Techstars

Techstars Central LLC, founded in 2006 and based in Boulder, Colorado, operates as a startup accelerator and venture capital firm focused on supporting early-stage technology-oriented companies. It specializes in a mentorship-driven accelerator program, selecting ten startups each summer to participate in a three-month incubation period, offering funding of $120,000 in exchange for equity. Techstars invests primarily in sectors such as fintech, artificial intelligence, blockchain, augmented reality, and IoT, while avoiding investments in medical devices, healthcare technology, and local service-oriented businesses. In addition to its primary accelerator, Techstars has various specialized programs, including those focused on music, retail, mobility, and social impact, with global reach extending to regions such as Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The firm prefers taking minority stakes, typically between six and ten percent, without seeking board representation or investor rights. Techstars has built a robust network of entrepreneurs, mentors, and corporate partners to foster innovation and growth within its portfolio, which includes over 1,000 companies with a significant collective market capitalization.

Ethan Austin

MD of the Techstars Western Union Accelerator

Max Kelly

Managing Director of Techstars London

Lesa Mitchell

Managing Director

Vijay Tirathrai

Managing Director

Mark Tortorella

Advisor

Nathanial Zola

MD

Past deals in Pennsylvania

Aircare

Seed Round in 2023
AirCare Labs LLC, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, offers AirCare, a remote monitoring and telehealth platform designed to assist hospitals in preventing patient readmissions and enhancing overall patient outcomes. The platform allows clinicians to remotely monitor and engage with patients at any time and from any location, utilizing tele-nursing and tailored analytics. By providing these capabilities, AirCare aims to improve the quality of care and streamline healthcare processes for institutions. As of March 31, 2015, AirCare Labs LLC operates as a subsidiary of RightCare Solutions, Inc.

Employee Cycle

Seed Round in 2021
Employee Cycle is an automated, centralized, and real-time standalone HR Metrics Dashboard. We transform your HR data silos and turn them into HR data stories.

Tozuda

Seed Round in 2021
Tozuda is a manufacturing company that develops the most affordable and reliable concussion awareness solutions. Our mission is to bring visibility to an invisible injury - concussion; we believe everyone deserves to play, work, and serve safely. Tozuda Head Impact Sensors can be attached to all helmet and detects any concussion event within milliseconds. If it's RED, check your head.™

Equipt

Pre Seed Round in 2021
We help fast-growing tech companies attract, recruit, and retain BIPOC talent while building inclusive workplace habits. We do it with online community-based learning experiences.

LaneSpotter

Pre Seed Round in 2021
LaneSpotter finds safe bike routes for cyclists and provides real-time information about the roads they ride. Unlike current apps, LaneSpotter leverages its community to create living maps that highlight real-life road conditions. By sharing their knowledge of local streets and businesses, LaneSpotter’s cycling community generates information that cannot be captured with a static map, like road safety ratings, bike infrastructure, alerts for road conditions like potholes, and recommended rides and routes.

AmorSui

Pre Seed Round in 2020
AmorSui provides durable surgical gowns made 100% of eco-friendly fabrics and processes, and developed a first-in-class mobile application for wash tracking and management of our products to supply essential PPE to hospitals and companies amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Our solution provides sustainable PPE alternatives for the healthcare industry to implement reusable PPE, and save 50% of average costs and reduce regulated medical waste by an average of 65%.

Percepta

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Percepta is a company that specializes in ethical AI-based video analytics technology aimed at detecting shoplifting in retail environments. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Percepta utilizes proprietary AI to analyze existing security camera feeds, offering real-time alerts for shoplifting incidents. The technology incorporates advanced pose estimation techniques to anonymize demographic features of shoppers, effectively removing biases related to race, gender, and age from the detection process. By prioritizing shopper privacy and minimizing bias, Percepta provides a solution that supports retail businesses in addressing theft without compromising ethical standards.

Seshie

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Seshie Inc. develops an online platform that enables users to book live and virtual team-building activities for organizations to increase employee morale and build company culture. The company’s platform enables users to search and schedule virtual activities. The company was founded in 2020 and is based in Narberth, Pennsylvania.

