Meet Alphalab’s 2025 cohort of innovative Pittsburgh startups

National job loss trends are hitting Pittsburgh. 

The latest employment data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows a steady increase in the unemployment rate since 2023, signaling a broader trend of the US labor market cooling, which the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged last summer.

Locally, the fallout is hitting one of Pittsburgh’s largest employers. The University of Pittsburgh placed a hiring freeze on faculty and staff, citing broader economic and policy trends. 

In other parts of the ecosystem, though, business owners are still finding opportunities. 

A local hub for entrepreneurs has selected a startup founder to run its programming. Plus, the popular accelerator program AlphaLab announced 15 new companies joining its 2025 cohort. 

Read on below the chart for more on these decisions, and other power moves.

AlphaLab announces 2025 cohort, $100K for each startup  

AlphaLab, a startup accelerator from Innovation Works, selected 15 startups for its 2025 cohort. The organization announced 12 of the startups in the cohort, with three more to be announced at a later date. 

Most of the companies chosen this year focus on healthtech or AI-powered tools: 

• Admirra provides a specialized mental health practice management tool that aims to bridge the gaps left by traditional electronic health record systems. 
• Astria Biosciences, Inc. offers a cost-effective, non-invasive blood test to diagnose and assess the risks of cerebral aneurysms. 
• BAM! builds a battery-powered heating container that allows busy individuals to enjoy heated meals at any time. 
• DashStrom helps individuals start local children’s fitness businesses with its platform that combines fitness and life skills education. 
• GripDynamix, Inc. patented a digital grip strength monitor that tracks lean muscle mass remotely, positioning grip strength as a vital biomarker. 
• Hardly streamlines career development services with AI-driven tools, working to save time for job seekers and workforce organizations. 
• Korion Health creates affordable at-home health monitoring tools, starting with the SoundHeart Stethoscope for remote primary care. 
• Orbits Oncology uses AI-powered computer vision to analyze organoid models, providing insights for biopharma cancer drug research. 
• Peachy Day offers the first integrative migraine app designed for health tracking, neurologist video visits and wellness coaching. 
• S&K Cosmetics delivers high-quality microneedling pens for at-home use. 
• SPM develops electric powertrain products designed for off-road vehicles. 
• Wood Wide AI works to advance machine learning for numeric and tabular data. 

“Each of these startups brings a strong vision to the table,” said Aaron Tainter, director of accelerator programs at Innovation Works, in a press release. “Our goal is to help them transform their concepts into scalable, high-impact businesses.”

Each company will receive $100,000 in investment and sector-specific guidance. The announcement follows a decision in January to unify the different AlphaLab accelerator programs, including AlphaLab Gear or AlphaLab Health, under one core curriculum. 

Pitt, one of the region’s biggest employers, orders hiring freeze 

The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) ordered a hiring freeze for faculty and staff this month, citing federal funding uncertainty. This followed the university’s decision to pause admission to its Ph.D. programs in late February. 

Pitt was the sixth largest recipient of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding in 2024, receiving over $600 million across 1,062 awards last year. Under the Trump administration’s plan to cut federal funding, including $4 billion in NIH spending, Pitt could lose around $115 million in funding, according to reporting from WESA. 

Pitt’s Chief Financial Officer Dwayne Pinkney later said at a faculty assembly meeting for the university that enrollment trends, inflation and flat state funding also contributed to the university’s decision to order the hiring freeze. 

Faculty members at the meeting voiced concerns about needing to fill critical teaching positions when the freeze was ordered, according to reporting from PublicSource. Pitt is one of the largest non-governmental employers in the city, with around 14,000 employees. 

Ascender hires local founder to be new programs director

Ascender, a local hub for entrepreneurs, hired Annafi Wahed, founder of the bipartisan media startup The Flip Side, as its new programs director. As the programs director, Wahed will oversee the design and implementation of all of Ascender’s programs, which include its incubation program and education series.

Wahed knows the space well. She is a 2023 alum of Ascender’s Founder’s Hat Program, which she participated in a few months after she moved to Pittsburgh.

“At a time when I was still struggling to find my footing in a new city, the sense of community and camaraderie the program gave me was invaluable,” Wahed told Technical.ly. “I’m so excited to join Ascender’s small but mighty team and help empower other entrepreneurs in Pittsburgh.”

As a startup founder herself, Wahed built a newsletter subscriber list of over 200,000 and raised $900,000 in investment funding. She also brings over a decade of experience across the federal, private and nonprofit sectors to the new position. 

More power moves: 

• Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s $10 million AI Safety Science program selected Zico Kolter, head of the Machining Learning Department at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science, to conduct a research project on adversarial transfer, a phenomenon where attacks developed for one AI model are effective on other models. 
• North Shore-based deep tech consulting firm Rivers Agile announced the launch of its new deep tech innovation center, located in Callery, PA. The 7,000-square-foot space will serve as a hub to test local projects, as well as advance the company’s own products, like its augmented reality research tool Tupelo.  
• Wabtec Corporation, a North Shore-based technology provider for the railroad industry, appointed Juan Perez to its board of directors and will be a nominee for election at Wabtec’s annual meeting of stockholders in May 2025.
• AlarMax Distributors, Inc., a local wholesale distributor of security, fire, access control, AV and surveillance technologies, appointed Scott Shelander as its new president. Shelander brings 27 years of executive leadership experience to the role. 
• Electronics manufacturer Intervala named Robert McKernan as its new president and CEO. McKernan, formerly of Schneider Electric, will replace Teresa Huber, who served in the position for nine years and will now move to a strategic advisory position on the company’s board of directors. 
• Duquesne University President Ken Gormley said he will step down from his position in July 2026 but will remain as chancellor, according to the university. He will have served as president for 10 years. 
• The National Academy of Inventors elected University of Pittsburgh staff Yuan Liu and Juan Taboas as senior members, which recognizes their contributions to developing technologies that have made, or aim to make, a significant impact on the welfare of society.
• Doug Nicola, Madison Ebersole and Nathan Brouwer, all members of local community org PyData Pittsburgh, have stepped up to join the organization’s team following an announcement that lead organizer Patrick Harrison would step down in mid-2025. 
• A group of industry leaders and experts launched a local initiative called the AI Strike Team. The group aims to secure funding, foster collaboration, develop AI-focused innovation districts and promote Pittsburgh as a global AI hub to attract investment, talent and new companies to the region.
• The Regional Industrial Development Corporation, a non-profit focused on the economic development of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, will begin managing the advanced manufacturing production campus Neighborhood 91 near the Pittsburgh International Airport in October. 
• Pittsburgh Public Schools launched a new three-year career and technical education program aimed at diversifying and strengthening the next generation of teachers by engaging current PPS students.
• Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order aimed at improving the hiring process for laid-off federal workers seeking state government jobs. Shapiro said he wants to fill 5,600 state jobs deemed “critical vacancies.”

• Electronics manufacturing startup Hellbender will move its headquarters to a 40,000-square-foot space on Penn Avenue in East Liberty, doubling its staff to 100 by the end of the year.