Philadelphia is affectionately known as the City of Brotherly Love, the Birthplace of Independence, and a place where Joe Carter will likely never be welcome (sorry, Joe). Sure, you can get a world famous cheesesteak, climb the Art Museum Steps, or watch the Mummers parade, but can you start a company? Is it a place where you can invest in startups? What types of events are there for entrepreneurs, creatives, and others interested in plugging into the startup community?
Over the past year, I’ve been planning a move to Philadelphia, and these were questions I had during that planning. After being inspired by Ali Mese’s 300 Awesome Free Things, I thought I’d open source some of my research in the off chance it’s helpful to those interested in what Philadelphia has to offer.
Obviously, there are more great companies, investors, and resources than I can cover in this post. So consider the short lists below as my attempt capture the major players and need-to-know information. If I missed something, let me know.
| Background: Investment Activity |
Over the past few years, startup investment has grown in the Philadelphia area—both in terms of dollars invested and deals done, meaning it’s not just higher valuations driving the growth in total invested dollars.
Since 2010, the city of Philadelphia and surrounding areas (Malvern, Wayne, West Chester—I wish I could do more, but alas, CBInsights cut off my free trial) has experience a funding CAGR of 33% and a deals CAGR of 14%. As you can see from following graph, it’s not just companies in the city that are getting investment. The long-tail extends out into the suburbs.
| Startups |
Popular Industries
When taking a look at the Philadelphia-based companies who’ve taken funding in the last two years (any round), the most popular industries—healthcare, mobile, e-commerce, analytics—stand out.
Philadelphia-area startups that have been garnering funding & press lately include:
- Philly Startup Leaders: the largest and most active community of tech entrepreneurs in the region
- Artisan Mobile: mobile marketing automation
- bestimators: home improvement estimations platform
- Biomeme: smartphone-based DNA detection platform
- BuyerMLS: tool for real estate agents to win listings and close buyers
- Chaikin Analytics: mobile stock research platform
- Chaikin Power Tools: stock analysis tools for investors
- Cloudnexa: cloud management services
- Clutch: consumer management and brand loyalty platform
- Curalate: all-in-one visual marketing platform for Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr & Facebook
- DocASAP: doctor search and booking platform
- eventuosity: web and mobile application for event planners
- Graphene Frontiers: world leader in advanced nanotechnology and the manufacture of graphene, thin layers of pure carbon
- Hire an Esquire: software that matches, manages, and handles payment between law practices freelance/outside/contract counsel
- HomeJab: user-generated video tours of real estate
- InstaMed: healthcare payments network
- Instamour: real-time video dating platform
- Monetate: platform that helps brands improve monetization through personalization
- PeopleLinx: social sales integration
- RegDesk: find and manage consultants to help navigate the regulatory process
- RJMetrics: data analytics software
- Sidecar: software to optimize Google Shopping experience
- SuperMighty: software with social impact
- Tadpoles: childcare daily reports for the iPhone and iPad
- TicketLeap: online event ticket sales platform
- United By Blue: sustainable outdoor lifestyle retail brand
- WebLinc: retail commerce platform
- Zuppler: online food ordering
- SEER Interactive: SEO/SEM firm
- DuckDuckGo: search engine w/o the tracking
Video Interviews with Philadelphia area founders:
| Funding Sources (VCs & Angels) |
Major Philadelphia area investment firms that are active in startup investment:
- First Round Capital: one of the most successful early-stage investors in the world, headquartered in Philadelphia
- Comcast Ventures: Comcast’s corporate VC doing interesting work in the media space
- MentorTech Ventures: early-stage fund investing in companies from the University of Pennsylvania ecosystem
- Genacast Ventures: seed fund that invests up to $1 million in B2B start-ups in the northeastern US; partnership between Gil Beyda and Comcast Ventures
- Robin Hood Ventures: one of the leading angel investment groups in the Mid-Atlantic region
- Ben Franklin Technology Partners: tech investment fund with focus innovation and economic growth in the Greater Philadelphia region (initiative of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development)
- Osage Partners: family of venture capital funds that includes Osage Venture Partners and Osage University Partners
- Startup PHL: a collaborative effort between the City of Philadelphia Department of Commerce an the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation to strengthen the entrepreneurial environment in Philadelphia and increase the availability of seed-stage capital for Philadelphia-based startups
- Safeguard Scientifics: early- and growth-stage investor in healthcare and IT
- Dorm Room Fund: student-run venture firm that invests in student-run companies
- Gabriel Investments: early-stage investment group supporting companies in Philadelphia, with perspective of long-term ownership
- Touchdown Ventures: unique model, working with corporations to establish VC operations
| University Programs |
- Wharton Small Business Development Center (SBDC): provide business assistance to small businesses in the Greater Philadelphia region. Over 25,000 small businesses and entrepreneurs have benefited from our support since our founding in 1980 (Penn)
- Wharton Venture Initiation Program (VIP): an educational incubator program which assists University of Pennsylvania students as they build businesses (Penn)
- Wharton Business Plan Competition: student entrepreneurs and their teams develop and launch their businesses, and provides a network for brainstorming, feedback, and future business opportunities (Penn)
- Wharton Venture Partners: trains and positions Wharton students to enter the venture capital and entrepreneurial communities (Penn)
- Baiada Institute: incubates student companies and mentor Drexel entrepreneurs (Drexel)
- Drexel Startup Day (Drexel)
- Schoolyard Ventures Summer Camp: teams of students take on entrepreneurial challenges that test their ability to innovate, sell and overcome obstacles — all in a supportive environment with mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs (Drexel)
- Drexel Ventures: helps faculty and students commercialize their inventions and launch new businesses around them (Drexel)
- Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute (Temple)
- Blackstone Launchpad: provides coaching and other resources for students interested in entrepreneurship (Philadelphia University)
| Incubators & Accelerators |
- DreamIt Philly: the first accelerator in Philadelphia
- Digital Health Accelerator: run out of the Science Center and focused on healthcare stakeholders including insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and hospital and research institutions located in and around Philadelphia
- PSL Accelerator: for the community, by the community initiative; no equity, only value
- Jefferson Acceleration Zone (JAZ): “command central” for innovation activities at Jefferson
- Temple Ventures: new initiative between Temple University and Ben Franklin Technology partners; $1 million startup accelerator designed to assist startup companies advancing Temple-created technologies
| Things to Read & Subscribe To |
Media
- Technical.ly Philly: the most consistent (and booster-y, in a good way) information about the Philadelphia tech scene
- Startup Digest Philadelphia: weekly events digest
- Billy Penn: media startup covering Philadelphia, including tech
- First Round Review: First Round Capital’s blog and newsletter
- PSL Slack: open Slack group for Philadelphia startup leaders
People to Follow
Here’s a working list of Philadelphia Startup Community members. People only. See above for companies.
| Events |
- Philly Tech Meetup: monthly meeting of area technologists
- Philly New Tech Meetup
- Tech in Motion Philadelphia
- Technical.ly Philly Meetup
- Philadelphia Startup Pitch Night
- Code for Philly Meetup
- Bootstrappers Philadelphia Breakfast
- Philadelphia Tech Breakfast
- Startup Grind Philadelphia
- PSL Poker: sign up to play poker with other Philadelphia startup leaders
- Innovation Engagement Speaker Series
- Wharton PE & VC Conference (annual)
- Wharton Startup UNConvention (annual)
Photo Credits: Tony , Lisa Campeau, Jon Rohan, Hakee Chang
