What change has 2023 brought for Pittsburgh’s RealLIST Startups honorees?

At the beginning of 2023, Technical.ly continued its tradition of highlighting the most promising startups in the region, deemed our RealLIST Startups. We considered factors such as funding raised, products launched, FDA approval received or new employees added to the local tech ecosystem.

In Pittsburgh’s case, we took a closer look at banking apps, health tech companies and platforms born out of their founders’ personal experiences.

A lot can change in half a year, so we decided to check in on the companies we felt showed so much potential back in January to see if they’re living up to it. For some of our RealLIST Startups, 2023 has meant an expanded team, new funding and occasionally taking their products to other cities.

10. BLK DYMND Rewards

BLK DYMD Rewards is a banking app that incentivizes buyers to make purchases from Black-owned businesses by providing them with cash back when they shop using the company’s rewards app. Art Robinson, the startup’s founder, participated in the 2022-2023 Ascender cohort, where it was awarded a grant to support its continued growth.

In 2023, Robinson took part in a panel discussion during Technical.ly’s Builders Conference in May, where he discussed what drove him to found the company. Over the last six months, the company has also brought on a chief technology officer and branding partner, become a semi-finalist for the BNY Mellon Social Innovation UpPrize Challenge and grown to 400 subscribers on its app. Additionally, the company was featured on Intersections on KDKA, a weekly community affairs program, in August.

9. Heny

Heny wants to use NFTs to protect patients by declassifying their biosamples so they can be informed if and when the researchers studying their samples come across pertinent medical information.

The Heny team hasn’t yet responded to Technical.ly’s inquiries on its 2023 progress. Marielle Gross, the company’s founder, attended a February gathering of RealLIST Startup founders, and noted then that she believed the standards set for companies seeking funding were too stringent for startups finding their footing: “It’s like they want a P&L for a pre-revenue, pre-product company [and] that’s nonsensical,” Gross said. “It doesn’t really fit.”

8. Advanced Optronics

Advanced Optronics is developing biocompatible sensor systems trying to reduce the trauma during cochlear implant surgery by providing surgeons with real-time feedback. Since 2022, the company has continued its participation in the 2022-2023 AlphaLab Health cohort along with five other companies focusing on areas such as price transparency and pain assessment.

Recently, the company’s leadership presented at the American Neurotology Society Annual Conference to introduce both the company and its product to the national cochlear implant community. This was in addition to securing a $350,000 investment from the Richard King Mellon Foundation as well as being awarded a Phase 1 SBIR Grant from the National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders.

7. Meerkat Village

Meerkat Village is a platform designed to keep the doctors, parents, and caregivers of children with special needs on the same page about the child’s care. This is done by providing a forum for all the adults — from family members to healthcare professionals — supporting the child to communicate about plans for their care.

The Meerkat Village team hasn’t updated Technical.ly on the company’s 2023 progress yet. In a February gathering of the founders behind our 2023 RealLIST Startups, founder and CEO Crystal Morrison pointed out that fundraising can be difficult for startups not affiliated with Carnegie Mellon University.

“Seed funding is certainly something that I think is a struggle here,” Morrison said then. “For entrepreneurs who may not be connected to CMU or the robotics [industry] or the software space, it can be particularly difficult getting visibility and face time in this community because you don’t necessarily fit with those who know each other or within those existing programs.”

6. Resilient Lifescience

Resilient Lifescience wants to combat overdoses with a wearable medical device designed to detect and reverse overdoses using naloxone to prevent deaths, even if no one else is around. So far in 2023, Resilient Lifescience has been nominated for HackerNoon’s 2023 Startups. The company also won first place in the Richard King Mellon Foundation’s second-ever Social-Impact Investment Pitch Competition and the $500,000 investment that went with it in February.

5. Mapless AI

Mapless AI is an autonomous vehicle company co-headquartered in Pittsburgh and Boston. The company’s remote-controlled cars have been piloted at the Pittsburgh International Airport through the xBridge program. So far in 2023, the company has received a Phase-II SBIR grant from the National Science Foundation.

