Women in tech shine in Philadelphia as thousands flock to national conference

Female and non-binary founders in Philadelphia are building up momentum. 

The city hosted people in tech from all over the world during the Grace Hopper Celebration, taking advantage of the opportunity to show off and improve its startup ecosystem. 

The national tech conference for women and non-binary people invited local entrepreneurship nonprofit Philly Startup Leaders (PSL) to help plan its annual PitcHER competition. PSL worked with the host organization, AnitaB.org to build a positive image for its startup community, Isabelle Kent, CEO of PSL, told Technical.ly. Despite the winner of the competition ultimately coming from out of town, Philly used the chance to flex itself as a global tech ecosystem.

“Philly can compete on a national and global level,” Kent said. “Having these relationships and having these opportunities for Philadelphia to show up, this is where we’re going to … scale.” 

BaKIT Box came in first place at the competition on Thursday and won $50,000. The Chicago-based company makes baking activity kits for kids and families that include STEM education activities. This is the largest prize founder and CEO Shelley Gupta has won from a pitch competition, she told Technical.ly. 

“It’s actually gonna be going towards a retention program, as well as hiring new staff,” Gupta said. “We are growing really quickly.”

The road to the competition involved months of prep work and hundreds of other founders. 

From 400 applicants, just 3 won between $20,000 and $50,000

PSL and AnitaB.org, which supports women and nonbinary people in the technology field, sifted through 400 applications to choose companies and nonprofits working to address issues that specifically impact women and non-binary people, Kent said. 

The two organizations eventually narrowed the pool down to just 10 companies. Those finalists spent six months working with PSL’s network of mentors and resources as they refined their pitches.

“One thing that we were really excited about was this was a chance for Philly to really show up in an organization more with global reach,” Kent said. “Many of the folks that were contributing to this process, almost exclusively, were former founders in Philadelphia.”

Those 10 founders presented their companies at the conference to a panel of judges for a chance to win thousands of dollars. 

Still, none of the top three winners currently have an HQ in Philly. 

California-based Ellavate won $30,000 in second place for its electric stroller wagon, which uses similar technology to electric bikes. The third-place winner, SMARTCharts in Chicago, turns electronic health records into visual representations for rehabilitation patients. It took home $20,000. 

The other companies that pitched included: 

• Philadelphia Financial Scholars, a non-profit that partners with teachers on personal finance classes.
• College Thriver’s platform has tools for guidance counselors to support students through the college application process.
• Financial literacy education platform Kidvestors targets kids from diverse backgrounds with a gamified curriculum.
• WellMiss is a virtual trauma care clinic that offers health evaluations, child-focused therapy and nutritional counseling. 
• Haircare company MisTee Wants to Know makes a tool that steams curly and coily hair to detangle it.
• Campground is a software platform that manages data and processes for program managers. 
• Instarails, which won the vote for audience favorite, offers software to banks, payment services companies and mobile apps to minimize fees when sending payments internationally. 

A national conference spotlights Philly’s place on the global stage 

The Grace Hopper Celebration, which was previously held in Orlando, Houston and DC, came to Philly this year for the first time.

Through working closely with AnitaB.org at the conference, PSL learned new approaches to equity and inclusion work, like addressing women-specific issues, economic sovereignty, access and mobility, Kent said. 

The key is working together, she said, both at the local level and the national level. 

The Grace Hopper Celebration catalyzed bringing together people and organizations in Philly who are supporting women founders and strengthening them, Kent said. After all, women-founded startups only received 2.4% of all capital invested in startups in the United States this year, according to Pitchbook. 

“They can break through challenges together,” Kent said. “They can envision new ways of working that are not necessarily dependent on these old, traditional patriarchal structures that really are not supporting female and non-binary founders in the way that they should.”