Play Impossible Corp., Lewisburg, Union County, won the 2016 “Ben Franklin Venture Idol,” hosted by the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania Nov. 3 at the Innovation Institute, Ben Franklin TechVentures, Mountaintop Campus, Lehigh University, Bethlehem.

Venture Idol, which included pre- and post-event executive networking receptions, was sold out again this year.

Eight entrepreneurs were selected as competitors. In addition to Play Impossible, the 2016 Ben Franklin Venture Idol competitors were Brighton Training Group, Lewisburg; Care Technology Solutions, Ben Franklin TechVentures, Bethlehem; Eventuosity, Ben Franklin TechVentures, Bethlehem; Howell Benefit Technologies, LLC, Wilkes-Barre; MindMe, Inc., Ben Franklin TechVentures, Bethlehem; Signallamp Health, LLC, Scranton, and webCemeteries.com, Virginville.

Three of the eight start-up technology companies: Howell Benefit Technologies, LLC, Wilkes-Barre; Signallamp Health, LLC, Scranton, and Play Impossible Corp. earned their way to finalist status in a round of judging in the afternoon of Nov. 3. Following a networking session at 5:30 p.m., the evening event began with a keynote address by Rolf Schlake, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ben Franklin client Applied Separations, Inc., Allentown.

The three company finalists then pitched their ventures to investors and the audience.

After short critiques from the panel of investors, the audience members “funded” the companies, crowd-funding style. With $100 of “Ben Bucks,” each guest distributed his or her “investment dollars” in whole or part among the three finalists. Ben Franklin will award $15,000 to the companies based on the audience vote.

The Play Impossible Gameball is a multi-sport “smart ball” that provides connected games designed to keep five- to 15-year-old boys and girls challenged, entertained and moving with active play. The 10-inch-diameter ball is for indoor and outdoor recreation and will contain sensors, a microcontroller, Bluetooth radio and ultra-capacitor. It will use a battery-powered, hand-held charger and will connect via Bluetooth to Android and iOS applications.

The evening’s investor panelists were: Lynn Banta, TecBridge, Great Valley Angel Network; Jeff Davison, Leading Edge Ventures; Paul Martino, Bullpen Capital, and Pa Pat Sandone, Serial Entrepreneur, Former Venture Capitalist.

Chad Paul, Ben Franklin Technology Partners President and CEO, hosted Ben Franklin Venture Idol. Fred Beste, CEO of the General Partners, Mid-Atlantic Venture Funds and Ben Franklin Technology Partners Board Chairman, was emcee.