Startups

Meet the 6 orgs that snagged grants from StartUp PHL’s Call for Ideas fund

From open data classes to business support for immigrant-owned businesses, here's an early look at some of the projects StartUp PHL will back.

Philadelphia City Hall. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

The winners from the fifth round of StartUp PHL’s Call for Ideas grant program are in (kinda).

See, the winners will be officially announced in a press conference today at 1:30 p.m. — starring Mayor Jim Kenney and the Department of Commerce’s Archna Sahay — but we were able to snag a sneak peek at the list of winners. A couple of them even shared a brief description of the projects they’ll tackle with the funds.

  • Coded by Kids: The nonprofit will develop and pilot a data science curriculum for students at two rec centers. The curriculum will leverage datasets from OpenDataPhilly to expose students to data science and encourage critically thinking about the role of data in city government. (Full disclosure: Technically Media cofounder Chris Wink sits on the Coded by Kids board.)
  • Destined to Achieve Successful Heights, Inc.
  • Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation: The StartUp PHL cash will let the Free Library expand its business support to four neighborhood locations serving low-income communities. Namely, the Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library, the Joseph E. Coleman Northwest Regional Library, the Tacony Library and a to-be-determined library in South Philadelphia.
  • The Hacktory: The makerspace is hosting a summer hardware bootcamp for professionals in areas like 3D printing, wearables, Internet of Things, sound production and others. The funds from the grant will let the Hacktory to offer scholarships to artists, teachers and other educators.
  • Second Muse
  • Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians: The grant will allow the Center to establish a paid internship program for young adults aimed at “reducing the level of mistrust among ethnic business communities, local governments and law enforcement through technology and entrepreneurship,” per CEO Peter Gonzales.

As you recall, the Call for Ideas was angling to connect the city’s open data sets and efforts to reduce poverty. More details on that to come after the press conference, but we thought we’d get you the scoop because, you know, we love u.

Companies: City of Philadelphia / SecondMuse

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