Celebrate Philly’s winners of the 2024 Technical.ly Awards

Time to celebrate our community’s accomplishments from this year, Philly. 

After establishing six new categories, we collected nominations from the public, curated a list of nominees and received over 3,000 votes for this year’s awards. 

The list of winners include resources for local startups, supportive community figures and tech companies striving to create a positive impact. 

Here are your 2024 Technical.ly Awards winners. 

Educator of the Year – Jeffrey Babin

Babin is a longtime professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and School of Engineering and Applied Science. He also mentors students and alumni through Penn’s entrepreneurship hub, Venture Lab. 

“Every year, it’s fun to see what new trends and ideas the students I teach are excited about,” Babin told Technical.ly. “Philadelphia is a great place for entrepreneurs, and I’m deeply appreciative of the opportunity to play a part in the innovation ecosystem that supports them.”

This year, he said he is particularly proud of the growth of two startups he’s worked with. Agriculture tech company Nirby and kid-friendly cardboard cutting tool ChompShop both picked up momentum and raised money through grants, awards and investments.  

Babin is looking forward to expanding opportunities for the Penn community through Penn Engineering’s entrepreneurship courses and a new Venture Initiation Program incubator and accelerator at Venture Lab. 

Program of the Year – Pennovation Accelerator 

The Pennovation Accelerator is an annual six-week program that provides training and connections to local startups looking to grow. The program culminates with a pitch day. 

This was the seventh year the Pennovation Works hosted the accelerator and the first year the program was back completely in person, according to Jaime Sweet, associate director of education and entrepreneurship. 

Program leaders this year introduced a new Social Impact Award at pitch day, recognizing a company making meaningful community change. Camo Care, a nonprofit that provides abortion information to active duty servicewomen, won the award. 

“We are looking forward to watching the growth of the 2024 Accelerator cohort,” Sweet said. “We are excited about forming new, and strengthening current, partnerships.” 

Since launching, she said, the accelerator has hosted over 80 founders from 65 companies and program alumni have raised a combined $21 million. 

Creator of the Year – Lindsay Tabas 

Tabas, a 2024 RealLIST Connector, goes by Lindsay T., Lady Engineer on her social media, where she shares content about technology, design and entrepreneurship. 

This year, Tabas launched a YouTube series called “How Real…?”, where she reacts to the way the tech industry is portrayed in TV and movies. She also produced 25 episodes of her podcast Make Sense, which invites guests to discuss how technology and people interact. 

Tabas already has big plans for 2025, when she’ll relaunch her product development guide Blueprint to Build. She also intends to pitch a comedy series called “Mandate” about a young woman in the tech industry in the mid-2000s.

“Both projects reflect my passion for demystifying the tech world and inspiring meaningful change,” she told Technical.ly. 

Product of the Year – ViaNexta

Owners of the local coffee brand Win Win Coffee launched this platform to connect coffee farmers directly with coffee buyers. Formerly called CoffeePLUG, the platform cuts middlemen out of the supply chain process so farmers make more money from their crops.  

The platform increased the average earnings of its producers by 30% this year, according to cofounder Nikish Bailey. 

“Through curated events, storytelling campaigns, and educational materials, we aim to foster a greater appreciation for the people and processes that make exceptional coffee possible,” Bailey told Technical.ly. 

In 2025, the company plans to expand its producer network specifically in Latin American and Southeast Asia. The team also hopes to introduce new AI-tools to the platform and launch a sustainability initiative to reduce the supply chain’s carbon footprint.

Power Move of the Year – Temple University opens iNest 

The North Philly school opened its Innovation Nest this spring as a hub for university affiliated startups. The 8,000-square-foot facility is on the fourth floor of 3223 N. Broad St., on Temple’s Health Sciences Campus, and includes office and lab space for spinout companies. 

The goal of the hub is to turn university affiliated research into real companies through showcases, partnerships and other resources, Stephen Nappi, the university’s associate VP for technology commercialization and business development, previously told Technical.ly. 

The innovation hub set out to build partnerships with outside investors, companies and resource organizations to create more opportunities. 

“Looking forward to 2025, one of the biggest opportunities I see is growing our city and regional partnerships in both the public and private sectors,” said Josh Gladden, vice president for research at Temple. “We laid groundwork in 2024, and now, we need to push on that.”  

Money Move of the Year – ZeroEyes raises $53M

AI-powered gun detection software company ZeroEyes raised a whopping $53 million Series B in July. Cofounder Sam Alaimo credits raising so much in a tough fundraising market to investor confidence in the company’s mission to end gun violence 

Last year, the company had 300% year-over-year revenue growth and increased employee headcount by 18%, Alaimo said. Building on that momentum, the company was able to raise an oversubscribed round, expand its operations center in Conshohocken and launched a new product called ZeroEyes One. 

Next year, the company plans to expand its offerings and partnerships with security platforms. 

“We’re excited to deepen our efforts to equip organizational leaders with insights from our Gun Violence Research Center,” Alaimo said. “Helping them understand the nuances, impacts, and trends of gun-related violence to develop tailored, layered security policies.”