Robot dogs, startup lawsuits and bouncing back from snubs: Philly tech’s biggest stories of the year

This story is a part of Technical.ly’s State of the Local Tech Economy Month. See the full 2024 editorial calendar.

The Philadelphia tech scene saw its fair share of controversies in 2024, but there were also several wins.

Many companies faced layoffs, including delivery service Gopuff and email platform Fastmail, and major institutions shuttered, such as University of the Arts and Benefits Data Trust. 

The struggles, however, don’t overshadow the strong foundation of the ecosystem that’s here to stay.

The tech community celebrated its strengths and how far it has come in 2024, with milestone anniversaries at Campus Philly, Coded by, the University City Science Center’s Firsthand program and even Technical.ly. 

That’s created a mixed bag of news in the community this year, like contentious moves at startups, work to grow the local tech sector through the federal Tech Hubs program and a continued effort to ensure that every Philadelphian has access to the internet. 

Here are the Philly innovation ecosystem’s top stories of 2024. 

Ghost Robotics comes out on top after months of public outcry 

University of Pennsylvania spinout Ghost Robotics made headlines for business moves and controversy this year. 

The robotics company is best known for its Vision 60 unmanned ground vehicles, colloquially called robot dogs. These four-legged robots are used to climb across uneven ground and can withstand rough weather conditions. 

When it came out that the startup was selling its product to the Israeli military and there were reports that the Vision 60 was being used in the Gaza Strip, though, Ghost Robotics faced criticism.

A group called Shut Down Ghost Robotics formed because of these reports and protests popped up on Penn’s campus this spring against the company. An online petition calling for Penn to cut ties with the company received over 3,000 signatures. 

Then, in July, an unknown perpetrator vandalized the home of a Ghost Robotics executive and, in a separate incident, Penn Police responded to another defacement at Pennovation Works in Grays Ferry, where Ghost Robotics and several other startups are based. 

Just a few months after protests occurred on Penn’s campus, Ghost Robotics announced it was being acquired by a South Korean aerospace manufacturer, LIG Nex 1. The defense tech giant acquired a 60% control stake in Ghost in a $240 million deal, making the startup’s total valuation $400 million. 

LifeBrand’s fall from promising startup to lawsuits and layoffs

Formerly one of the most promising tech startups in Philadelphia, online reputation company LifeBrand faced layoffs and lawsuits this year. 

LifeBrand’s platform uses AI to scan social media and flag undesirable or possibly damaging content. The company laid off its entire team of 30 people this spring. After falling $9 million short of its fundraising round, it was unable to pay employees, CEO Thomas Colaiezzi told Technical.ly at the time. 

Technical.ly later learned that the company had missed multiple payroll cycles and that its entire board resigned around the time of the lawsuits. 

In the midst of it all, at the end of the summer, LifeBrand was acquired by Sentiment AI, a newly formed company that specializes in acquiring and revamping AI companies. Sentiment now advertises itself as a social media reputation management firm, similar to LifeBrand’s original ethos.

However, there are still multiple lawsuits pending against the company, most recently from the Phillies, which had a partnership with LifeBrand. A group of investors filed a lawsuit against Colaiezzi and LifeBrand this summer accusing him of fraud. Two other investors filed lawsuits against Colaiezzi for not repaying loans and for breach of contract. 

A path forward to bounce back from Tech Hub snub 

After being designated a precision medicine Tech Hub by the US Economic Development Administration (EDA) last fall, Philadelphia and its regional partners have been working towards potential funding opportunities. 

Early in the year, the Tech Hub consortium — which includes stakeholders across Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Northern Delaware —  put together an $80 million proposal for PROPEL: The National Center for Precision Medicine. The five-part plan included sections for governance, biomanufacturing, workforce, entrepreneurship and access. 

The EDA, funded by the CHIPS and Science Act, gave out grants over the summer to 12 projects, and Philly’s PROPEL was not one of them. However, it’s not giving up. 

The EDA Tech Hubs program director Eric Smith visited the Philadelphia region in October to hear about how the consortium implemented feedback from that summer’s application round. He advised Tech Hub leaders to be more specific and make the pitch “crisper.” 

There will also be more opportunities for funding in the future, Smith told Technical.ly. Most recently, PROPEL received a $500,000 consortium accelerator award from the EDA to continue governance work. 

A major digital equity program ends, but orgs step up to help out 

The digital equity space in Philadelphia found itself navigating the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), despite other progress in the sector. 

ACP was a $14.2 billion federal benefits program that provided an internet subsidy to households with lower incomes. The program officially ran out of funding in May and despite efforts from advocates, Congress did not allocate more funding. 

Despite this setback, digital equity stakeholders pushed forward to provide affordable internet access in Philadelphia. Both Comcast and Verizon offer discounted internet plans for qualifying households. 

Plus, the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Innovation and Technology made plans to distribute hotspots through its PHLConnectEd program, which provides digital resources to school-age families in the city. The Digital Navigator network, a hotline for people who need digital resources, also regrouped about how to help people find accessible internet. 

Verizon also renewed its franchise agreement with the city this year, including a plan to install free internet in 183 recreation centers across the city.