Newsletter

Philly daily roundup: $640M VC windfall; Ghost Robotics vandalism; Benefits Data Trust’s last day

Plus, anti-bullying software company Kidas won the Sustainable Esports Initiative Award from the Esports Trade Association.

BEN FRANKLIN BRIDGE (SARAH HUFFMAN/TECHNICAL.LY)

$640M in VC poured into Philly last quarter

Companies in the Philadelphia region raised almost $643 million across 100 deals in Q2 2024, according to the latest Venture Monitor report, released quarterly by PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association.

“While we’ve seen some fluctuation over the past year, the overall trend suggests a stabilizing market,” Emily Foote, a partner at venture capital firm Osage Venture Partners, told Technical.ly.

➡️ Check out how this quarter compares to Philly’s overall VC trends

Police investigate Ghost Robotics vandalism

Philadelphia police responded to a vandalism incident at the home of a leader at Ghost Robotics. Then, University of Pennsylvania Police responded to a separate vandalism incident the next day at Pennovation Works in Grays Ferry where the company is based.

Ghost Robotics is known for its “robot dogs” or unmanned ground vehicles. The company has recently received criticism after claims that the bots were being deployed in Gaza by the Israel Defense Force.

➡️ Read more about the controversy around Ghost Robotics

News Incubator: What else to know today

•  The “King of Transit” Geraldo Gonzalez uses tech like Photoshop Lightbox to transform photos of public transportation in Delaware. [Technical.ly]

• Anti-bullying software company Kidas won the Sustainable Esports Initiative Award from the Esports Trade Association. [Kidas]

• Benefits Data Trust is scheduled to shut down on August 24. Leadership sent a note to staff explaining the next steps. [The Inquirer]

• Penn Medicine is implementing an AI-based CT scan analysis system. So far, it has been used for 6,000 scans. [CIO]

• Do you know an exceptional technologist? Nominate them for this year’s RealLIST Engineers list in Philly. [Technical.ly]

🗓️ On the Calendar

• Iffy Books is hosting an introduction workshop about Meshtastic on July 12 [Register here]

• Philly Data and AI is hosting its monthly happy hour on July 16. [More details]

Sarah Huffman is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.

Welcome to the daily roundup of the latest from Philly's tech and entrepreneurship scene. Want this in your inbox? Subscribe for free.

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

Where will future tech talent come from?

4 ways Wissahickon Valley Park makes Philly more resilient against climate change

Coding bootcamps boomed in the 2010s. Do grads think they worked?

Tech is making funerals simpler and less expensive, from 3D-printed urns to RFID tracking

Technically Media