4. Dashcam for your Bike

Dashcam for your Bike supports cyclists with an app that allows them to obtain video evidence in the case of an accident. After an eventful 2022 where the startup successfully completed its time in PGH Labs 7.0 and secured a partnership with the City of Pittsburgh to use its Hazard Map to allow cyclists to report hazards on the road to the city’s 311 hotline, it’s continued making progress in 2023.

For one: Dashcam for your Bike has launched its one-tap 311 reporting tool in DC, which Armin Samii told Technical.ly empowers bicyclists to take their concerns directly to the city.

“Whether it’s a blocked bike lane that forces them into oncoming traffic, or a driver who passes them with just inches, each incident is addressable with better infrastructure. Enforcement is a bandaid solution; infrastructure keeps vulnerable road users safe,” Samii told Technical.ly. “By helping bicyclists share data about the hazards they encounter with the city, they arm their city with the power to make data-driven decisions about where the problem areas are, and how effective different solutions can be.”

3. MindTrace

MindTrace is developing a technology that lets surgeons practice surgeries through its machine-learning platform. Previously, it took home first-place at the LifeX Labs and Pittsburgh Life Science Greenhouse’s in 2021, the year it also raised funding from AlphaLab and Innovation Works. The company’s leadership told Technical.ly this month they don’t have any new news to share, but they’re working on a few developments that could be revealed to the public before 2023 is over.

2. Finish Robotics

Finish Robotics is an autonomous coating systems company that produces robots that can work alongside human crews on construction sites. While the company’s leadership hasn’t responded to Technical.ly’s inquiries on its progress, SEC filings indicate they raised about $900,000 earlier this month.

1. OtterTune

OtterTune is a database automation and optimization startup that uses AI and machine learning to analyze and optimize the hundreds of configuration settings in database systems. While its founders didn’t provide updates on OtterTune’s progress, we know that in 2023, the company launched an updated version of its next-generation platform. According to the announcement made in April 2023, the latest version provides more advanced automation and optimization capabilities that can help organizations operate more efficiently.

Honorable mentions, in no particular order

• Sustainible — This PGH Labs 6.0 alumni from Talpha Harris uses an Input/Output platform to make sustainability a more feasible option for businesses. In 2023, the company was named a participant in the 2023 BNY Mellon Social Innovation UpPrize Challenge.
• Miror — Cassie Guerin’s platform is designed to bring people together by offering support groups on topics ranging from divorce to the ups and downs of new parenthood. The company’s leadership hasn’t updated Technical.ly on its 2023 progress.
• Roadies — Roadies was a blockchain-powered web platform that allowed art enthusiasts to invest in artists. Sometime in 2023, the company shut down, an Innovation Works spokesperson confirmed.
• Equa Health — This wellness and fitness service provides a mindfulness coach in your pocket in the form of an app. The company’s leadership hasn’t updated Technical.ly on its 2023 progress.
• Agni AI — Agni AI is an efficiency platform that helps law firms draft, review and analyze contracts. Agni AI hasn’t yet responded to Technical.ly’s request for 2023 updates.
• EachDay — This org aims to make managing ADHD a little easier with an app providing tools and medical resources. The company hasn’t responded to Technical.ly’s request for company updates.
• Live — Live wants to make learning math less dull by employing teenage math whizzes to teach interactive, livestreamed classes through its website. The company’s CEO hasn’t responded to Technical.ly’s inquiries yet, but in 2023 the company has collaborated with Charm City’s Highwire Improv to improve its tutors’ teaching abilities.
• Outcome Logix — Outcome Logix helps tech firms build scalable applications or in some cases improve the ones they already have. The company’s leadership hasn’t updated Technical.ly on its 2023 progress.
• Green Bean — Green Bean is a platform that gives companies the ability to reward their employees for decarbonizing via stipends and discounts when they buy clean energy products. In 2023, the company participated in the PGH Labs 8.0 cohort and was seeking to raise capital.
• Voaige — This startup creates affordable, AI-powered robotic arms designed to supplement any staffing shortages. Since January, the company has secured an investment for an undisclosed amount from venture fund Boost VC, had Tier 1 automotive manufacturers order its product, and increased its team to include five full-time engineers.

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.