Kidas

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Kidas analyzes all communications on children's gaming console and alerts parents about potentially dangerous activities in video games. It envisions a future where kids can safely navigate the digital world but recognize that there are still many threats to children online that they want to help the parents, help kids avoid them. Kidas is a tool that alerts parents of potentially dangerous activities in their child's digital life. It was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Civic Champs

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Civic Champs, Inc. is a software developer that provides an application designed to assist nonprofit organizations in managing volunteer activities and tracking essential data for grant applications. The app utilizes geofencing technology to monitor volunteer check-ins and check-outs, streamlining the process of hour tracking and engagement. In addition to time management, the platform facilitates small donations, event scheduling, and mentorship tracking, while offering real-time data access and feedback mechanisms. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, with an additional office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Civic Champs aims to reduce the administrative burden on nonprofits by automating volunteer management tasks. The application is available for download on both the App Store and Google Play.

This App Saves Lives

Pre Seed Round in 2020
This App Saves Lives, Inc. develops and runs an application which helps in reducing distracted driving. The application ensures that drivers are not using their phones while driving, thus reducing the cases of road accidents. The application calculates points for the user when they drive without being distracted. The company has partnered with brands to provide rewards to drivers who choose not to engage in phone-based distracted driving. The company was founded in 2019 and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

MD Ally

Pre Seed Round in 2020
MD Ally, Inc. is a telemedicine platform founded in 2020 and based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It offers a triage solution designed to enhance emergency medical services (EMS) by addressing non-emergency care needs. The platform enables EMS providers to triage callers with non-life-threatening issues to appropriate virtual medical and behavioral healthcare professionals, as well as facilitating in-network follow-up care, alternate transportation, and access to social services. By integrating telemedicine into the emergency medical dispatch process, MD Ally aims to improve patient-centered care options, ultimately enhancing clinical outcomes and reducing response and offload times for first responders. The service is provided at no cost to public safety entities, promoting collaboration between EMS and emergency room practitioners to optimize the use of emergency resources.

Pairi

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Pairi Inc. is a software development company based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, founded in April 2019. The company specializes in providing solutions for freelancers, enabling them to create professional booking websites and facilitate direct bookings through social media platforms like Instagram. Pairi's software also allows freelancers to manage their businesses conveniently via text messaging, streamlining their operations and enhancing client engagement.

Sporttrade

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Sporttrade operates a peer-to-peer marketplace for sports betting, allowing users to buy and sell outcomes of sporting events similarly to stock trading. This innovative platform enables participants to bet on and against various outcomes, set their own odds, and monitor their bets' performance in real-time. With a focus on efficiency, Sporttrade's patent-pending technology can process thousands of bets per second, significantly reducing delays commonly associated with traditional sportsbooks, which typically retain up to 10% of users' funds. In contrast, Sporttrade retains less than 1%, providing a more favorable experience for bettors. Users can also engage with friends, compete on leaderboards, and have opportunities to earn cash prizes.

Orai

Seed Round in 2019
Orai is a company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 2016, that specializes in a public speaking application utilizing artificial intelligence. The application offers users instant feedback on their speech, along with guided lessons to enhance public speaking skills. Orai serves enterprises by providing a scalable and cost-effective solution for communication and soft skill training. With over 300,000 users on its iOS and Android platforms, the app has delivered AI-driven feedback on more than 2 million recordings, helping individuals become more effective and confident communicators.

Immersive Systems

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Immersive Systems is a media company that specializes in providing integration of stats, highlights, and images for e-sports fans. It provides a media platform for fan engagement in the e-sports industry and community. Immersive Systems was founded in 2017 and headquartered in Pennsylvania, United States.

Conservation Labs

Seed Round in 2018
Conservation Labs, Inc., founded in 2016 and based in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, specializes in smart water metering technology designed to reduce water consumption and identify leaks. The company aims to address significant water wastage in the United States, where over 3 trillion gallons are lost annually, resulting in an economic impact of approximately $70 billion. By utilizing its H2know system, Conservation Labs provides users with valuable insights that promote better water management and cost savings. The company is also part of the Amazon Alexa Fund portfolio, highlighting its innovative approach to sustainability and resource conservation.

Orai

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Orai is a company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 2016, that specializes in a public speaking application utilizing artificial intelligence. The application offers users instant feedback on their speech, along with guided lessons to enhance public speaking skills. Orai serves enterprises by providing a scalable and cost-effective solution for communication and soft skill training. With over 300,000 users on its iOS and Android platforms, the app has delivered AI-driven feedback on more than 2 million recordings, helping individuals become more effective and confident communicators.

