Power Moves is a recurring series where we chart the comings and goings of talent across the region. Got a new hire, gig or promotion? Email us at [email protected].

Startup support organizations often evolve alongside the companies they aim to help — and sometimes that means revisiting the model they launched with.

Venture studio United Effects Ventures (UEV) announced that its cofounders would be moving forward separately, with one leading a product studio/accelerator and the other launching a venture firm. 

Meanwhile, other startup support programs are guiding new cohorts through the same time-tested model. AI startup Nextgres was one of six companies to participate in eight-year-old Comcast’s LIFT Labs program this spring. 

In other power moves, the next generation of technologists is being developed at a learning center in Cobbs Creek as a breakout robotics team gets global recognition.

Check out all the details and more below. 

UEV separates its studio and investment work

United Effects Ventures spun out two unaffiliated organizations: a product studio and accelerator called United Effects Labs and an early-stage investment firm named Hadley Point Capital. 

The venture studio will continue to work with the three companies currently in its portfolio, but moving forward, it will not be taking on any new investments or hosting any new events, cofounder Frank Shultz told Technical.ly following the announcement this week.

A venture studio is an organization that helps turn early-stage ideas into companies by supporting founders with product development, team-building, operations and go-to-market strategy. UEV launched last spring with plans to help early-stage startups develop their ideas, provide funding and connect with the Philly startup community. 

“Our definition of venture studio maybe was a little bit bloated, and we’re just refining that now,” cofounder Bo Motlagh said.

Ultimately, Shultz and Motlagh felt like they were trying to do too many things all at once, and each wanted to focus on the work they were passionate about, they said. 

“We’re two companies that came out of the UEV Venture Studio,” Motlagh said. 

Shultz will now lead Hadley Point Capital, a venture firm for early-stage tech companies in the Northeast. The firm expects to write checks that range from $50,000 to $500,000, he said. He is also focused on building a network of angel and pre-seed investors in the region and providing advisory services to startups. 

Motlagh now runs United Effects Labs, where he wants to help founders develop their ideas and gain traction. UE Labs will also take over Ground Floor, a meetup for tech founders that evolved out of the longtime Welcome Wagon series of events. He still plans to call the org a venture studio, but without the funding aspect that was part of the original model, he said. 

For Motlagh, he’s still unsure what the exact definition of a venture studio is. However, he still believes it’s about advising companies through the building process, he said.   

Tiger Robotics wins All-Star Award at FIRST Robotics world competition

Tiger Robotics, a first-year high school robotics team at TGR Learning Lab Philadelphia, won the Rising All-Star Award at the FIRST Robotics World Championships in May. The award recognizes young teams with potential for sustainable growth. 

Most FIRST Robotics teams are formed around a single school, but Tiger stands out for its diversity. It welcomes students from schools across the city, including homeschooled students, Adam Mesewicz, director of career-connected learning programs at the TGR Foundation, told Technical.ly. 

The program is also free to participating students thanks to funding from the TGR Foundation and the Cobbs Creek Foundation, which partnered to set up the Learning Lab. Traditionally, high school robotics programs are pricey to get started, and the funding can be inconsistent. 

A group of students in matching shirts pose and smile with trophies and medals at a robotics competition, standing in front of a Texas flag and team equipment.
Tiger Robotics won the Rising All-Star award at the FIRST Robotics world competition this year. (Courtesy TGR Learning Lab Philadelphia)

“We really want to provide opportunities to students who otherwise wouldn’t have access,” Mesewicz said. “For any students who are in Philadelphia that want to get into engineering or entrepreneurship, they can really do that here free of charge.”

To help the students get set up for last year’s competition season, the team partnered with Drexel University students to better understand both the coding and business aspects of competing in robotics. Looking forward, Tiger Robotics hopes to keep building on the momentum, Mesewicz said. 

Vincent, a sophomore at West Catholic High School, said the world competition taught him that the team still has a lot of growing to do. 

“We have so much to learn as a team, and we learned so much from worlds,” he said. “We learned about outreach, we learned about prototyping, and so [many] other things that we’re gonna incorporate next season.” 

In the past, other Philadelphia robotics teams have won awards at the world competition, including Central High School’s RoboLancers, which won the FIRST Impact Award in 2023.  

Local startup Nextgres lands spot in LIFT Labs Accelerator

Comcast selected Ambler-based Nextgres as one of six AI-focused startups for its spring LIFT Labs accelerator. The company is building software that brings customer data together so businesses can tailor products, services and messages to individual users. 

Philly startups have completed it in the past, such as Stimulus, which sells software to connect vendors and suppliers, and HR tech company Lluna. 

