3 Philly startups came back from WeWork’s Creator Awards with cash

Of the 11 Philly startups that trekked down to D.C. to compete in the first regional stop of WeWork’s Creator Awards, three came back with some serious cash in hand, thanks to a pitch competition with party vibes.

Meet your Philly-based winners:

• Quaker City Coffee Company: Launch Award Winner ($72,000)
• Booksmart Touring: Incubate Award Winner ($36,000)
• Strados: Incubate Award Winner ($36,000)

https://twitter.com/QuakerCoffee/status/846896327095083009

https://twitter.com/BooksmartNOW/status/846911927439802372

(Full disclosure: At first, Philly outreach from this D.C.-based event struck us as trying to “lump-in” Philadelphia companies to a D.C. initiative. It just didn’t feel, er, organic. We would have loved to see either a Philly-specific event or having the D.C. shindig be clearly billed as a regional iteration from the get-go. However, now that it went down, it sure felt good to see these startups come back with funds to build out their businesses.)

“Working with WeWork gives me a front row view into the thriving start-up and innovation scene that is just exploding here in Philadelphia,” said a proud Anita Shannon, WeWork’s city lead for Philly. “I am excited to see finalists for the Creator Awards that hail from Philly and I am hopeful it will only serve to further inspire even more people to jump in head first and do what they love.”

At the event, D.C.-based ByteBack — a  digital literacy nonprofit — won the top cash prize of $360,000. The organization will use the cash to expand its reach both regionally and nationally. (Sister site Technical.ly DC has details on that.)

“We received applications from over 1,000 creators for our first regional finals,” said WeWork CEO Adam Neumann. “For WeWork, actions speak louder than words, and we can think of no greater act than recognizing and rewarding creators all around the world.”

Aw.