Manufacturing tech startup Surface Design Solutions won $100,000 and a year of free office space in Bakery Square at the inaugural AI Horizons pitch competition on Friday.
The Pittsburgh-based startup uses “physics-informed” machine learning to help manufacturers determine the best surface materials and designs for their products. In its pitch, the company demonstrated that its AI-powered platform is ready for large-scale adoption, and this win starts a new chapter for the startup, said president and cofounder Tevis Jacobs.
“Two years ago, I would have said getting to this point was the goal,” Jacobs told Technical.ly after the win. “Now I’m here and it’s like we’re starting all over again.”
Now, Surface Design Solutions is actively seeking seed funding.
Jacobs said he’s been building the startup for several years behind the scenes while continuing to work as a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, but a week ago, he announced he would be taking leave from the university to go full-time as the president of the startup. Now, Surface Design Solutions is actively seeking seed funding, he said.
The pitch competition win follows other major funding for the startup. Last month, Surface Design Solutions was awarded $365,000 from the Richard King Mellon Foundation to scale its manufacturing software.
Almost 80 startups applied for the Forge AI Pitch Challenge, and seven got the chance to present in front of VCs and technologists on Wednesday.
While they didn’t take home the top prize, the other six Pennsylvania-based companies showed promise, too.
- ColdStart: a software development kit that quickly generates marketing content adaptable to companies’ target audiences
- Farm to Flame Energy: a startup with infrastructure to burn agricultural waste without smoke or odor
- Leaficient: a camera system that measures plant vital signs
- Liiv: a property management software company to automate housing authorities’ tasks
- Orbits Oncology: computer vision to provide insights for biopharma cancer drug research
- SkillBuilder.io: a custom AI chatbot program
“These startups are ready to scale,” said Lindsay Fairman, partner at BlueTree Venture Capital and AI Horizons planning committee member, “and this stage connects them with the investors and partners who can help turn their momentum into jobs, growth and global impact.”