For early-stage companies, it can be difficult to make connections and get in the door at big enterprise companies, cofounder Jonah Harris told Technical.ly. 

“Finding the right person to talk to, having a champion inside, that’s the hardest part, especially as a startup,” he said. “The LIFT Labs team … really acts internally as a sort of biz dev resource for us.”

That means startup founders have an advocate to help them get their tech in front of the right people at Comcast, he said. 

Beyond Comcast, participating in the program is also an opportunity to connect with other AI companies and consider ways they can work together in the future, according to Nextgres cofounder Joe Cotellese. 

The rest of the cohort includes 1Mind, Aaru, Applied Compute, Memories.AI and Thesys. 

Startup power moves 

  • Delivery tech company Gopuff partnered with SpaceXAI to launch a new product in its app. The feature, called Go, suggests and purchases items for users. 
  • Community cleanup service Glitter won $25,000 at a pitch competition hosted by the Women’s Committee for the 250th and Women’s Opportunities Resource Center. The money will be used to clean up the Rittenhouse and Center City West neighborhood, founder Morgan Berman told Technical.ly. The area recently stopped its sidewalk cleaning service through the Center City District. 
  • Philly-based behavioral healthcare provider Acclaim Autism is working with software company Appian to implement an AI tool to speed up patient onboarding. 
  • Philadelphia startups Best Possible, Zenbroth and Serpent Robotics were among the 10 companies selected for an incubator program hosted by Gener8tor and Meta. 
A person wearing a “Glitter” hat and glasses smiles, holding a large $25,000 check labeled “Glitter” in a city setting with buildings visible in the background.
Morgan Berman, founder of Glitter, won $25,000 from a recent pitch competition. (Courtesy)

Office and lab openings

  • Ctibiotech, a French biotech company specializing in 3D printing human tissues, plans to open a North American headquarters at BioLabs Philadelphia. The company estimates that the new site will create 35 jobs over three to five years. 
  • Gattuso Development Partners and Vigilant Holdings cut the ribbon on the new life sciences building at 3201 Cuthbert Street last month. The building will be the new home of Drexel University’s College of Medicine’s research and lab operations. 
  • New Jersey-based IT firm Melillo Consulting has a new office in King of Prussia. 
  • AIRCO, a Brooklyn-based company that turns carbon dioxide into fuels, launched a new manufacturing site in New Britain, Pennsylvania. The company chose Bucks County because of the strong technical workforce in the area and ample space to grow, CEO and co-founder Gregory Constantine told Technical.ly. 
  • The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and agtech startup Agrigates officially opened its DAT-AI-LAB (Data, Analytics and Technology for AI in Livestock Animal Behavior) last month. The center, located at Penn Vet’s Bolton Center in Chester County, is focused on developing agricultural technology, sensors and AI tools for researchers and farmers. 

Awards and recognitions

  • Temple students Jack Brownfield, Ranesh Mopuru and Kush Patel were selected as 2026-2027 Goldwater Scholars, a national scholarship program for college students interested in science, engineering, and mathematics research. 
  • The Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia celebrated its 25th anniversary with a resolution from Philadelphia City Council. 
  • Local entrepreneurs Charlie Andersen, founder of robotics startup Burro, and Will Reynolds, founder of digital marketing agency Seer Interactive, are finalists for Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year 2026 Award in Greater Philadelphia.
  • Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies recognized seven organizations at its annual Ecosystem Awards last month: Lula Commerce as Technology Startup of the Year, Vasowatch as Healthcare and Life Sciences Startup of the Year, RenoFi as Technology Emerging Growth Company of the Year, Every Cure as Healthcare and Life Sciences Growth Company of the Year Phenom as Technology Company of the Year, Palvella Therapeutics as Healthcare and Life Sciences Company of the Year and TrialBee won Transaction of the Year. 

Other power moves 

  • Global financial services company SEI appointed Nathan Shetty as chief investment officer. The company also announced it would be expanding its partnership with investment firm Carlyle.
  • Professional services firm Colliers hired Allie Gaeta as senior vice president at its Philadelphia office. 
  • Dario Altieri, president and CEO of research institution the Wistar Institute, will be joining the faculty at Thomas Jefferson University’s medical school. Altieri announced his departure from Wistar earlier this year. 
  • Two Philly area professionals released new books about their career journeys. Jeff Westphal, former CEO of tax software company Vertex, wrote about making work feel meaningful and Dave Silver, cofounder of creative coworking space REC Philly, recounts lessons and stories about his experience as an entrepreneur.