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Philadelphia is becoming one of the best places to build a startup, but most of the early-stage entrepreneurs we speak to aren't aware of the local tech resources that are available to help them.

With applications for the Philadelphia Founder Institute now open, we're excited to release the Philadelphia Startup Resource Guide, which is currently in Draft v1 below! It was developed by the Philadelphia Founder Institute and local leaders: Don Samoil and Steven Turner.

This is just a draft, and while we spent many hours on this research, more input is needed. Please leave your comments on this collaborative Google document to help us complete the list. There are definitely omissions on this current version. 

Are you looking to build a startup in Philadelphia? Then apply to the Philadelphia Founder Institute today!

Text version included below, for ease of searching:

Startup Stages


There is no one right way to build a technology company, but for the sake of simplicity we have outlined a basic, common, sequential framework.

1. Idea Stage

This is where new entrepreneurs get inspired, learn best practices, develop skills, validate ideas, and begin to build their team and product.

A. Inspire

  • Philadelphia Startup Media: Centralized local information, listings, and news. (i.e. startup blogs/ publications/ lists/ FB groups/ newsletters)
    1. BizPhilly
    2. Flying Kite
    3. Philly Tech Guide
    4. Philly Tech News
    5. Smallbizphilly
    6. Startup Digest Philadelphia
    7. Tech.co Philadelphia
    8. Technical.ly Philly
  • Inspirational Philadelphia Startup Events: Open, inclusive startup events that often focus on ideation. (i.e. Startup Weekend, idea fairs, and inspirational meetups)
    1. Girl Develop It Philadelphia
    2. Girls Who Code
    3. Liberty Valley Initiative
    4. N3rd Street
    5. NextPlex / Philly
    6. Philadelphia Entrepreneur Dinners
    7. Philly EdTech Meetup
    8. Philly Tech, Software, MedTech & HealthTech Meetup
    9. Philly Tech Entrepreneurs
    10. Philly Tech Week 2017
    11. Startup, Founders, and Entrepreneurs Book Discussion
    12. StartUp StorySlam
    13. Startup Weekend Philadelphia
    14. TechGirlz
    15. Technical.ly Philly Meetup
    16. The Startup Showcase
    17. Women Who Code Philadelphia

B. Educate

  • Best Practices: Beginner knowledge-sharing tech events. (i.e. beginner events that serve to educate more than inspire).
    1. FinTech PHL
    2. Lean Coffee Philly
    3. Philly Bootstrappers Breakfast
    4. Philly New Technology Meetup
    5. Start.Stay.Grow.
    6. Startup Founder 101 Philadelphia
    7. Startup Grind Philadelphia
    8. Startup Grind Princeton
    9. The ITEM
  • Training & Feedback: Skill & Idea development events and startup bootcamps for entrepeneurs. (Includes comprehensive training programs, like Founder Institute, General Assembly, Lean Startup Machine, code camps, etc)
    1. 3 Day Startup
    2. Coded by U
    3. Entrepreneur Works
    4. Founder Institute
    5. Founding Startups
    6. Launch Academy
    7. Lean Startup Machine
    8. New York Code + Design Academy
    9. Philadelphia Startup Idea to IPO
    10. Philadelphia Startup Leaders   

C. Validate

  • Team Formation: Events for Finding Co-founders in Philadelphia.  (i.e. tech networking events or other resources that facilitate early-stage recruitment and cofounder matching)
    1. Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs
    2. CoFoundersLab
    3. Ellevate
    4. Entrepreneurs' Forum of Greater Philadelphia
    5. Entrepreneurs' Organization Philadelphia
    6. FounderDating
    7. Innovative Networking Professionals
    8. Pennsylvania Entrepreneurs and Tech Meetup
    9. Philadelphia Business Professionals
    10. Philly Junto
    11. Philly Startup Leaders
    12. Social Venture Network
  • Build First Product: Hackathons & product events in Philadelphia.
    1. AT&T Temple Edutech Hackathon
    2. Civic Engagement Launchpad
    3. CODE4PA
    4. CodeDay Philadelphia
    5. evoHaX
    6. LegalHackersPA
    7. machineQ Smart City Hackathon
    8. PennApps XVI
    9. Philadelphia Museum of Art Hackathon 2.0
    10. Philly Codefest
    11. Philly Enterprise Hackathon
    12. TU Hack Health Day

2. Launch Stage

In this stage, entrepreneurs establish and formalize the company, develop the product, get feedback from customers, and prepare for the next step.