LaneSpotter

Pre Seed Round in 2018
LaneSpotter finds safe bike routes for cyclists and provides real-time information about the roads they ride. Unlike current apps, LaneSpotter leverages its community to create living maps that highlight real-life road conditions. By sharing their knowledge of local streets and businesses, LaneSpotter’s cycling community generates information that cannot be captured with a static map, like road safety ratings, bike infrastructure, alerts for road conditions like potholes, and recommended rides and routes.

Kapsul

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Kapsul is focused on transforming the home comfort market by creating aesthetically pleasing and high-performance appliances. The company offers a variety of products designed to manage temperature, humidity, and air quality, including a 5,000 BTU window air conditioner that emphasizes ease of installation and user-friendly operation. This air conditioner provides users with an unobstructed view and enhances the visual appeal of both the interior and exterior of homes. Kapsul's appliances are compatible with smart home platforms and can connect to web services, allowing consumers to monitor and manage factors such as energy usage, humidity, and ambient light, thereby improving overall home comfort.

Aspinity

Seed Round in 2018
Aspinity, Inc. specializes in the manufacturing of reconfigurable analog modular processor (RAMP) chips designed for ultra-low-power electronics. These compact, analog machine learning chips analyze raw, unstructured sensor data, enabling them to identify important data early in the signal chain while filtering out background noise. By processing analog data directly, Aspinity's technology reduces the need for higher-power processing of insignificant information, optimizing power consumption for always-on, battery-operated devices. Their innovations are particularly valuable in applications such as voice activation, industrial machine health monitoring, and wearable health devices across consumer, industrial, and biomedical markets. Founded in 2015 and based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Aspinity aims to enhance battery life in sensing applications without compromising performance.

Gridwise

Pre Seed Round in 2017
Gridwise, Inc. develops and operates a peer-to-peer driver intelligence mobile application for rideshare drivers. The company's software solution enables drivers to receive events and end time updates, real-time alerts, airport demand data, and maintain driver taskbar. Its application also enables to get alerts about traffic, weather, events letting out, and other nearby opportunities; calculate tax deductions and prepare detailed tax reports; automatically track mileage; and get real-time passenger data. Gridwise, Inc. was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Aspinity

Pre Seed Round in 2017
Aspinity, Inc. specializes in the manufacturing of reconfigurable analog modular processor (RAMP) chips designed for ultra-low-power electronics. These compact, analog machine learning chips analyze raw, unstructured sensor data, enabling them to identify important data early in the signal chain while filtering out background noise. By processing analog data directly, Aspinity's technology reduces the need for higher-power processing of insignificant information, optimizing power consumption for always-on, battery-operated devices. Their innovations are particularly valuable in applications such as voice activation, industrial machine health monitoring, and wearable health devices across consumer, industrial, and biomedical markets. Founded in 2015 and based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Aspinity aims to enhance battery life in sensing applications without compromising performance.

RoadBotics

Pre Seed Round in 2017
RoadBotics empowers governments and communities to make objective, data-driven decisions about their public infrastructure assets. We automate image mapping and road assessments, generating interactive maps, unbiased ratings, and practical tools to save time and taxpayer dollars for hundreds of communities across the country and around the world.

Module

Pre Seed Round in 2017
Module Housing, LLC designs and develops adaptable housing solutions. The company develops a wall system and design platform that enables residents to turn a one bedroom starter unit into a three bedroom house. It collects information about the users, and determines the next steps to get users closer to moving into next home. The company offers modules, such as the grown-up, the flat top, the Tom and Jerry, and the moonlighter. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

BuildSim

Pre Seed Round in 2017
BuildSimHub, founded in 2017 and based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, operates a cloud-based platform focused on building energy modeling and project collaboration. This platform provides a comprehensive energy management system that allows users to coordinate and track all model changes in a centralized location. It features quality assurance and auto-debugging capabilities, along with data analytics and cloud simulation. These tools enable energy modelers and engineers to make more informed decisions and streamline the reporting process, enhancing efficiency in project management.

Switchboard Live

Pre Seed Round in 2015
Switchboard Live Inc. operates a live audience network that connects advertisers and brands with targeted viewers across various online channels. The company specializes in live video and social media management, enabling content creators to manage their live streams and extend their reach to online audiences. Its offerings include a solution called Producer, which allows brands to access audiences tailored to their budget and demographics, and Joicaster, a stream-sharing tool that consolidates live chats into a unified cross-platform experience. The company serves a diverse range of content creators in fields such as entertainment, government, gaming, worship, sports, podcasts, and keynote events. Founded in 2014 and based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Switchboard Live was previously known as Joicaster Inc. before rebranding in February 2016.

