Pittsburgh startup gets $265k to build interactive job training games for people with disabilities
In this month's money moves, smaller investments are paving the way to bigger social changes, funding projects that support job access, entrepreneurship and inclusive innovation.
A local game developer is building tools to help people with disabilities navigate the job market, and Black-owned startups are getting a boost through mini-grants from a local business hub. Plus, a regional challenge is putting $300,000 on the table for mission-driven ventures ready to grow.
Read on for more on these investments, plus other money moves shaping Pittsburgh's future.
Simcoach Games receives $265k for job-readiness games
Pittsburgh-based Simcoach Games has secured $265,000 in seed funding led by the Richard King Mellon Foundation. The startup will put the money toward creating a trilogy of interactive games aimed at helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities prepare for employment.
Developed with behavioral health professionals and grounded in applied behavior analysis, the games will focus on self-presentation, interview readiness and workplace communication. These are skills often cited as barriers to employment for people with disabilities, including those on the autism spectrum, according to Simcoach CEO Brian Kaleida.
'Over the last two years, we've really focused on behavioral health games,' Kaleida told Technical.ly. The new project, he added, aligns with Simcoach's mission to create 'transformational games' that are entertaining and engaging, but ultimately 'must positively impact the player in some way,' whether through addressing a harmful behavior or teaching a new skill.
Unemployment rates among adults with autism can reach as high as 85%, often because of interview challenges, limited skill-building opportunities and workplace barriers.
To counteract this, Simcoach's games aren't just designed to teach; they also track progress, which can then be used by clinicians to personalize treatment plans. For example, the funding will support the development of a companion curriculum, allowing the games to be integrated into therapy sessions, educational programs and home-based learning environments.
Founded in 2005, Simcoach has already developed over 100 games, with many already being used in behavioral health settings, according to Kaleida.
$300,000 in grants up for grabs in annual competition
Applications are now open for the BNY UpPrize Social Innovation Challenge, a competition offering a combined $300,000 in prize money for early-stage and advanced-stage ventures in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
The annual challenge is switching it up this year, offering two tracks for local companies and organizations. An early-stage track for emerging ventures with promising ideas is offering $75,000 for first place and $50,000 for second place, while an advanced-stage track for established ventures ready to scale is offering $125,000 for first place and $75,000 for second place.
Over the last decade, the challenge has been used to identify and accelerate 'mission-driven entrepreneurs attempting to solve meaningful problems,' said Ven Raju, president and CEO of Innovation Works. 'The program provides founders with practical tools, peer feedback and strategic insight to clarify their value proposition, understand their customers and strengthen their path to growth.'
Previous winners include renewable energy startup Farm to Flame and local investment platform Honeycomb Credit. Applications are open through June 26. Administered by Innovation Works and funded by BNY, the challenge has distributed more than $3.4 million in investments, grants and educational assistance since it launched in 2015.
Ascender announces mini-grant winners for Black-owned businesses
Ascender, a local hub for entrepreneurs, awarded over $4,000 to three local startups in April as part of an annual program to support Black-owned businesses.
The mini-grants, funded by Dollar Bank, range from $500 to $2,000 for Black-owned startups and small businesses located in Allegheny County. To apply, business owners made a two-minute video pitching their venture and explaining how the funds would help them achieve their goals.
This year's winners were Jajuan Hill of 4Arts, Antonio Williams of Next Level Athletics Fitness and Monae Findley of Plants for Skin. Previous winners include aerial videography business Cloud Collective Media and edtech startup NoCode 4 Change.
Other money moves:
Local startup Agility Robotics, maker of the humanoid robot Digit, is raising $400 million. The raise would bring Agility's valuation to $1.75 billion.
Lovelace AI, a Bakery Square-based company specializing in using AI to synthesize data for high-risk decisions, announced it closed a seed round of an undisclosed amount, led by New York firm RRE Ventures.
Local fintech startup Honeycomb Credit is actively raising $3 million, according to an SEC filing. The company has already secured more than $760,000 toward that goal.
The Shapiro Administration awarded $2 million to Neovate Life Sciences, a VC firm with offices in Pittsburgh, to invest in local early-stage life science startups, focusing on medical device companies.
Autonomous flight systems developer Near Earth Autonomy was selected by the US Army to lead a $15 million project that upgrades old Black Hawk helicopters so they can fly themselves. It also secured a $790,000 contract to provide its miniaturized autonomous flight system for delivering supplies to frontline Marines in tough terrain.
Local IT and cybersecurity company Magna5 acquired Shock IT Support for an undisclosed amount, expanding its reach into Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Aquatech, a Canonsburg-based company working to solve water scarcity, secured an investment of an undisclosed amount from alternative investment firm Cerberus Capital Management.
Free Market Health, a local startup connecting patients to specialty pharmacies, has acquired another local startup with a similar mission, Beeline Rx, for an undisclosed amount.
The Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Southwestern PA (RIDC) was approved by the commonwealth for a 15-year, $2,250,000 loan to become the lead developer of the Neighborhood 91 complex, located at the Pittsburgh International Airport. The RIDC will work to expand and enhance the property as a global advanced manufacturing 'Innovation Campus.' RIDC was also awarded a $6.9 million grant to rehabilitate two buildings at the New Kensington Advanced Manufacturing Park.
East Liberty-based edtech company Duolingo participated in a $9.5 million seed round for California startup SigIQ.ai. The company will use the funds to develop affordable one-on-one AI tutors.
Money moves in education:
RealLIST Startup honoree Clean Plate Innovations won $20,000 at Duquesne University's 2025 New Venture Challenge, taking first place for its AI-powered vision system that offers real-time analytics on food waste for dining operations.
The University of Pittsburgh's Big Idea Competition awarded nearly $80,000 to student-founded startups last week. Pittsburgh Coastal Energy, which is developing a system to power submersible vehicles using ocean wave energy, won the $25,000 grand prize.
Tech firm Leidos is investing $10 million in the University of Pittsburgh's Computational Pathology and AI Center of Excellence to accelerate the development of AI-powered tools for faster detection of diseases like heart disease and cancer.
Local stakeholders broke ground on a $5.8 million project to revitalize the former Martin Luther King Jr. Reading and Cultural Center in the Hill District to be a state-of-the-art STEM education facility.
The University of Pittsburgh will pay $7.85 million to settle a class action lawsuit over its transition to remote learning in Spring 2020. The settlement covers 31,878 students, with a final approval hearing set for July 28.
Commute platform Arm and investment holding company SoftBank Group will contribute $15.5 million to a partnership between Carnegie Mellon University and Japanese Keio University to develop technologies powered by artificial intelligence.
Upcoming opportunities:
Pittsburgh nonprofits, startups and small businesses can now apply for a fully funded student fellow through Grove City College's E+I Fellows Program, an 8-week internship program happening this fall.
Local startup accelerator AlphaLab is now accepting applications for its 2026 cohort. The accelerator program offers early-stage companies up to $100,000 in funding, lab space, mentorship and direct connections to investors.
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