Excited yet Philadelphia? Philly Tech Week is less than TWO weeks away.
So far we have over 80 events all throughout the city. Check the site or pick up our print publication at dozens of retailers in Philadelphia (more on that later today).
This week: One of the most popular tech events of the year, go deep on Ruby and save the planet.
Switch Philly 3
Where: The Levitt Auditorium, Gershman Hall, Uarts, 401 South Broad Street, Center City
How much: $10
When: April 25, 6 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.
PalmLing, Inhabi and Airtime will be three of the five companies to compete at Switch Philly 3, the startup demo event that’s part of Philly Tech Week.
All will be demoing new products or thorough upgrades to services.
They will be joined by the winners of Startup Weekend and Mobile Monday’s demo events to round out the five demo companies — giving the chance for an idea to go from creation to launch during the week.
The event, presented by Novotorium and Morgan Lewis, will feature First Round Capital Managing Partner Josh Kopelman, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Robin Hood Ventures Executive Director Ellen Weber as judges to determine the winner of a prize pack to help “switch” the startup into the city’s next great success.
The tech demo event will feature five local startups all competing for a chance to win a prize pack that includes space at local incubators like Novotorium, meetings with investors around the city and pro-bono legal services. The goal is to “switch” a local venture into the city’s next great startup success story while having a great time.
Welcome to the VC Roundup, where we’ll parse through venture capital news related to Philadelphia-based private equity firms and the companies they fund. Subscribe to the roundup as an email newsletter. If you have any VC-related news to pass along to us, please drop us a line.
MUST READS
If you read the Venture Capital roundup we think you’d really like Switch Philly, the startup pitch event that will be judged by Mayor Michael Nutter, First Round Capital Managing Partner Josh Kopelman and Robin Hood Ventures Executive Director Ellen Weber. Get your tickets for $10 here.
Philly-based LLR Partners has $200 million cash on hand and is looking closely at investing in The Research Triangle region, another name for the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area.
Howdy event goers, April is a big month for events and we’re not just talking about Philly Tech Week. When the weather breaks we always see an uptick in happy hours, panels and tech-related outings.
This week: get schooled on CMS’s for your business, chat with journalists and discuss digital divide issues with the mayor.
Nearly 85 percent of students at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania are unaware that they can stay in Philadelphia upon graduation, according to a new report from the Philadelphia Research Initiative.
“I was under the impression they wouldn’t let me walk at graduation if I stayed in my West Philly apartment,” said one student who preferred to remain anonymous due to their belief that she would be subject to disciplinary action for staying in city limits. “This is fantastic!”
The study found that most students believed that the university required all new graduates to immediately vacate their University City apartments to move back to live with their suburban parents or to another major metropolitan area. After surveyors informed students that no policy existed, many were elated at the news, the report shared.
“I though everyone in Philadelphia was only here for two to five years at a time before being required to move,” said Anna Fango who was going to move to Conshohocken. “This really opens up my options for me.”
Despite the city’s decreasing “brain drain,”, many students still fear discipline from Penn despite the lack of any policy from the university.
“Wait, you mean you mean there’s an entire city out there?” said Lester Watkins, a recent MBA grad. Watkins also added that he’s been to bars on South Street and Old City “a few times” but generally likes to stay on campus because he once watched the evening news.
Philly Tech Week is less than a month away, but we’re rewarding the folks that plan ahead with two specials:
Get your tickets now to two of the marque ad Philly Tech Week events and save a few bucks. However, both deal end on April 1st. If you’re on the fence, here’s what’s in store:
Switch Philly 3 (4/25 @ 6:00 p.m.) Mayor Michael Nutter, First Round Capital managing partner Josh Kopelman and Robin Hood Ventures Exuctive Director Ellen Weber will judge five startups and determine who will win an awesome prize pack. Thanks to our friends at Novotorium, Morgan Lewis and the Corzo Center at the University of the Arts for this one. [GET TICKETS]
The Philly Tech Week Signature Event (4/27 @ 6:00 p.m.) is a cocktail reception with robots, local video games and lots more. Chat with all of PTW’s sponsors and participants and other members of the community while you grab a bite to eat and drink at the open bar. Thanks to all of our signature sponsors for making this night rock. [GET TICKETS]
Check out all of Philly Tech Week’s events here.
Welcome to the VC Roundup, where we’ll parse through venture capital news related to Philadelphia-based private equity firms and the companies they fund. Subscribe to the roundup as an email newsletter. If you have any VC-related news to pass along to us, please drop us a line.
It’s a slow news week in VC-land:
Comcast Ventures has invested $11 million in Integrate, an ad-spending software company headed by former Olympic skier and Philadelphia Eagle kick returner Jeremy Bloom. The Denver-based company will open up offices in the 67th Ward and San Francisco.
According to an SEC filing, Tersa Therapeutics has raised $28 million.
The Next Web has the behind-the-scenes story of the Sqoot controversy. You may remember, the former DreamIt Ventures company was widely criticized for sexist language on a hackathon signup page.
First Round Capital is among the firms to invest in Yummly. The recipe search site raised $6 million in a Series A round.
Pete Musser, CEO of Safeguard Scientifics, was awarded the Schoemaker Leadership Award by PA BIO.
Boy are we excited, Philadelphia. Philly Tech Week is only one month away. See our growing slate of over 70 events and be sure to sign up for a few that you’re into, tickets are starting to move quickly.
But, before we celebrate Tech Week, there are lots of events this week that will give you a sneak peak. This week, kick back a few with your fellow founders, wrangle pythons and get lean.
In 2010, Monetate CEO and co-founder David Brussin was offering an iPad to anyone who referred an eventual engineering hire. In 2012, he’s upped the ante to $2,000.
“We have as many open positions now as we’ve ever had,” he says. “It’s really across all areas not just engineering.”
With 90 employees and a new office in downtown Conshohocken the e-commerce optimization company has been rapidly expanding, claiming nearly 300 percent revenue growth in 2011 with large clients like Best Buy and Brooks Brothers. Monetate also upped its products offerings from one to the five-product “agility suite” in January.
The company is also emblematic of a growth Philadelphia e-commerce ecosystem with retailers like QVC and Urban Outfitters and service providers like SEER Interactive, Sidecar and GSI Commerce.
We spoke to Brussin about Monetate’s growth and Philadelphia’s suddenly robust e-commerce ecosystem.
You’ve likely had one of your friends challenge you to a game of Draw Something, the new Pictionary-like mobile application where users take turns drawing pictures and guessing the subject.
It turns out that the creator of the application is a local boy. Dan Porter, the founder of game studio OMGPOP and maker of the game is from Haverford. In a tweet he confirmed: “yes! I grew up in Haverford. Huge Iggles fan. I rode my banana seat bike in the phila 1976 bicentennial parade!”
While he currently lives in the 67th Ward, we’re happy Porter still reps his hometown. And we wish him luck, his company reportedly generates six-figure revenue every day and he’s reportedly about to announce a sale to Zynga. Maybe after the sale he can set up shop back home.
(also, this author is taking all challengers. s/n: Blandanomics)
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