The Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP-NEP) Board of Directors has approved the investment of more than $1.2 million in support of regional economic development.

In two separate press releases, Ben Franklin announced it will invest $620,000 and $593,450 in Northeastern Pennsylvania firms.

BFTP-NEP owns and manages Ben Franklin TechVentures, an award-winning business incubator-post-incubator facility at Lehigh University, Bethlehem

Following are Ben Franklin investments in firms in the Lehigh Valley Press circulation area.

Ben Franklin announced the following early-stage company investments that are provided to clients in the form of loans.

U.S. Specialty Formulations, LLC, Ben Franklin TechVentures, Bethlehem. Ben Franklin Investment: $100,000. Complete set-up and staffing for a facility to produce sterile injectable pharmaceuticals for the medical community.

Cerora Inc., Ben Franklin TechVentures, Bethlehem. Ben Franklin Investment: $150,000. Develop and commercialize the company's first product, Cerora Qumpass, a cloud-based software as a service medical-grade, neurodiagnostic solution. The company's MindReader is a portable electroencephalogram brain wave biosensor that measures electrical activity of the brain.

Map Decisions, LLC, Ben Franklin TechVentures, Bethlehem. Ben Franklin Investment: $100,000. Provide sales, marketing, product development, and customer service support. The company's cloud-based mobile platform is designed for state and local governments, utilities, oil and gas, transportation, and construction industries.

Orbweaver Sourcing, LLC, Ben Franklin TechVentures, Bethlehem. Ben Franklin Investment: $25,000. Complete development of a bill-of-material authoring tool as a module in a cloud-based software solution for electronic circuit board manufacturers.

Pivitec, LLC, Ben Franklin TechVentures, Bethlehem. Ben Franklin Investment: $21,100. Continue commercialization and enhancement of hardware and software products for audio streaming and distribution products.

Skaffl, LLC, Allentown. Ben Franklin Investment: $25,000. Complete development of Skaffl, a mobile application through which teachers and students can exchange class materials, assignments, completed homework, assessments, and grades.

XiGo Nanotools, Ben Franklin TechVentures, Bethlehem. Ben Franklin Investment: $50,000. Complete software enhancements to allow expanded sales for manufacturer of patented products that measure wetted surface area of nanoparticles and droplets using magnetic resonance technology.

Ben Franklin announced the following established manufacturer company investment. Ben Franklin provides 1:1 matching funding for work with a college or university partner on technology-based manufacturing innovation in established manufacturers.

Bosch Rexroth Corp., Bethlehem. University Partner: Lehigh University Enterprise Systems Center. Ben Franklin Investment: $25,000. Develop and implement a process to automate data collection that will drive process improvements and enable predictive maintenance for machining centers throughout the company. Bosch Rexroth manufactures motion control equipment, including hydraulic and pneumatic components.

Since beginning operation, BFTP-NEP has helped to create 16,214 new jobs for Pennsylvania workers and to retain 22,155 existing jobs, to start 458 new companies, and to develop 1,279 new products and processes.