Philly daily roundup: Crossbeam merger details; SwanBio acquired; Comcast partners with Starlink

Crossbeam is merging with a Parisian company

Bob Moore is a mainstay of the Philly startup scene, but he’ll now have an office in Paris. His company collaboration platform Crossbeam today announced a merger with Reveal, a Paris-based company with a very similar product. The combined business will operate under the Crossbeam brand, with Moore remaining CEO.

“Our platforms kind of work like LinkedIn for data,” Moore told Technical.ly. “Imagine a world where there were two LinkedIns — and half your friends are on one and half of them are on another.”

➡️ Get the details on the deal and why it made sense

No. 8 for life sciences talent

Real estate services firm CBRE released its 2024 Life Sciences Talent Trends report last week and Philadelphia came in at No. 8 in the country. Sector-wise, it ranked  8th for biopharma research and development, 7th for manufacturing and 9th for medtech.

That’s a drop from last year’s No. 6 overall ranking, but the same as 2022. Thing is, the methodology has changed.

➡️ Check out what shifted and what else the study says

News Incubator: What else to know today

• Bala Cynwyd gene therapy company SwanBio was acquired by London-based biotech company Freeline, which will now operate as Spur Therapeutics. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Freeline founding investor Syncona is committing another $50M. [Philly Biz Journal/Syncona45321]

• The Philly Commerce Department launched the Philadelphia Business Lending Network Incentive Grant, which will offer awards up to $35,000 to historically disadvantaged business owners who get loans through the program. [City of Philadelphia]

• Comcast Business is partnering with Elon Musk’s Starlink to increase connectivity for customers. Starlink provides internet service using satellites in low earth orbit, which can cover places regular broadband has gaps. [Comcast/Tech Brew]

• PennState Extension is hosting a webinar next month for small business owners about summer financial recordkeeping. [PennState Extension]

🗓️ On the Calendar

• Philadelphia Tech Entrepreneurs is hosting Tech Talk Tuesdays on June 25 [Details here]

• Join OWASP Philadelphia Chapter for a discussion about secure application design on June 25 [More details]

Sarah Huffman is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.