CDL Warrior

Seed Round in 2015
CDL Warrior is connecting truck drivers and small fleets to the supply chain. They are doing this using the smartphones that truck drivers already own and building tools that help drivers, fleets and shippers improve productivity and communication.

Playpower

Pre Seed Round in 2013
Playpower was founded with support from the MacArthur Foundation to help bring high-efficacy learning games to low-cost computers around the world (pop tech video). After building an incredible student team (at Carnegie Mellon and DAIICT in India), They began building online games to target high-impact skills like "number sense". Together, They won the National STEM Game Competition and the Marvel Educational App Grand Challenge! After conducting several classroom efficacy studies and building out games to support the Common Core, Their app "Fraction Planet" was one of the winners of an educational app competition by the NYC Department of Education. They work extensively with classroom teachers, educational researchers and kids -- and They are truly excited to share Their unique blend of learning science, game design and machine learning with students around the world!

Playpower Labs

Seed Round in 2013
Playpower Labs, LLC designs and develops an online platform of Web and mobile math game applications for students in grades K-8 under the name Mathify. The company is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Greater Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT)’s vision is to be a premier resource for emerging growth companies in the information technology, clean technology, and life sciences industries. They connect emerging growth companies, venture investors, professional advisors, and technology-focused corporations to network, develop relationships, pursue business opportunities, and market and promote their businesses to foster growth and innovation.

UpNext

Series A in 2011
UpNext is a NYC based startup developing extremely detailed 3D maps for the mobile devices. UpNext currently maps New York City, Boston, DC, San Francisco, Philly, Chicago, Portland and Austin. Within the UpNext 3D Cities iPhone app a complete 3-D representation of each city is offered, down to practically every single building. You can pan and zoom, and click on any building to get a list of the businesses inside. Type in an address and the map flies right to it. If you want to see nearby restaurants, bars, stores, hotels, museums, or sports facilities, you can set a filter to light those things up on the map.

UpNext

Venture Round in 2011
UpNext is a NYC based startup developing extremely detailed 3D maps for the mobile devices. UpNext currently maps New York City, Boston, DC, San Francisco, Philly, Chicago, Portland and Austin. Within the UpNext 3D Cities iPhone app a complete 3-D representation of each city is offered, down to practically every single building. You can pan and zoom, and click on any building to get a list of the businesses inside. Type in an address and the map flies right to it. If you want to see nearby restaurants, bars, stores, hotels, museums, or sports facilities, you can set a filter to light those things up on the map.

Uber

Angel Round in 2010
Uber Technologies, Inc. is a technology company that operates a mobile application connecting consumers with independent drivers for ridesharing services, as well as facilitating food delivery through its Eats segment. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in San Francisco, Uber has expanded its operations to over 600 cities worldwide, serving customers across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company has diversified its offerings into five segments: Rides, Eats, Freight, Other Bets, and Advanced Technologies Group. The Rides segment enables users to request rides from a variety of vehicle types, while the Eats segment allows for restaurant discovery and food delivery. The Freight segment connects carriers with shippers for logistics services. Uber is also focused on developing autonomous vehicle technology through its Advanced Technologies Group. By leveraging its platform, Uber aims to enhance urban mobility and deliver innovative transportation solutions globally.

Uber

Seed Round in 2010
Uber Technologies, Inc. is a technology company that operates a mobile application connecting consumers with independent drivers for ridesharing services, as well as facilitating food delivery through its Eats segment. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in San Francisco, Uber has expanded its operations to over 600 cities worldwide, serving customers across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company has diversified its offerings into five segments: Rides, Eats, Freight, Other Bets, and Advanced Technologies Group. The Rides segment enables users to request rides from a variety of vehicle types, while the Eats segment allows for restaurant discovery and food delivery. The Freight segment connects carriers with shippers for logistics services. Uber is also focused on developing autonomous vehicle technology through its Advanced Technologies Group. By leveraging its platform, Uber aims to enhance urban mobility and deliver innovative transportation solutions globally.

J Squared Media

Seed Round in 2007
J-Squared Media builds social games that are distributed across popular social networks like Facebook, Myspace, and Bebo. J-Squared Media is a [TechStars](http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/TechStars) company.