Philly weekly roundup: Tech industry study; Mental health AI chatbots; 2025 Startup World Cup

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

This week in Philly, the city lands in the top 15 places to start a company, a little-known small business grant and more.

Read on for Technical.ly’s weekly roundup of top news in the region.

📰 News Incubator: What else to know

• Robotics company Sojo Industries raised a $40 million Series B. The funding will be used to upgrade its software products, invest in marketing materials and advance its manufacturing technology. [Technical.ly]

• ICYMI: Check out the panel recaps from the 2025 Technical.ly Builders Conference. You can also listen to each talk on Spotify. [Technical.ly]

• Mayor Cherelle Parker announced four new partnerships worth $2 million to expand the City College for Municipal Employment, which offers free skills and technical training for a variety of fields. [City of Philadelphia]

• Montgomery County Community College won Innovation of the Year from the international org League for Innovation in the Community College for its Virtual Reality for Public Speaking Skills project. [MCCC]

•  The city’s Department of Commerce released a Philadelphia Tech Industry Study, providing data about the tech workforce in Philly. [LinkedIn]

• Temple University professor Sezgin Ayabakan and his team researched people’s perception of mental health AI chatbots and found that most people think they are more judgmental than humans. [Temple News]

• Philadelphia’s regional competition for the Startup World Cup will be on August 27. Applications are open now until July 7. Last year was the first year Philly participated in the competition. [Startup World Cup/Technical.ly]

• Lifeguarding game Boast Guards won Drexel University’s College of Computing and Informatics senior project showcase. [Drexel]

• City Council approved the fiscal year 2026 budget last week. The $6.8 billion budget is focused on public safety, clean and green initiatives, economic opportunity, housing and education. [City of Philadelphia ]

• Harrisburg University of Science and Technology is closing its Philly location at 1500 Spring Garden Street on August 31. [Philly Biz Journal]

🗓️ On the Calendar

• Philadelphia Data Visualization Meetup will be gathering on June 18 at Guru. [More details]

• Philly Analytics is hosting a happy hour on June 18, plus a talk called “Marketing with AI: Transparent Analytics Pipeline.” [Details]

• Join Philly Game Mechanics for an after-party after gaming conference Narrascope wraps up on June 21. [More info]

• Curious about death tech? Check out Dying to Meet, an end-of-life technology networking event on June 24. [Register]

• Local 3D geospatial company Cesium is hosting its first Developer Conference June 23 to 25. [Register]