A. Start

  • Establish: Philadelphia law firms & banks for startups
    1. Ally Bank
    2. Antheil Maslow & MacMinn
    3. Baer Crossey McDemus LLC
    4. Ballard Spahr LLP
    5. Bank of America
    6. BB&T Bank
    7. Beneficial Bank
    8. Citizens Bank
    9. Cozen O'Connor
    10. Duane Morris LLP
    11. Gerber Growth
    12. M&T Bank
    13. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
    14. Philadelphia Small Business Lawyer
    15. Philadelphia Startup Law Center
    16. PNC
    17. Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld LLC
    18. Silicon Valley Bank
    19. Spadea Lignana LLC
    20. Taney Legal
    21. TD Bank
    22. United Bank of Philadelphia
    23. Weber Law
    24. Wells Fargo
  • Philadelphia Workspaces: Co-working and flexible workspaces for startups in Philadelphia.
    1. 1776
    2. 2424 Studios
    3. BOK
    4. CityCoHo
    5. CultureWorks
    6. Headroom
    7. Impact Hub Philadelphia
    8. Industrious Office
    9. Indy Hall
    10. Joynture
    11. Kismet Cowork
    12. MakeOffices
    13. Mt. Airy Nexus
    14. NextFab
    15. Old City Collective
    16. PhillyIhub
    17. Pipeline
    18. PLEXUS Innovation Hub
    19. The Exchange
    20. The Fire Works
    21. The Yard
    22. Thrive Philly
    23. Venturef0rth
    24. Walnut St. Labs
    25. WeWork

B. Develop

  • Formalize: Philadelphia accounting, development and HR tools for early-stage startups.  
    1. BrickSimple
    2. Codearium
    3. Curotec
    4. Dale S. Goldberg & Associates, CPA
    5. David Lopez & Co.
    6. Eastern Standard
    7. FirstPRO Inc.
    8. G-Squared
    9. Giantsky
    10. Jobspring Partners
    11. Juno Search Partners
    12. Kregel & Company
    13. Lyquix
    14. Mondo
    15. OpenForge
    16. Pedrera
    17. Speed and Function
    18. Stuzo
    19. William G Bradley, PC
    20. Zinman & Company
  • Philadelphia Incubators: Groups that prepare companies for seed investment and provide advanced mentorship. (i.e. advanced knowledge sharing, later stage events and resources)
    1. Ben Franklin Technology Partners
    2. Blueprint Health
    3. Drexel University Baiada Institute for Entrepreneurship
    4. EvoXLabs
    5. Goodcompany Ventures
    6. NextFab Incubator
    7. Pennovation Center
    8. Project Liberty Digital Incubator
    9. Seed Philly
    10. Southbox
    11. Startup Next Philadelphia
    12. The Sixers Innovation Lab
    13. UPstart
    14. Walnut Street Labs
    15. Vet-Tech

C. Launch

  • Philadelphia Seed Accelerators: Seed funding mentor programs (Techstars-style programs that provide funding)
    1. Climate Ventures 2.0 Accelerator
    2. CoPhilly Innovation Accelerator Program
    3. FastFWD
    4. Greenhouse Ventures
    5. Health Care Innovation Collaborative
    6. ic@3401
    7. Penn I-Corps Accelerator Programs
  • Pitch & Demo Events: Tech events that showcase Philadelphia startups for investment.
    1. 1st Pitch PA
    2. 2017 PSL Accelerator Demo Day
    3. Camden Catalyst - Tech Startup Pitch Competition
    4. Drexel University's StartupFest
    5. PCI Ventures 5th Annual Showcase + DevelUPmed Demo Day
    6. Philadelphia TechBreakfast
    7. Phorum Philly
    8. PNC StartUp Day
    9. Startupalooza Philadelphia: Angel Pitching for Entrepreneurs
    10. TiE Startup Pitch Event
    11. UPenn AppITUP Challenge
    12. Venture Idol

3. Growth Stage

Here, a startup proves their utility, receives recognition, and scales up. This usually requires funding, angels, VCs, and ways to connect them to startups.

