BFTP GO PA Fund, Director Aston Pierce | Founding Philly Ep. 53

This episode is sponsored by Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs. 

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In this episode of Founding Philly, I sit down with Aston Pierce, Director of the BFTP GO PA Fund, to explore how Ben Franklin Technology Partners has supported Pennsylvania startups for nearly 40 years — and why building a durable ecosystem requires more than early-stage checks. We unpack the funding gaps that can stall promising companies and how Ben Franklin’s for-profit follow-on funds were created to keep backing the strongest teams while recycling capital back into the region.

Aston shares his non-linear path into venture, moving from fund-of-funds investing into early-stage VC and growth equity. That cross-stage experience gives him a full-lifecycle lens — from pre-product market fit to scaled revenue — and shapes Ben Franklin’s focus on “venture growth” companies ready to professionalize and expand.

We break down Ben Franklin’s statewide model and the constraint of grant-based capital, which led to the launch of GO Philly (2019) and GO PA (2023). These funds invest follow-on capital into portfolio companies with institutional leads, targeting the critical “in-between” stage: post-revenue startups with product-market fit that aren’t yet large enough for traditional growth equity.

Aston also shares what he looks for in founders: clarity of purpose, a real and urgent customer pain point, and products that clearly increase revenue or reduce costs — backed by measurable ROI. Portfolio examples across software, robotics, and operational automation reinforce a consistent theme: usefulness over hype.

We close by looking ahead to Fund II’s deployment, Fund I’s path to liquidity, and the broader ambition to grow larger pools of follow-on capital that keep Pennsylvania companies funded longer — strengthening the region’s innovation flywheel for the long term.