A Pitt Stop
M25’s Managing Partner, Victor Gutwein, recaps his 2023 visit to the Pittburgh tech ecosystem.
I love visiting Pittsburgh and it had been too long. I was primarily in town to visit the RustBuilt Investor Day during XchangeInnovation Week at the AlphaLab space in East Liberty. It was a really helpful event for investors to meet with founders — I had 6 structured 1-on-1 meetings for 20 minutes each and met several others at the casual networking between sessions. Most founders were based in Pittsburgh but there was a good showing from other hubs like Buffalo and even Bloomington, Indiana! It was a variety — I met a company working on recycling leather and another making aircraft maintenance more reliable and efficient.
I had a meeting near the University of Pittsburgh and finally got the opportunity to explore the Cathedral of Learning. This iconic tower hovers over the campus skyline (and also nearby CMU’s campus, which I’m sure is mentioned in any discussion of the rivalry). The architecture and views were both breathtaking but what surprised and delighted me the most were the International rooms — these represent the different nationalities that make up Pittsburgh and are all very unique and still used for classrooms. I couldn’t decide if India 🇮🇳 (with the intricate columns) or Switzerland 🇨🇭 (with all symbols of the Swiss cantons) was my favorite!
I got a chance to meet up with the cofounder and CEO of one of our first Pittsburgh investments, Nick Bartell of Idelic. They have come such a long way since we were first meeting out of trucking company Pitt Ohio’s offices. They’ve since raised $30M+ and 70,000 drivers (loggin 40B+ miles!) on the platform. I can easily see this being the next unicorn or even IPO coming out of the Pittsburgh tech scene — I’m glad to have been a small part of it.
Back at the event, it was also a delight to see co-investor friends both local and across the region that had come out to support the local Pittsburgh startup ecosystem. Will Allen from Magarac, Patrick Bailey from 412 and the incredible Innovation Works team are some of the most active investors locally, while Jackie from Chicago Ventures flew in from her hometown of Austin, Plymouth Growth’s Alison Todak came in from Ann Arbor and Allison from Hyde Park Venture Partners was on my same Southwest flight to Pittsburgh! There were many others and now I just wonder which deals they are following up with — I know we’ve all got a bit of competitive spirit. 😊
I rounded out the day with drinks at Margaux and an amazing dinner at Muddy Waters Oyster Bar (Don’t worry — I’ve had Primanti Bros before — I just wanted to try something different.) And as you know there’s always a bit of ridiculous in me — this time I found out Pittsburgh Airport was one of the few that you could actually get to on foot, so I spent the night at a hotel out there and did my morning run (backpack and all) to the airport!