A. Recognition

  • Philadelphia Investor Networking:  Events and groups that connect professional investors with founders.
    1. Angel Venture Fair
    2. Broad Street Angels
    3. FundingPost
    4. Investors' Circle
    5. Minority Angel Investor Network
    6. Pennsylvania Angel Network
    7. Private Investors Forum
    8. TiE Philadelphia
    9. Women in Investing Network of Philadelphia
  • Major Media: Mainstream local business press that often showcase local startups
    1. ABC 6 News
    2. CBS Philly
    3. Crain's Philadelphia
    4. FOX 29 News
    5. NBC 10 Philadelphia
    6. Philadelphia Business Journal
    7. Philadelphia Daily News
    8. Philadelphia Magazine
    9. The Daily Pennsylvanian
    10. The Philadelphia Citizen
    11. The Philadelphia Inquirer
    12. The Philadelphia Tribune

B. Funding

  • Philadelphia Angel Investors: Seed-stage investors and micro-vcs.
    1. Brett Topche
    2. Brock Weatherup
    3. Dave Kurtz
    4. David Bell
    5. David Bookspan
    6. David Horowitz
    7. Don Samoil
    8. Ellen Weber
    9. Elliot Menschik
    10. Gabriel Weinberg
    11. Howard L. Morgan
    12. Jamey Sperans
    13. Jim Hausman
    14. Karen Griffith Gryga
    15. Kartik Hosanagar
    16. Kevin Kruse
    17. Michael B. Aronson
    18. Michael Levinson
    19. Pardon Makumbe
    20. Percy Nikora
    21. Peter Hotz
    22. Philly Admin
    23. Raymond Walheim
    24. Robin Hood Ventures 
    25. Sashi Reddi
    26. Saul Richter
    27. Stephen Gill
    28. Steven Turner
    29. Wayne Kimmel
  • Philadelphia Venture Capitalists: Series A and beyond
    1. 1315 Capital
    2. Ben Franklin Technology Partners
    3. BioAdvance
    4. Boathouse Capital
    5. Comcast Ventures
    6. Cross Valley Capital
    7. Domain Associates
    8. Dorm Room Fund
    9. Dreamit Ventures
    10. Fairmount Partners
    11. First Round Capital
    12. Gabriel Investments
    13. Genacast Ventures
    14. LLR Partners
    15. Mid-Atlantic Diamond Ventures
    16. NewSpring Capital
    17. Osage Partners
    18. Red & Blue Ventures
    19. Renovus Capital
    20. Rittenhouse Ventures
    21. Rough Draft Ventures
    22. Safeguard Scientifics
    23. SeventySix Capital
    24. Sustain VC
    25. TL Ventures
    26. Trestle Ventures
    27. Versa Capital Management

C. Growth

  • Infrastructure: Office space, HR, local business insurance. (i.e. office space/ HR/ insurance providers for capital-rich companies to grow and scale)
    1. 42Floors
    2. Allstate
    3. Farmers Insurance
    4. Hiscox
    5. Instant Offices
    6. John Ferullo Insurance Agencies
    7. LoopNet
    8. McCloskey Partners
    9. Nationwide Insurance
    10. Rittenhouse Benefits
    11. Search Office Space
    12. Stacksco
    13. Tech Insurance
    14. The Burg Agency
    15. The Graham Company
    16. The Lindenberger Group
    17. The Rosen Group
    18. Trusted Choice
    19. Wingate Consulting
  • Expansion: Philadelphia Growth accelerators and consultants. (i.e. programs and business consultants for capital-rich companies to grow and scale)
      1. Accenture
      2. Alvarez & Marsal
      3. Aon
      4. Booz Allen Hamilton
      5. Boston Consulting Group
      6. BTS
      7. Capgemini
      8. Deloitte
      9. Domain Consulting Group
      10. Ernst and Young
      11. FTI Consulting
      12. Gartner
      13. Grant Thornton
      14. Hay Group
      15. KPMG
      16. McKinsey & Company
      17. Mercer
      18. Protiviti
      19. PwC
      20. Segal Consulting
      21. Towers Watson

                                            4. Philadelphia Startup Success Stories

                                            Successful homegrown companies that have raised significant institutional funding, employ a large workforce, or have achieved liquidity.

