When Comcast LIFT Labs brings startups to Philly, it also encourages them to stay

As much as Comcast’s LIFT Labs accelerator works to help startups like Waymark, Insight Finder and FeatureByte find success, it’s also making sure they feel the Philly love.

The LIFT Labs program, developed in 2018, brings young companies to Philadelphia to work with the telecom giant on new tech ideas. While the pandemic helped turn the program hybrid, with some remote access, it still aims to connect founders to the region, and maybe even choose to build their businesses here, said Luke Butler, executive director of startup engagement at Comcast NBCUniversal.

“Activating that space [in Philadelphia], bringing new people into it, is absolutely a mandate for our team,” Butler told Technical.ly, Temple University Entrepreneurship Academy Director Geoff DiMasi and a live audience at the Innovation Leaders Speaker Series. 

In practice, that looks like collaborating with Philly startups, companies and other organizations that make the ecosystem what it is today, he said. At large, the city has put on a coordinated marketing effort to showcase the region’s “great bones,” Butler said, which include academic institutions, high quality of life and proximity to the rest of the East Coast megalopolis. 

LIFT Labs also prioritizes helping those founders have fun while they’re here. The program has brought them to Flyers games, local restaurants, Philly Tech Week and even music festivals. 

“It’s been fantastic as well just to introduce them to the city,” Butler said.

How to land a spot in the next LIFT Labs cohort

When sorting through hundreds of applicants, Comcast looks for uniqueness, opportunities for mutual benefit and powerful founders, according to Butler.

It goes both ways, he said. While the program has its own list of qualifications, it encourages startups to do the same. 

“We always encourage the startup [to] focus on the thing that you do best. Have a strong point of view about what you do,” Butler said. “Don’t allow us to drag you into building something that is not on your roadmap.”

A strong founder at the helm, with a competent team, helps that happen. Because Comcast has its own teams working with those startups and puts capital behind them, it wants “good people that we feel comfortable standing behind,” Butler said. 

While this could all help with crafting an application, it doesn’t mean every startup will get in. It’s a competitive process, but Comcast keeps the door open for future ways to work together even when it doesn’t work out as planned, according to Butler. 

“There’s a lot of things that all have to come together at a particular time in order for them to be successful,” Butler said. “The time might not be right now, but if you built relationships with both our team and the decisionmakers that are relevant to you across the business, we’re going to remember that and come back to you.”