Pittsburgh-built tech scored major funding wins over the past month.
From electric vehicles to sportstech to new healthcare devices, local startups landed fresh capital to bring their products to more potential customers. But while some saw success leaning into local funders, others had to tap connections in Silicon Valley hubs to close the deal.
Read on for the latest funding rounds and other money moves shaping Pittsburgh’s startup scene.
Diamond Kinetics raises $12M for youth sports
Local startup Diamond Kinetics has raised $12 million in growth financing to expand its sportstech platform for youth baseball and softball, according to cofounder and CEO CJ Handron.
The round, led by Elysian Park Ventures — a global investment platform created by the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers — will be used to expand Diamond Kinetics’ AI-powered live-streaming platform sidelineHD, which it acquired in 2024.
“This investment enables us to scale sidelineHD,” Handron said, “strengthen our development capabilities, deepen our content services and expand on our responsibility as MLB’s Trusted Youth Development Platform.”
The North Shore-based company was founded in 2014 when the concept of “sportstech” was still in its infancy. Since then, it’s raised over $30 million and developed the DK Bat Sensor, which tracks a player’s swing data to provide performance stats.
“Youth sports are at an inflection point,” Handron told Technical.ly, “and technology can play a meaningful role in improving access, development and engagement.”
Local foundation invests $350k in spine injury tech
The Richard King Mellon Foundation is betting on a local medical device startup for its promising head and neck immobilization device.
In December, the foundation approved a $350,000 Social-Impact Investment in HeadStrait Labs, according to senior communications officer at RK Mellon, Tim Reeves. The funds are part of the org’s effort to invest in for-profit companies with a mission that aligns with RK Mellon’s philanthropy.
“To honor the mission of the foundation, we intend to put funds towards mutually beneficial projects, including pilot studies with a focus on rural health settings,” HeadStrait Labs cofounder Mary Squire told Technical.ly.
The investment is part of the startup’s ongoing financing round, Squire said, and RK Mellon is one of two committed investors so far.
A 2025 RealLIST Startup, HeadStrait Labs developed the EVAC-1, a head and neck immobilization device that uses sensors to record data about a patient’s injuries. The startup raised $100,000 in 2024 from Innovation Works’ accelerator program.
Additional funding from the raise will be used to prepare for large-scale manufacturing and grow the team, according to Squire. The company recently hired an electromechanical engineer to focus on data transmission and analytics, and plans to hire at least two team members later this year.
Squire and cofounder Alyssa Theroux met at Carnegie Mellon University, so their first hires have also been from the university.
“It’s a priority for us to hire locally,” Theroux said, “and we enjoy working closely with graduates and student interns from our alma mater.”
EV startup secures $1.3M in early-stage funding
Startup Super Powers Mobility (SPM) announced last week it had closed a $1.3 million pre-seed round to accelerate the commercialization of its electric off-road vehicle tech.
The company, which exited stealth last summer, is working to bring electric off-roading vehicles like ATVs into the mainstream, and the fresh funding will be used to get that tech into the hands of both civilian and military customers, founder and CEO Jon Powers told Technical.ly.
The round was led by Boost VC, with defense investor Harpoon, Quorum Capital Partners, Goken America, the AlphaLab accelerator program and nine other angel investors participating.
Powers tapped on his San Francisco connections for the raise because “unfortunately, Pittsburgh’s pre-seed investors were too conservative,” he said.
More money moves:
- Astrobotic announced it was one of multiple organizations selected for a Department of War contract with a ceiling of $151 billion to develop a missile defense system. In December, the company also secured $17.5 million from NASA to test and expand reusable rockets.
- CMU spinout NovoLINC raised a $10.2 million seed round to help cool overheating data centers.
- An estimated $100 million state-of-the-art facility to test self-driving cars at the Westmoreland Innovation Center broke ground in December.
- Local startup Efficient Computer Corp., which develops general-purpose computer processors, raised $53.7 million, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
- A term sheet seen by Reuters showed SoftBank and Nvidia are looking to invest more than $1 billion in Skild AI at a $14 billion valuation. The deal was expected to close before Christmas, but it’s still upcoming, according to PitchBook.
- Community College of Allegheny County received $400,000 from the commonwealth to support the development of a new electrical maintenance technician and robotics apprenticeship program.
- Pittsburgh National Machining and Tooling Foundation received nearly $200,000 from Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor and Industry to expand its machinist apprenticeship program.
- Local economic development organization Catalyst Connection secured $200,000 from the commonwealth to expand its industrial manufacturing technician apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs.
- Railroad tech company Wabtec secured a $386 million order to deliver battery-diesel trains to New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
- PNC, one of the largest tech employers in Pittsburgh, acquired FirstBank for $4.1 billion.
- Large-scale manufacturer Calgon Carbon Corporation was awarded a $300,000 Pennsylvania First grant to expand operations at two of its Pittsburgh facilities.
