Smart Business Magazine, January 2014

Winter 2014 Smart Business Philadelphia 7 Seth Priebatsch is one name that David Bookspan wont soon forget Priebatsch is the founder and CEO of LevelUp an alternative payment service business where consumers can go to merchants and charge their purchases through a QR code LevelUp is in a lot of different cities now and they are just killing it Bookspan says Seth is a force of nature He was a 17 year old freshman at Princeton when he came into DreamIt He was full of energy scary smart and just a rock star He needed some additional business support and we connected him DreamIt Ventures is a seed stage accelerator and startup fund Plans were announced on Dec 11 to open DreamIts new world headquarters at the University City Science Center one of the oldest and largest urban research parks in the United States It will be part of a new Innovation Center jointly established by UCSC and Drexel University Drexel is committing 3 million to DreamIt Fund II a 30 million fund to invest in startup companies participating in the accelerator program One of the objectives that DreamIt has is to create an innovation neighborhood in west Philadelphia and they saw DreamIt Ventures is poised to launch more entrepreneurial success stories Living the dreamDreamIt as an opportunity to anchor that neighborhood says Bookspan the founder and managing partner of DreamIt Ventures Since its inception DreamIt has launched a total of 127 companies including 74 in Philadelphia Priebatsch is one of the entrepreneurs who got his start with the accelerator So are Jack Groetzinger and Russell DSouza founders of Seat Geek Seat Geek is the largest ticket service for event ticketing Bookspan says It can show you what are the best deals and it does it through an algorithm they have developed that judges everything from the specific setup in the arena to the demand for tickets They also use predictive analytics to tell you whether you should buy now or wait Plant the seeds There are some misconceptions even within the business community about the difference between an accelerator and an incubator Its important for fledgling companies to have office space where they can work and incubators can provide that and also provide support services for those companies Bookspan says But accelerators are much more about finding out in a short period of time whether the business has potential and can succeed An accelerator is for a very short defined period of time The companies either fly or die In the case of LevelUp and Seat Geek neither company had a problem taking flight A lot of early stage companies hit a valley of debt where its difficult for them to raise the next round of funding Bookspan says The DreamIt fund provides that source of capital as well as an extraordinary return profile for the investors in the fund A tough economy is often a motivator for would be entrepreneurs to take a go at launching their dreams Since big business is not providing as many opportunities or careers during down economic times very talented people are much more willing to pursue their own dreams Bookspan says The biggest challenge Bookspan faces is keeping up with the demand for supporting startups in new cities Philadelphia is emerging as a fantastic startup community Bookspan says Companies locate themselves where there is a confluence of four different aspects capital talent customers and lifestyle Philadelphia is now making big strides to have the convergence of capital and talent There are also a large number of businesses that can be early customers for these companies in Philadelphia and certainly in the Northeast How to reach DreamIt Ventures 212 564 3665 or www dreamitventures com One of the objectives that DreamIt has is to create an innovation neighborhood in west Philadelphia and they saw DreamIt as an opportunity to anchor that neighborhood DAVID BOOKSPAN FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER DREAMIT VENTURES BY MARK SCOTT MSCOTT@ SBNONLINE COM SOCIAL MEDIA To learn more about DreamIt Ventures like its Facebook page www facebook com dreamitventures and follow on Twitter @ DreamitVentures DREAMIT VENTURES FEATURE