Pittsburgh Power Moves: Astrobotic hires NASA veterans and partners with US Air Force

Partnerships, advisory boards and new hires, oh my! Spring has brought quite a few changes for Pittsburgh companies. 

Good news: Technical.ly’s in the business of keeping an eye on all these comings and goings — and what they mean for the region’s startups, tech firms and their employees. Read on for the latest.

Astrobotic hires NASA veterans, partners with Air Force

After the lesson-filled failure of its Peregrine lander, North Side’s Astrobotic has hired four NASA veterans for its second attempt at a moon landing.

Newly appointed Vice President of Landers and Spacecraft Steve Clarke, Director of Engineering Frank Peri, and advisors Jim Reuter and Michael Gazarik will all be working at the North Side-based space technology company.

Their combined experience is expected to give Astrobotic a big boost in making this next mission more of an all-out success.

“Combining these proven leaders with our flight experience gives us more confidence than ever that Astrobotic’s lunar lander program has a bright future,” Astrobotic CEO John Thornton said.

The company is also making moves in its push to develop ever-more advanced reusable rockets. It’s partnering with the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Rocket Propulsion Division at Edwards Air Force Base to design, develop, test, and demonstrate how the tech could be used in commercial and military applications.

“This [partnership] between Astrobotic and AFRL will leverage the parties’ complementary skillsets to achieve mutually beneficial goals,” said Sean Bedford, Astrobotic’s director of business development.

Aspinity establishes advisory board

This Strip District-based semiconductor company that specializes in the development of analog machine learning chips has made recent headlines for securing impressive raises, like the $10.7 million deal that was one of the region’s largest in Q3 2023.

The firm just announced plans to establish a technical advisory board, charged with guiding Aspinity in navigating the semiconductor market while it seeks new application areas.

Inaugural board members include Kymeta President and CEO Rick Bergman and Boston Consulting Group Advisor Bill Earnshaw.

“Both bring a wealth of experience and perspectives that enrich our capabilities as we continue to increase our global visibility and enter new markets,” Aspinity CEO Richard Hegberg said. “Their presence on our board underscores our commitment to assembling top-tier talent dedicated to driving innovation and success in the AI chip industry.”

Abridge notches another California partnership

So far in 2024, this Lawrenceville-based healthtech company has secured a $150 million Series C raise and been signed as a partner of UCI Health, the health system of the University of California.

Now Abridge has a new West Coast partnership to add to its collection —with Sutter Health, a California-based body of hospitals and doctors.

By adopting Abridge’s transcription app, Sutter Health’s leadership expects to make appointments more efficient while allowing healthcare workers to get more one-on-one time with their patients.

“We are highly focused on innovation as a lever to help us achieve our vision and mission of delivering safe, high quality, equitable care to all of our patients,” Sutter Health CEO Warner Thomas said. “Sutter is equally committed to the thoughtful integration of emerging technologies like AI in healthcare that support our physicians to help deliver on that mission.”

Dashcam launches in Boston

Dashcam for your Bike supports cyclists with an app that allows them to obtain video evidence in the case of an accident and offers other tools for people out riding bikes.

The 2023 RealLIST Startups honoree participated in PGH Labs 7.0 and secured a partnership with the City of Pittsburgh to use its platform to allow cyclists to report hazards on the road to the city’s 311 hotline.

That service is now being adopted in Boston after city leaders selected Dashcam out of hundreds of options.

“In Pittsburgh, we saw a massive impact from our app’s One-Tap 311 Reporting,” Dashcam CEO Armin Samii said. “Our users have had potholes fixed, signage updated, and even had protected bike lanes installed thanks to their 311 reports. We’re excited to empower another city with this tool.”