                                              1. Arcweb Technologies
                                              2. Azavea
                                              3. Bainbridge Health
                                              4. BioBots
                                              5. Biomeme
                                              6. Blackfynn
                                              7. Bluecadet
                                              8. CDI
                                              9. ChargeItSpot
                                              10. Cigna
                                              11. Cloudamize
                                              12. CloudMine
                                              13. Club OS
                                              14. Clutch
                                              15. Comcast
                                              16. CoreDial
                                              17. CRM Science
                                              18. Curalate
                                              19. DuckDuckGo
                                              20. Five Below
                                              21. FluidEdge Consulting
                                              22. GLOBO
                                              23. GoPuff
                                              24. Greenphire
                                              25. GSI Health
                                              26. Guru
                                              27. IMS Technology Services
                                              28. InstaMed
                                              29. J2 Solutions
                                              30. Jornaya
                                              31. Journey Sales
                                              32. KickUp
                                              33. KloudSign
                                              34. Leadnomics
                                              35. LUXTECH
                                              36. Margo
                                              37. MLeads
                                              38. Monetate
                                              39. Oncora Medical
                                              40. PeopleLinx
                                              41. Perpay
                                              42. Practice XYZ
                                              43. Quattro
                                              44. ReactiveOps
                                              45. Redline Automotive Merchandising
                                              46. Relay Network
                                              47. RevZilla
                                              48. ROAR for Good
                                              49. Seer
                                              50. Sidecar
                                              51. Slyce
                                              52. SmartyPal
                                              53. Spark Therapeutics
                                              54. Stitch Data
                                              55. StratIS
                                              56. Swain Techs
                                              57. Tabula Rasa HealthCare
                                              58. Tembo
                                              59. The One Health Company
                                              60. Think Brownstone
                                              61. Ticketleap
                                              62. Tonic Design
                                              63. Torchlight Technology Group
                                              64. Urban Outfitters
                                              65. VeryApt
                                              66. WebLinc
                                              67. Wildbit
                                              68. WizeHive
                                              69. WorkplaceDynamics
                                              70. Yellowdig
                                              71. Zonoff

                                            Supporters


                                            To facilitate the steps, every ecosystem needs strong supporters.

                                            1. Philadelphia Startup Leaders

                                            Successful local founders who lead the ecosystem & frequently mentor newbies.

                                              1. Bob Moul
                                              2. Brendan OHara  
                                              3. Brynne Tillman
                                              4. David Castro
                                              5. David Newman
                                              6. Dhairya Pujara
                                              7. Don Samoil
                                              8. Eamon Gallagher
                                              9. Gabriel Weinberg
                                              10. Gene Marks
                                              11. Gloria Bell
                                              12. Greg Satell
                                              13. Joe Witte
                                              14. Jon Zaikowski
                                              15. Joshua Davidson
                                              16. Kathleen Klasnic 
                                              17. Kevin Kruse
                                              18. Kevin Siskar
                                              19. Lindsay Tsai
                                              20. Liz Funk
                                              21. Patrick FitzGerald
                                              22. Reid Hamilton
                                              23. Ross Kukulinski
                                              24. Stefan Klotzbuecher
                                              25. Steven Turner
                                              26. Susan Pirog
                                              27. Yoon Cannon
                                              28. Yuval Yarden
                                              29. Zsolt Olah

                                            2. Philadelphia Government Startup Resources

                                            Public organizations that facilitate local economic development

                                              1. Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia
                                              2. City of Philadelphia: Commerce
                                              3. City of Philadelphia: Innovation
                                              4. City of Philadelphia: Innovation and Technology
                                              5. Global Philadelphia Association
                                              6. Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce
                                              7. Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
                                              8. Independence Business Alliance - Philadelphia's LGBT Chamber of Commerce
                                              9. Philadelphia Immigrant Innovation Hub
                                              10. StartupPHL
                                              11. The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia
                                              12. Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians

                                            3. Talent

                                            Major local business or tech universities and employers that attract and retain local talent.

                                            • Local Philadelphia Tech Universities (universities with prominent technical or business programs)
                                              1. Community College of Philadelphia
                                              2. Drexel University
                                              3. Eastern University
                                              4. Holy Family University
                                              5. La Salle University
                                              6. Peirce College
                                              7. Philadelphia University
                                              8. Penn State
                                              9. Princeton
                                              10. Saint Joseph's University
                                              11. Temple University
                                              12. The Art Institute of Philadelphia
                                              13. University of Pennsylvania
                                              14. University of the Sciences
                                              15. Villanova University
                                            • Philadelphia Local Employers
                                              1. AMETEK
                                              2. AmerisourceBergen
                                              3. Aramark
                                              4. Boeing
                                              5. Cisco
                                              6. Comcast
                                              7. Dupont
                                              8. GlaxoSmithKline
                                              9. IBM
                                              10. Lockheed Martin
                                              11. Microsoft
                                              12. Oracle
                                              13. QVC
                                              14. SAP
                                              15. Siemens Healthineers USA
                                              16. Think Company
                                              17. Unisys
                                              18. URBN
                                            *  *  *

                                            Learn more about the Startup Ecosystem Canvas here, and leave us your thoughts on the Philadelphia Canvas on this collaborative Google document (This is just a draft, and more input is needed!)

                                            Are you looking to build a startup in Philadelphia? Then apply to the Philadelphia Founder Institute today

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