PHILADELPHIA — In conjunction with the City’s coordinated effort to promote Philadelphia as a hub for tech and startups at the SXSW Interactive Festival this week, the Department of Commerce relaunched www.StartupPHL.com to serve as a resource for companies, investors, students, and media, to find information about Philadelphia’s entrepreneur and tech community.
In a joint statement, Mayor Jim Kenney and Commerce Director Harold T. Epps said, “Supporting the tech and startup community is a priority for the City and we believe relaunching www.StartupPHL.com is just one of the many innovative and impactful developments the Commerce Department will be a part of this year.”
The site originally launched in October 2012 to highlight the StartupPHL initiative: a $6 million public private venture fund managed by First Round Capital, and the Call for Ideas, a grant program to fund innovative proposals that support Philadelphia’s entrepreneurial community. The redesigned site includes connections to events and organizations; community resources for founders, students, job seekers, and media; an interactive map of the City’s entrepreneurial spaces and Keystone Innovation Zones; guides to understanding the City’s regulatory and tax processes.
“As we work to promote Philadelphia as a great place to start and grow a company, a tool like StartupPHL.com is crucial to getting our message out,” said the Director of Entrepreneurial Investment at the Philadelphia Department of Commerce, Archna Sahay. “Not only does the site help folks who want to learn more about Philadelphia’s startup community, but also connects companies that are already growing in Philadelphia to resources here. www.StartupPHL.com is the first stop for anyone and everyone interested in all things innovation in Philadelphia.”
Notably, the site includes a platform for corporations and governmental departments to post project opportunities to solicit solutions from growing startups. The “Post a Pilot” section of the site will help foster connections and collaboration between Philadelphia’s leading anchor institutions and the City’s tech community.
The Department of Commerce’s StartupPHL team developed the site in partnership with Comcast.
“We are excited to work with StartupPHL on this initiative, and together we have a shared goal to further attract top tech talent and innovative thinking to Philadelphia,” said Sam Schwartz, Chief Business Development Officer of Comcast Cable. “Our city’s collaborative culture helps startups thrive and this website serves as a one-stop-shop of valuable resources for the entrepreneurial community.”
The website will serve as a key attraction and promotion tool, providing support to Philadelphia boosters wishing to provide information as well as accept leads through its contact page.
Relaunching www.StartupPHL.com follows a flurry of startup activity in Philadelphia. Since the beginning of this year, Philadelphia-based companies Curalate, VeryApt, and Thrive Commerce, each made funding announcements, and OneTwoSee recently announced its acquisition by Comcast. In January, the National Venture Capital Association reported that the Philadelphia MSA ranked sixth in the nation for the number of deals made in 2015, and eighth overall for amount of invested, $516,330,500 across 93 companies. The relaunch is especially timely as the recently City joined Philadelphia’s coalition in Austin for the SXSW Interactive Festival, held March 11-15.
For more information on Startup PHL please visit www.startupphl.com.