Pittsburgh weekly roundup: Lawmakers visit Astrobotic; Digital tool tracks housing; Gecko’s new aircraft tool

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This week in Pittsburgh, startups react to federal turmoil, a founder who wants to make her job obsolete and more.

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

📰 News Incubator: What else to know

• Fintech company Honeycomb Credit acquired fellow crowdfunding startup IFundWomen for an undisclosed sum, as it pursues a $3 million raise. [Technical.ly] 

• Pittsburgh Robotics Discovery Day will return on Nov. 5, 2025 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center to showcase the region’s robotics and AI ecosystem. [Pittsburgh Robotics Network] 

• Note-taking startup Abridge and robotics company Skild AI were named on Forbes’ annual list of the top 50 promising AI companies. The two Pittsburgh-based startups were selected from an applicant pool of over 1,800. [Forbes]

• Gecko Robotics on the North Side is partnering with L3Harris Technologies to deploy a virtual tool that detects physical defects in aircrafts. It uses over 10,000 high-def images to create 3D models, helping engineers assess aircraft health remotely. [Technical.ly/Gecko Robotics]

• Republican state lawmakers met at Astrobotic on Wednesday for a hearing on how Western PA can become an AI hub. Local leaders urged the lawmakers to attract and retain college-educated talent, enact policies that will support homegrown AI startups and leverage PA’s natural gas resources to power AI data centers. [Technical.ly/City & State Pennsylvania]

• The University of Pittsburgh’s Big Idea Competition awarded nearly $80,000 to student-founded startups last week. Pittsburgh Coastal Energy, which is developing a system to power submersible vehicles using ocean wave energy, won the $25,000 grand prize. [University of Pittsburgh] 

• Dina Powell McCormick, a Squirrel Hill resident, banking executive and wife of PA Senator Dave McCormick, was elected to Meta’s Board of Directors. [Meta]

• Mayor Ed Gainey launched a digital tool this week that allows residents to track the city’s efforts to develop over 1,200 units of affordable housing and maintain over 1,600 new units created since 2022. [City of Pittsburgh]

🗓️ On the Calendar

• Technical.ly event: Join our CEO Chris Wink on April 23 for a conversation about ecosystem building and entrepreneur-led economic development with growth and investment experts. [Register]

• Connect with Pittsburgh’s community of AI enthusiasts at the PGHAi Nexus Meetup on April 23 at the Robotics Factory. [Attend] 

• What’s Your Business Idea? is back on April 23 at Avenu: Meyran. Pitch your business idea and get useful feedback at this recurring in-person event. [RSVP]

• The Pittsburgh Robotics Network invites local technologists to the Robotics & Tech Happy Hour, an evening of networking on April 24 at Rockwell Park. [More info]