Philly Money Moves: SnapRefund made it into Techstars’ Boulder accelerator

Local fintech company SnapRefund was recently accepted into the Techstars Boulder Accelerator’s summer 2023 cohort — one of 12 companies picked from across the United States and Canada.

“We’ve had our eye on Techstars since we started back in 2019,” Cody Eddings, cofounder of the 2023 RealLIST Startups honoree, wrote in a LinkedIn post. “To be a part of it now after so much effort feels amazing. This cohort for the flagship program in Boulder that started it all had an acceptance rate of less than 2%!”

The 13-week, mentorship-driven Techstars Boulder Accelerator has now backed 196 companies that have gone on to raise over $2 billion, per the org. Techstars also makes an investment of up to $120,000 in companies at the time of the accelerator. This includes a $20,000 equity investment for the right to 6% in common shares, and an optional $100,000 convertible note.

“Through our collaboration with Techstars, SnapRefund will dive deep into our current customers and hone our product market fit, network with a global list of mentors, and connect with strategic capital to fund our growth,” Eddings said.

Penn Venture Lab receives $10 million gift

The Venture Lab at the University of Pennsylvania received a $10 million gift last month to support healthcare innovation and co-curricular learning and collaboration.

This gift was from Penn alumni Robin S. Wolpow and Marc B. Wolpow through the Arbour Way Foundation, which the Wolpows established to support health equity, educational opportunity, reproductive rights and environmental defense. The money will be used to support opportunities in healthcare entrepreneurship for Penn students, including an incubator, accelerators, awards, research and the like.

“Venture Lab is a true destination for incubating and launching startups, providing Wharton and Penn students with the tools and the support they need to bring their ideas to fruition,” said Erika James, dean of The Wharton School, in a statement. “The Wolpows’ philanthropic vision and involvement will match the entrepreneurial ambitions of students, bringing them together with one another as well as alumni and faculty leaders to tackle problems and create imperative solutions in healthcare.”

Workforce Solutions Grants from the City of Philadelphia

The City of Philadelphia’s Department of Commerce announced it would be awarding three Philly organizations with Fair Chance Hiring Workforce Solutions Grants to support workforce development for justice-impacted individuals.

Workforce Solutions Grants have previously been dedicated to supporting workforce development in life sciences, tech and advanced manufacturing industries; this is the first time the Department of Commerce has given out the grants as part of the Fair Chance Hiring program.

West Philadelphia Skills Initiative and sustainability-minded retail store Grant Blvd received $250,000 to launch a fashion manufacturing training program for justice-impacted women. Educational Data Systems received a $233,662 grant to support individuals interested in construction pre-apprenticeships. Solar States received $226,316.33 to support its Find Your Ladder Training Program, which provides mentorship, education and job training in the solar field.

The Department of Commerce wants to give more, Gianna Grossmann, senior director of workforce development in the department’s Office of Business Development and Workforce Solutions, told Technical.ly.

“We really hope that we are informing … the employer community about what a wonderful resource our workforce training organizations are in our workforce system, but we would also love to get other funders and partners involved so that we can fund many more programs,” she said. “We see the need, and we’re just restricted by the amount of dollars we have. So we really just want to be able to share these success stories [and] hope to get more sustainable funding to have innovative workforce programs.”

More Money Moves:

• Comcast announced a $4.5 million three-year grant to Per Scholas, a tech workforce development program. This grant is part of Comcast’s $1 billion commitment to digital equity, Project UP.
• The US Department of Energy announced that Pennsylvania was one of seven states to receive Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants. Pennsylvania received $16.2 million to use on energy projects and workforce benefits.
• Insurance platform PolicyBound raised $5 million according to an SEC filing. Mike Weisbrot, cofounder and CEO, declined to confirm the exact amount raised, but noted that Archetype led the fundraise. The money will be used to support “growth and expansion plans to revolutionize the commercial insurance industry,” Weisbrot said.
• Conshohocken-based wealth management software company Nest Egg raised $5 million, with the round led by OceanFirst Bank and Republic Bancorp.

And Technical.ly spotted these raises in SEC filings, though the orgs’ leaders declined to comment:

• Wayne-based sustainable food packaging company VerdaFresh raised $1.1 million.
• Ambler’s Nexteon Technologies, an aviation technology company, raised $4.8 million.
• Bala Cynwyd-based LoveMyDelta, a platform for visual knowledge, raised $3 million.
• Plain Sight Capital, a venture capital fund for underrepresented founders, filed a $10 million raise.