Ten or 15 years ago, market forces and tech innovation made it possible for software companies to readily establish themselves. Now, says Ilana Diamond, director of Pittsburgh’s new AlphaLab Gear, it’s hardware’s turn.
The new hardware and robotics startup accelerator, one of only a few in the country, is aimed at providing physical product companies (“something you can touch and feel,” says Diamond) with investment, equipment, mentoring and more, all in service of boosting manufacturing, ideally in or around Pittsburgh.
Part of the impetus for AlphaLab Gear comes from the changing forces that make it possible, for example, to produce a prototype, which used to take thousands of dollars and months, for pennies and in minutes using a 3D printer. Add access to high-tech equipment in shared workspaces like Pittsburgh’s Tech Shop and crowdfunding, and the potential for hardware startups is significantly altered.
AlphaLab Gear will work on the same model at its parent startup accelerator, Innovation Works’ AlphaLab. Companies can choose to receive $25,000 or $50,000 in investment in exchange for 5% or 9% equity. And AlphaLab Gear companies with a robotics focus will receive investment and help from Startbot, an investment firm specializing in early-stage robotics companies. “Their participation is a recognition that private capital thinks this is a successful model,” says Diamond.
AlphaLab Gear is accepting applications for its first cycle and is hearing interest from a wide range of companies that make everything, Diamond says, from medical devices to consumer products to sensors to games.
Source: AlphaLab Gear, Ilana Diamond
Writer: Elise Vider
