We at AlphaLab and AlphaLab Gear are excited to host top accelerators from around the world when the GAN Momentum Tour kicks off in Pittsburgh from September 9-12. As the North American host for this global tour, we are looking forward to connecting with our fellow accelerator leaders to continue sharing best practices on building our respective ecosystems through our accelerator and other startup programs.
As a highly curated community of independent accelerators all over the world, being GAN means we are among more than 120 programs in 100+ cities across six continents. We have been proud charter members of GAN since its inception in 2010 as we believe strongly in its mission of building great startup communities anywhere in the world and its values of founders-first with a focus on delivering results for the startups who go through our accelerators. During this time, we have gotten to know many fellow GAN Accelerator leaders, learned from each other and partnered to add value to startup companies. Our companies have benefited from the GAN Community, as every company going through a GAN Accelerator receives free and discounted software and services totaling up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in value and companies have benefited from introductions to potential customers, received investment from the GAN Ventures fund, and have also participated in GAN’s Scale School.
We were flattered when GAN asked us to be one of the host cities for its tour and are excited to introduce them to the thriving, growing ecosystem we’ve been building here for the last 20+ years. As Brad Feld has often said, building a thriving startup community is an ongoing 20-year commitment and that has been happening here in Pittsburgh since the 1980’s as the city looked to diversify its economy after the steel industry collapsed. The momentum has accelerated in the last 5-10 years as investment in the number of startups has grown, investment in startups has grown, the community has expanded and larger corporate tech players have opened and expanded offices here. Pittsburgh’s university research strengths in AI, Robotics, and Life Sciences have created a cluster of companies in those sectors and the proximity of manufacturing and industrial companies has also led to many growing companies in Industrial IoT combining the hardware and software strengths of the region.
We have been proud to play a role in this growth as AlphaLab was one of the first accelerators in the world when we launched in 2008 and AlphaLab Gear was among the first hardware accelerators when it launched in 2013. Our mission has always been to build companies, community, and capabilities here in the region and there are many examples to share. For example AlphaLab alum, Ikos has been one of the fastest-growing companies in the region, with over 60 employees and has expanded to seven cities with its tech-enabled real estate service connecting landlords and prospective tenants. The founders are indicative of the Pittsburgh startup community and embody the spirit that makes the Pgh ecosystem special—they give back as mentors to fellow entrepreneurs, encourage future founders and are thoughtful in how they are growing their company, with a focus on building a diverse and inclusive culture from day one. Some of the founder speakers will be entrepreneurs like the Patrick Paul and Steven Welles from Ikos, building exciting companies here in Pittsburgh, sharing advice to other entrepreneurs on how to grow a company here and general tips on topics such as customer acquisition. There will also be corporate and investor partners from other regions here to share their perspectives as we demonstrate the power of strong startup ecosystems that are connected as part of a global community.
Join us in Pittsburgh on Thursday, September 12th for GAN Momentum Day, open to startup founders and supporters. Find your tickets here.