On the biotech side, meanwhile, one of the top funding recipients based in the city is Vitara Biomedical, a startup with ties to the children’s hospital, that is developing technology to help premature babies acclimate outside the womb. At the earlier stage, QuotaPath, a sales commission tracking platform, also landed a big round, with $41 million in an April Series B. For 2022, the top tech funding recipient was dbt Labs, a developer of data engineering tools that pulled in $222 million in Series D financing. Still, Philly proper does attract its share of startups too. While the archetypal Philadelphian may be someone scarfing a Whiz-laden cheesesteak on a street corner, the typical startup worker is more likely to order lunch from some place in the suburbs with provolone 1 as the default cheese. In practice, what this means is mental images of scrappy startups in gritty urban digs probably aren’t too representative of actual reality. Out of total funding to the metro area, less than half went to companies in Philadelphia proper, with the rest going to surrounding towns and smaller cities. While greater Philly isn’t exactly cheap, the cost of living is significantly lower than Boston and major California metros, with housing in particular far more affordable.įor better or worse, Philly’s startup scene is also pretty suburban. Local startup boosters see affordability as one driver of growth. While Boston, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area are bigger for now, Philadelphia has been steadily moving up in the ranks. life sciences hubs, Philly consistently makes the top 10 lists by such metrics as local talent pool, square footage of dedicated facilities, and venture funding. And Philadelphia-based Spark Therapeutics (now owned by Roche), played a lead role in clinical trials and commercializing breakthrough gene therapies.Īmong U.S. The first FDA-approved gene therapy - for a rare form of retinal blindness - had its roots in local labs. In recent years, the University of Pennsylvania, and the on-campus Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania, in particular, have gained a reputation as research pioneers in immuno-oncology, cell and gene therapy. While the first could refer to either sports or science, the second one is definitively a nod to Philadelphia’s history as a hub for cell and gene therapy. It’s a notion Greenberg likes to promote with two of her favored hashtags: #NotTheUnderdog and #celliconvalley. The common theme: A city with a longtime underdog reputation is staging a serious comeback. With the Eagles poised for what could be their second Super Bowl victory in six years, Greenberg sees similarities between the local football and life science trajectories. The King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based company closed on $350 million last year in the metro area’s largest startup funding round. “There’s a lot of positive momentum,” said Audrey Greenberg, co-founder of the Center for Breakthrough Medicines, a cell and gene therapy contract development, manufacturing and testing organization.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |