Latest news with #WURDRadio
Technical.ly
24-06-2025
- Business
- Technical.ly
How Philly's BioLattice is making the jump from grants to VC
For nearly two years, has hosted its monthly segment, Speaking, on WURD Radio's 'Reality Check' with Tonya Pendleton. Earlier this month, WURD cancelled the show after a round of layoffs. Winning pitch competitions and getting industry recognition don't always lead to funding. For Amelia Zellander, founder and CEO of the tissue engineering startup BioLattice, it took six years to get the 'proper funding' to pursue the biotechnology, which she finally secured at the end of 2023. Innovations like biomaterial to repair the front layer of the eye — an alternative to traditional cornea transplants — can be risky to develop, she said. In the current climate of risk-averse investors, that makes biotech money difficult to land. It was ultimately federal funding (the same programs now in limbo under the Trump administration) that made Zellander's initial research possible. Now she's seeking venture capital to maintain that momentum. 'My journey with this company in this form really started in 2017,' Zellander told reporter Sarah Huffman on Speaking, a monthly segment on WURD Radio's 'Reality Check' hosted by Tonya Pendleton. 'I applied for federal funding multiple times before I finally got the Phase One [National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research ] grant.' The funding served as a launch pad. Since starting a research partnership with Lehigh University, BioLattice has landed an $80,000 first-place prize at a pitch competition. More recently, Zellander was named Startup of the Year at BioLabs' third annual investor day. BioLattice is continuing its growth trajectory as a member of the inaugural HiveBio accelerator cohort. This is helping build the company's brand and supporting its path to securing investors, per Zellander. 'I have been getting a little bit of funding, but I'm just still in the battle to build my reputation,' she said, 'to build the trust with investors, and to present the need.' While positive recognition is useful in general, it doesn't always translate into dollars, Zellander said. As BioLattice gears up to raise its next $2 million to support the prototyping phase, she's hoping to make sure it can turn the accolades into securing VCs. BioLattice is currently in a preclinical, prototype stage. Its CorneaClear technology is compatible with rabbit eyes, and now needs more testing to conduct a formal animal study. 'Storytelling is the biggest thing,' Zellander said. 'Investors want to know: How are they going to get their investment back?'
Axios
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Philadelphia Weekender: Food truck festival and Juneteenth celebrations
There's plenty to do around the Philly metro this weekend. 🔥 Check out Chester County's hot-air balloon festival, which runs Friday-Sunday in Kennett Square. Live bands, beer, food and crafts, plus a kid zone with bounce houses and a petting zoo. Single-day tickets: $33.85 adults, $12.51 children; free for kids 6 and under. 🎙️ WURD Radio takes over World Cafe Live in University City with a "Message is Our Music" event hosted by Tiffany Bacon. Expect a live performance from "Queen of House" Lady Alma. Plus: WURD's own DJ Tee Alford will spin beats that'll keep the dance party going. Friday, 6-11pm. Tickets: $32.65 🆕 It's the grand opening of FDR Park's Gateway Plaza. Free paddle boating, food trucks, guided tours and more. Saturday, 10am-2pm. 📝 Stop by the Sketch 2025 brunch Saturday at Location 215 for a first look at art works part of ArtPhilly's What Now 2026 festival. Live music, choreography and a drag opera performance. 10am-4pm. Register here. 🎟️ It's free admission at the Penn Museum for its annual Juneteenth festival, which runs Saturday 10am-6pm. Art workshops, music and dance performances. Plus, check out a special pop-up exhibit from the West Philadelphia Community Archaeology project. 🗓️ Mercer Museum in Doylestown is holding a free Juneteenth celebration, including a living history presentation about Harriet Tubman, a live DJ, food trucks and kid-friendly activities. Saturday, noon-3pm. 🛻 Taste all the offerings at Linvilla Orchards' food truck festival on Saturday from 11am-5pm. More than 20 local food trucks will visit the 300-acre farm. Plus, a beer garden for adults, and pony and train rides for the kiddos. 🌱 Philly VegFest is back at Queen Village's Bainbridge Green. Plant-based foods, live music, panels, and more. Saturday, 11am-5pm.
Axios
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
The Ones List with Philly radio personality Tonya Pendleton
Tonya Pendleton's two-year reign as host of WURD Radio's "Reality Check" ended last week, but she won't be off the airwaves for long. Why it matters: Pendleton, WHYY's "Things to Do" curator and one of Philly's enduring journalists and broadcasters, is already cooking up her next adventure. We caught up with Pendleton in our latest edition of "The Ones List" series. The interview was condensed for clarity: What's one story you tell about why you got into radio? While interning in college at WILD Radio in Boston, the music director left and I took her spot at 22 years old. Radio made me happier than anything else. Who's one person you grew up admiring in media? Charlie Rose. It was just him, the person at a table, and no fancy backdrop. Your one can't-break rule in radio: Respect the audience. There's somebody who may have woken up that day just to hear your voice. What's one daily ritual you can't do without? Meditation. I'm a fan of Insight Timer. What's one podcast you can't do without? Steven Bartlett's "The Diary of a CEO." What's one habit you wish you could break? Procrastination. Your one favorite person in Philadelphia: Rapper Chill Moody. He put the "E" in entrepreneur. Who's one person you interviewed who you still think about? Prince. The paramount thing to know about him: He cared about his craft. What's one thing you're going to miss about "Reality Check" and WURD Radio? Connecting with an audience that cares about our community.
Axios
06-06-2025
- Business
- Axios
Scoop: Four employees out in shakeup at WURD Radio
At least four employees, including one of WURD Radio's top hosts, are being let go as part of what's described internally as a cost-cutting measure, Axios has learned. Why it matters: WURD is the only Black-owned radio station in Pennsylvania, and among only a handful nationwide. The station, founded by the late Walter P. Lomax Jr., broadcast live during last year's presidential campaign from the White House complex — a major get. Driving the news: The layoffs include "Reality Check" host Tonya Pendleton and her lead producer, Troy Wilmore. He had been with the station for 18 years. Pendleton, one of Philly's well-known radio personalities, has led "Reality Check" for the last two years. Content writer Kiara Santos and one other employee were also among those let go. The show won't continue to air, the station's general manager, Ashanti Martin tells Axios. She wouldn't say whether WURD would ever bring back the program. WURD CEO and president Sara Lomax-Reese, the late founder's daughter, wrote in a memo obtained by Axios that the layoffs were meant to "ensure the station's long-term survival." She praised the laid-off staffers' "meaningful contributions to our station, our community and our city." "This decision was not made lightly. As an independent media radio station, it is imperative that we maintain our ability to give Black Philadelphia a voice and a place to make their voices heard," she wrote. What they're saying: The WURD employees affected by the cuts either declined to comment or didn't immediately respond to Axios' request for comment. State of play: The media landscape is shifting, and competition for dwindling advertising revenue is fierce. WURD faced a setback earlier this year, when a conservative health care nonprofit filed a lawsuit alleging the station and one of its partners engaged in reverse racism when it launched a Black doctors directory to help connect people seeking care with physicians of color in the region. Martin tells Axios the cuts were unrelated to the lawsuit. The bottom line: Martin says the radio station is trying to find its footing while dealing with the "erasure of Blackness" from society. "I'm very confident we will survive and thrive," she says. "It's time like this that outlets like WURD are needed more than ever. We want to be around for another 22 years and another 22 after that."
Technical.ly
04-04-2025
- Business
- Technical.ly
Philly founder proves the maxim ‘Your net worth is your network'
Simone Ammons built software startup QuneUp with about $140,000 from a side gig. Now, she's growing it through the power of community. Ammons launched her company with funds she made from working as a technical writer. Still bootstrapped, Ammons mostly relies on her strong network to keep it growing. That goes hand in hand with her dedication to uplifting others along the way, she told reporter Sarah Huffman on Speaking, our monthly segment on WURD Radio's 'Reality Check' hosted by Tonya Pendleton. 'Everything about QuneUp … was partnered with somebody else in the community that looked like me,' Ammons said, referencing how she connected with the 'fraction of a percent' of other Black women in the business community. Philly-based QuneUp, started in 2022, began with Ammon's personal frustration at work. As an engineer, every time equipment broke down, she got the call to fix it. The equipment often lacked vital information, like the vendor or when it was installed. In response, she developed a QR code sticker that takes the technician to the equipment landing page with all the information needed for repairs. Featured as an honorable mention in 2025 RealLIST Startups, QuneUp has also been recognized with valuable support from other respected institutions, including at two pitch competitions supported by the Philadelphia Department of Commerce. In 2024, QuneUp came in third place, taking home a $2,000 prize and the year prior, it was a finalist in Philly's Most Diverse Tech Hub Pitch Competition. It was also a member of the December 2023 Capital Readiness Program session run by the University City Science Center and, most recently, selected for the inaugural cohort of biotech accelerator HiveBio. Those connections also gave her the platform to find new customers, Ammons said, crediting the Department of Commerce for helping her land two pilots. Plus, it acted as a 'mini MBA' to learn how to run a business beyond just building the software, Ammons said. 'What I realized in business is that your net worth is your network,' Ammons said. Being a part of the community means she's just '10 conversations away from somebody who is interested in investing in a company like mine.'
