What happened in #dctech this week? Here’s a recap from Technical.ly’s newsletter shorties

Of the eight ventures that were showcased at AARP Innovation Labs’ grand pitch finale event yesterday, two startups came out on top.

The first-place winner for The Hatchery-based organization’s event was Wilmington, Vermont-based Wheel Pad L3C, provider of accessible living and working spaces for people with mobility challenges. Houston, Texas-based ZIBRIO, provider of routine body exams, functional physical evaluations and home self-monitoring to help improve health assessments, took second place. Both startups received $10,000 cash prizes.

We shared deets about the grand pitch finale in the newsletter shorties on Monday; here’s a news release recapping the event.

As a refresher, newsletter shorties are a pilot section of our daily Technical.ly DC emails. They are meant to cover more tech tips, ask for interviews on upcoming stories, and share any reminders about local events and services. If you feel inclined, feel free to offer some commentary about newsletter shorties in this survey, or email me directly at michelai@technical.ly.

If you didn’t catch our shorties in the newsletters this week, here’s a roundup of all of them:

Thursday, Oct. 8

• The Greater Washington Community Foundation is offering $2,000 grants to individuals and nonprofits in the D.C. area that are working on projects to make the region more equitable and inclusive. The deadline to apply for a grant is Nov. 2.
• Fairfax, Virginia-based software development company 3Pillar Global launched a partnership with outdoor gear and apparel online retailer Backcountry.com to further support the growing online retail industry. 3Pillar is using its engineering expertise to support Backcountry’s operations on its ecommerce platforms.
• The U.S Department of Education awarded the District with a $16 million five-year grant to improve literacy for young students. The funding will go toward strengthening literacy development for young D.C. residents from birth through high school, and supporting the educator workforce pipeline.

Wednesday, Oct. 7

• Soupergirl, the local all-natural, plant-based soup company, closed a $2 million Series A with a major investment from Seth Goldman, the former executive chairman of Beyond Meat and founder of Honest Tea. The funding will go toward expanding the company’s production and national footprint, as well as increasing COVID-19 testing for employees.
• Some recorded sessions from DC Startup Week’s virtual conference last month are now live on the organization’s YouTube channel. Each week, DCSW will release three sessions from the conference so subscribe to catch all the drops.
• Reston, Virginia-based Science Applications International Corp. and its employees have collectively donated approximately $3.5 million in COVID-19 aid to help communities and its colleagues recover. The government IT support company specifically pledged $500,000 to support local food banks in the District, San Diego and other major markets affected by the pandemic.

Tuesday, Oct. 6

• Technical.ly is looking for nominations for our 2020 RealLIST Engineers. We’re seeking those leaders who are creating, maintaining and securing the software and infrastructure that’s being built in the area each day. Tell us your nominees here by Oct. 15 and check out last year’s honorees.
• Georgetown University expanded its partnership with Lantern Pharma to bring the company’s AI platform to university researchers as they advance drug treatments for certain kinds of cancer.
• Byte Back launched a new website last month, with some added features including a full online application for interested students in D.C. and Baltimore.

Monday, Oct. 5

• Public Knowledge is hosting a webinar on Oct. 8 at 1:30 p.m. for students and early-career professionals looking to learn about career paths in tech policy. RSVP here.
• SEED SPOT is now offering online courses for entrepreneurs interested in launching, pivoting or growing their business ventures. This is an offering separate from its accelerator and two-day launch camp events. Check out the organization’s catalog of courses, which range in price and includes some free classes.
• AARP Innovation Labs’ third annual pitch competition is slated for Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. The event will feature pitches from the eight startups from the healthech, fintech and agetech industries that worked on building solutions during AARP’s program.