell their credits to larger companies, sometimes with the help of consulting firms.

Below, find a list of companies that received the credit. (Note that the state-defined “University City Innovation Zone” is wider than what your average Penn student might consider the actual neighborhood of University City.) The asterisk means that those companies also got the credit last year.

• Curalate
• Eight Eleven
• Global Technology Enterprises*
• Longevity Biotech*
• Optofluidics
• RJMetrics
• Solve Media*
• Ticketleap
• Torchlight Technology Group
• Vita Products
• Yorn