The City of Pittsburgh announced the next batch of local startups for PGH Lab, a program that helps entrepreneurs pilot their products with government departments as early customers.

Four startups — including a returning participant — were selected from a pool of 35 applicants, PGH Lab’s most competitive cohort to date, according to a press release. The companies will pilot “next-generation technologies,” said Sylvia Harris, acting director of the Department of Innovation and Performance, which runs PGH Lab. 

The pilots will be aimed at improving public safety operations, sustainable energy use, workforce productivity and how the city displays data.

“For more than 10 years, PGH Lab has served as a bridge between innovative entrepreneurs and the City of Pittsburgh, transforming bold local ideas into real-world solutions for the city,” Harris said in the announcement. “Now in its 11th cohort, the program continues to demonstrate the power of real collaboration.” 

Robotics company Aquatonomy will partner with Pittsburgh’s River Rescue Team in Public Safety to pilot autonomous underwater robotic scanning in low-to-zero visibility environments. This will support the possible search and recovery of people and objects in Pittsburgh’s rivers.

Pittsburgh Drone Services will work alongside the City Planning Office of Sustainability and Resilience. The company’s drones, equipped with thermal measurement technology, will evaluate buildings that “present challenges related to Pittsburgh’s Climate Action Plan, focused on areas of energy inefficiency and heat loss,” according to the city’s announcement. 

The Orange Peel Collaborative, an AI consulting startup, will collaborate with the Department of Innovation and Performance to create a guide for how the city uses generative AI. The pilot aims to improve staff efficiency and problem-solving while protecting city data. 

After an initial pilot with the city, architecture and design firm Vridian is returning to work with Pittsburgh’s Geographic Information Systems Team in the Department of Innovation and Performance. The company will review the maps and data different departments already use and identify which ones could be turned into a “digital twin” — a real-time virtual model of the city — while also developing guidelines for how the city can use that technology going forward.

Vridian previously participated in PGH Lab Cohort 10.0, partnering with the Department of Finance to develop a similar platform that introduced a game-like, immersive interface for users to explore properties virtually. 

“Returning for Cohort 11.0 allows us to build on that foundation [from our first PGH Lab cohort] and explore how this technology can support a wider range of civic challenges,” founder Jack Nelson said in a prepared statement, “and foster more integrated engagement with Pittsburgh residents and city services.”

An uncertain future

The six-month, paid program is celebrating its tenth year of operation, but its future is uncertain as the city faces budget constraints. 

Since 2024, PGH Lab participants have received a $25,000 stipend. But as of now, PGH Lab has not received continued funding in the 2026 city budget, throwing future stipends into limbo.  

With the city facing a possible deficit of up to $40 million, the mayor has proposed reopening the budget and will look to restore PGH Lab’s funding when that happens, city press secretary Molly Onufer previously told Technical.ly. 

The city did not immediately respond to Technical.ly’s request to comment on whether PGH Lab was included in the mayor’s recently proposed budget amendments, which would add about $28 million in overall spending.  

This comes at a time when local founders are asking for more ways to engage with the city. At a recent dinner celebrating Technical.ly’s 2026 RealLIST Startups in Pittsburgh, entrepreneurs said the city could do more to get locally grown ventures involved in the economy.

“Release a list of projects for local startups to tackle,” Mary Squire, cofounder of healthtech startup HeadStrait Labs, said at the dinner, proposing an expansion of PGH Lab. 

Onufer said the mayor would consider the idea.