The numbers are not yet in for 2018, but in 2017 Pittsburgh had a record year in terms of startup investment. In fact, Pittsburgh's technology landscape raised more than $687M from investors in 2017, which was a 10 year high. 

Buoyed by 16 acquisitions in 2017, and the massive accomplishments of artificial intelligence companies like Argo AI (which received a $1B investment over 5 years from Ford to develop the brains for autonomous vehicles) and Petuum (which received $108M from global powerhouse Softbank), the region's angel investor ecosystem continues to grow.  

Entrepeneurs launching a startup in Pittsburgh now have a vast number of funding resources in the city to choose from. If you’re looking for investment for your startup in Pittsburgh, then check out this massive list of some of the most important funding sources, regardless of how far along your startup is.

The Founder Institute is currently enrolling in Pittsburgh. Apply today to build a startup with Pittsburgh's top entrepreneurs and investors!

Early Stage Funding in Pittsburgh

Notable Seed Accelerators in Pittsburgh

A "seed accelerator" is a cohort-based program that typically accepts teams (not solo-founders) with a product (functional prototype or live product) and some form of traction (for example, user, revenue, or team growth). If accepted to a seed-accelerator, a company typically receives a small investment ($15,000-$150,000) in exchange for equity (6-10%). The goal of a seed-accelerator is to help companies accelerate their product or user growth during the program (typically 3-6 months) in order to raise a proper Angel or Seed Round of funding at the "Demo Day" that concludes the program.

• AlphaLab
• AlphaLab Gear
• Blast Furnace
• Idea Foundry
• Numo
• SteelBridge Labs

Notable Angel Investors in Pittsburgh

Angel investors are people that typically invest their personal capital in early-stage startups or entrepreneurs, and generally provide only a small one-time investment to help the business grow. They generally provide more favorable terms compared to other types of investors, since they usually invest in the earliest stages of a business, and are more focused on helping startups build a product instead of generating a profit. Angel investors sometimes go by other names, including “informal investors”, “angel funders”, “private investors”, “seed investors”, and “business angels”. Many angel investors are also professional investors and run more advanced venture funds. 

• Andrew Rabin
• Andrew Williams
• Arjun Hattiangadi
• Barry Rabkin
• Benjamin J. Garber
• Brian Jeffrey Gross
• Catherine Mott
• Dave Mawhinney
• Drew Volpe
• Edward Engler
• Evan Tahler
• Ezz-Eldin Moukamal
• Frank Demmler
• Guillaume Binet
• Jim Jen
• Jim Ruiz
• Joey Rahimi
• John Hammer
• John Petote
• LifeX Seed Fund
• Matt Newton
• Mountain State Capital
• Raffi Krikorian
• Ryan Walsh
• Ryusuke Kubo
• Severin Hacker
• Taylor Davidson
• Tim Marman
• Troy Polamalu
• Victoria Kulli
• William Guttman
• Zachary Marburger
• Zach Malone

Notable Angel Investor Groups and Events in Pittsburgh

Angel investor groups are networks, or syndicates, of angel investors who pool their resources together to invest more money than would typically be issued with a private angel investment. Most angel networks focus their efforts on sectors or verticals in which members have experience or knowledge, although they are usually open to investments in other areas. In general, investors in groups contribute funds to the group, and a professional syndicate management team chooses the investments. The resources below are both formal angel investor groups, and also events and networks that informally gather many angel investors.

• 3 Rivers Venture Fair
• Active X-it
• Angel Investment Network
• BlueTree Allied Angels
• Keiretsu Forum
• Next Act Fund
• PA Angel Network
• Pipeline Angels Angel Investing Bootcamp
• TiE Pittsburgh

Growth Stage Funding

Notable Venture Capital Firms in Pittsburgh

Venture Capital ("VC") firms provide startup or growth equity capital and/or loan capital to promising ventures for returns that are higher than market interest rates, and typically focus on later stage companies. VC firms only invest in companies that have long-term growth potential of at least 10X their investment, and that already have considerable traction (very fast revenue or user growth), a strong team, and a viable product or service. Because of these high standards, generally less than .1% of businesses are funded by venture capital.

There are also many different types of VC firms. The first (and lowest) funding level for VCs is typically called a "Seed Round", which is appropriate for smaller companies that have just recently generated traction and need capital to fuel the fire of growth. After that, rounds of subsequent funding are categorized by letter ("Series-A", "Series-B", "Series-C", and so on), with the investment amount (and maturity of the business receiving funding) getting larger as the letters progress down the alphabet. Some firms invest across many (or all) of these types of rounds, but most specifically focus on one or two of these stages.

Are you a solo-founder, or is your company or idea too early for these funding options?

The Founder Institute is an idea-stage accelerator that works with solo-entrepreneurs, and teams, during the earliest stages of building a business. Through an intensive 3.5 month program, FI participants build their business through a proven structured process, and receive feedback and assistance from over 30+ successful entrepreneurs and investors in Pittsburgh. Upon completing the program, Graduates join a global network of entrepreneurs and receive ongoing help to get funding and build their business. FI Graduates have raised over $1.85BN in funding, and are building some of the world's fastest growing companies.

Learn more about the Founder Institute at FI.co, join a free startup event in Pittsburgh, or apply to build a startup in Pittsburgh today.