The beginning of each month, we review what’s been going on in the Pittsburgh entrepreneurial community for the previous month – what changed, who grew, and what people are saying. Plus, we want to make sure we keep you up to date on the things FortyX80 has been up to lately.
Check out our May recap if you missed it.
What We've Been Up To
Both our President Audrey and Advisor Jen were quoted in this article comparing Pittsburgh to the Bay Area – “If you want to be in a place where you can have an impact, whether for yourself to build a company or be part of growing into something bigger, Pittsburgh is a great place to do that.”
We co-hosted another round of OpenUp. FixIt with Rhiza and the Pittsburgh Technology Council
We also held a day-long innovation event during the U.S. Open to introduce VCs and Angel Investors to top members of Pittsburgh's technology sector
In the Community
The Post-Gazette profiled Forest Devices: New stroke detection device promises faster diagnosis
Local app Seekahoo is making it easier for contractors to access clients.
From our recent Stanley Cup days – Pittsburgh vs. San Jose: Not the traditional rivalry
"We’re undergoing a hardware revolution, but it’s still very much a niche." Hardware Startup Mistakes from AlphaLab Gear’s Chris Millard
From Rust Belt to Brain Belt: How older manufacturing cities are remaking themselves
Drug development is on the rise in Pittsburgh, but there’s room to grow
Docker hosting system startup Containership has gotten a boost in business after participating in TechCrunch Disrupt’s Startup Battlefield
What Simple Sugars has been up to after Shark Tank
Pittsburgh's emergence as a regional tech hub is reflected in our Smart City Challenge Bid (which we unfortunately lost to Columbus – here’s the city of Pittsburgh’s reaction)
Pittsburgh was mentioned in this Forbes article: Every city wants to be a tech city but fostering a vibrant tech scene is hard – and it’s not a science.
The Tribune-Review interviewed Kamal Nigam, head of Google's Pittsburgh office
One Nation: Young people are unleashing Rust Belt economy
Thrill Mill and Thrival Festival pour energy and dollars into Steel City
Pitt students are developing innovative grading software for professors
The pros & cons of taking investment from corporate VCs (which were 23.5% of all venture deals in Q1 2016), by Innovation Works’ Dave Lishego
From the Detroit Free Press: 5 signs pointing to a Rust Belt urban revival
Identified Technology deployed one of its drones to map the Oakmont golf course before the US Open
From CNBC: A 'Silicon Strip' that's rising in America's Rust Belt
Profile from the Post-Gazette: Amber Stradford's Endorsevent online platform matches sponsors to events
From NEXTPittsburgh: How the University of Pittsburgh is emerging from the shadow of Carnegie Mellon
An opinion piece from the Post-Gazette: Being from Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh area's demographic picture is changing, but it’s still skewed
From Fox Business: Pittsburgh's Zenrez lets you book last-minute workout classes
CMU, along with the MasterCard Foundation, is helping to educate the next generation of African tech leaders
From VentureBeat: “Small tech hubs: Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Nashville, and New Orleans want your startup”
A flexible robot, developed through a Pitt-CMU collaboration, holds a promise of saving lives
Investor Paul Singh's gave some very honest tips for Midwest “tech hubs”
Pittsburgh was mentioned in this Bloomberg article: The Next Silicon Valley Won't Do Silicon
Recent Developments
Venture group Comet Labs invested in Pittsburgh startup IAM Robotics
Some more harsh realities from the Kauffman Foundation: Startups in Pittsburgh aren’t growing at a high rate – we were ranked 27th of 40 in growth entrepreneurship
CMU team “Coin Toss” was the winner of the Qualcomm Neurohackathon to analyze brain data
The Robotic Industries Association brought together leaders from the three main robotics clusters in the U.S. – Silicon Valley, Boston and Pittsburgh – at the recent International Collaborative Robots Workshop
Innovation Works is the most active VC firm in Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh has been ranked among the 30 top cities for small business entrepreneurs by Small Business Trends
Pittsburgh-based company Thread International, which repurposes plastic waste from Haiti into fabric, has stitched up partnership with Timberland
Identified Technology's existing investors pumped $3.5 million into the drone developer to help them keep up their current pace
HyperActive Technology, a local company working on drive-thru technology, was acquired by French company the Acrelec Group
Local creative studio Deeplocal was an AICP Awards Next Innovation Winner for their invention “Netflix Socks”
The 2016 Create Pittsburgh Festival, a celebration of art, tech, design, creativity and innovation, was held on June 9
Uber and Fiat are in talks for a self-driving car partnership
Branding Brand, Pittsburgh's largest multimedia/digital firm, acquired the startup app Waysay
The Hustle Her Way Summit to spotlight Pittsburgh women entrepreneurs was held in June
Clean Robotics' Trashbot, which separates recycling from trash, is being tested at the Pittsburgh airport and the local Google campus
Identified Technologies was named one of Entrepreneur Magazine's 10 Tech Companies to Watch
Pittsburgh-based Vocitec partnered with Australian tech company Nuix for a licensing and distribution agreement
The University of Pittsburgh is working with ANSYS to focus on additive manufacturing
And one more partnership: Pitt's Innovation Institute is partnering with the PA-based venture capital firm Osafe University Partners
Local baby gear maker 4moms began restructuring
An interesting development: Digital Dream Labs is suing a British-based toy manufacturer for patent infringement
Pitt launched the Energy Grid Research and Infrastructure Development Institute to study energy grids
Maven Machines, which is working on mobile technology for truck driver safety, moved out of AlphaLab Gear into a new office
Pittsburgh-based health and fitness startup Fitt is expanding to five more cities next month, with another five planned by year-end
Ernst & Young announced their 2016 Entrepreneur of the Year winners
Pittsburgh-based Aquion Energy made Technology Review's list of the 50 Smartest Companies
Google is giving The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh $1 million for 100+ new makerspaces
The University of Pittsburgh held their Blast Furnace startup competition with AquaCloud, which monitors water for aquaponic farmers, coming out on top
CMU showcased their work at a National Robotics Institute event in D.C.
Pittsburgh startup healthStratica, a health care information technology products company, named a former Bayer systems engineer as president and CEO