Nine companies and two universities received $1.2 million in grants from The Technology Collaborative, fueling the growth of robotics and digital technologies in Pittsburgh and across the state.
In addition, smart-grid technology developer BPL Global has raised $6.2 million toward an $8 million financing round to support company growth and hiring. BPLG in Cranberry is on the forefront of developing a better software solution that will improve distributed energy resources between utility companies and customers, saving energy and money.
Nine organizations in the region were among those to benefit from the TTC funding:
Pittsburgh-based SpiralGen, a Carnegie Mellon spinoff, is developing technology that automates the production and optimization of modular segments of software code, called libraries, thereby vastly reducing the amount of time spent on manual library development. The firm received previous support from the National Science Foundation as well as a Small Business Innovation Grant (SBIR).
Pittsburgh-based BluPanda, a startup supported by Disruptive Robotics of Pittsburgh (see the related story on The Brazen Kitchen), is working on logistics management software that will reduce the wait time and crowding in hospital emergency rooms. BluPanda will build, deploy and commercialize its robotic intelligence platform in several Pittsburgh area hospitals.
Voci Technologies Inc. in Pittsburgh is a startup that delivers high performance speech-to-text appliances for enterprise analytics and security applications. Pioneered at Carnegie Mellon, the firm’s Hardware Accelerated Proper Name Recognition project hopes to provide proper name and number sequences with an unprecedented level of accuracy and speed.
Butler County-based Steel City Optronics is commercializing a high-resolution, accurate, low-cost compact airborne mapping system for the military market that promises a better resolution and speed than current systems on the market.
The University of Pittsburgh will receive support for the development of a Simple Feedback Device (SFD) used by individuals with severe disabilities.
Allpoint Systems of Pittsburgh, a 3D data processing and software company, will create a mapping package for small mobile platforms for the defense industry.
Carnegie Robotics of Pittsburgh, a new company, is building reliable robotic products to improve safety in the agricultural, mining, defense and oil and gas production markets. The TTC funding will improve the computing and electronics of the robots.
Advantech US Inc is an R&D company specializing in evaporative printing technology, producing thin film devices for the emerging display market for OLED, ePaper and printed circuit board industries.
Embedded Energy Technology is providing a family of high-value products and services to reduce the nation’s carbon footprint while increasing company efficiency in the thermal insulation market.
Source: The Pittsburgh Collaborative, BPL Global
Writer: Deb Smit
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