Take a look at InnovatePGH’s new platform filled with vetted resources for Pittsburgh founders

InnovatePGH ended the summer by launching a new platform for startup founders who’d asked for a centralized list of verified resources to help their businesses grow.

Charles Mansfield, the economic development organization’s ecosystem community and research manager, told Technical.ly this new platform isn’t meant to be a replacement for InnovatePGH’s ASTRI database of all the tech companies and startups with a Pittsburgh presence, as well as past investments. Instead, it’s something that exists to connect entrepreneurs to local resources.

What differentiates the new tool, called Tech Compass PGH, from other resource databases “is our focus on making sure that we were comprehensive on the key areas that entrepreneurs would really value,” he said.

On the platform, users can find people, organizations and programs that could aid them in a directory, and can narrow their searches based on industry or resource type. For instance, a user could be introduced to the Duquesne New Venture Challenge, or learn what it takes to be a part of the life sciences-focused Life X accelerator. Mansfield added that the platform lays out the pros and cons of potential resources so users can better understand which programs would be the most beneficial to them and their work.

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According to Mansfield, Tech Compass PGH’s managers ensure quality by vetting the resources it includes and ensuring “they get to nab the attention on the things that entrepreneurs tell us that they need, and making sure that we have a comprehensive list of all the resources to their disposal,” Mansfield said. “[Because] we can verify, we can ensure quality.”

Mansfield, a Maryland native who attended Carnegie Mellon University, came to InnovatePGH through the Venture for America program, which pairs recent college grads with jobs at startups or innovation-minded companies. His advice for anyone considering the program is that to ensure participation is time well spent, fellows must be 100% committed.

“If you’re really, really interested in entrepreneurship, in tech, either being an entrepreneur or being someone who’s like, entrepreneur support, or in the tech entrepreneurship ecosystem,” Mansfield said, “if you’re someone who’s like, that’s where I want to be — this is a great program for you.”

Mansfield was unable to share how many technologists it took to get the Tech Compass PGH platform up and running, and a contractor who worked on the project didn’t immediately reply to Technical.ly’s request for comment on its tech stack. Yet its launch comes after a year of discussion, vetting resources, and the assistance of Baltimore-based platform provider EcoMap Technologies.

InnovatePGH might add other kinds of resources in the future, depending on how much consistent usage the platform gets and what feedback is shared by entrepreneurs and partners, Mansfield said.

“There are a lot of nuances of, what can we tweak to make it better,” he said.

Some local founders have pointed out that Steel City’s startup ecosystem can be cliquey. As someone who isn’t a Pittsburgh native, Mansfield believes that the Tech Compass platform can be of assistance to new founders who don’t know quite where to begin in the way of finding support.

“If you are a company or if you’re a new founder, this should be the go-to platform in order to get all the institutional resources in the community,” Mansfield said. “Especially if you’re not someone who grew up here [or] if you’re not someone who hasn’t been in the Schwartz Center or Big Ideas Center game for a while, or just the general entrepreneurship game of Pittsburgh for a while, I think this is a really valuable resource.”

Atiya Irvin-Mitchell is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Heinz Endowments.