Pittsburgh in the news

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PRN Member News

Gridwise

Gridwise secured a $3.3M seed funding round led by Mountain State Capital, with participation from Switch VC, 412 Venture Fund, Quaker Capital, Blue Tree Allied Angels, and Reinforced Ventures, taking its total funding to $5.4 million. With this, Gridwise has unveiled plans to “unlock ride-share and delivery insights” to help municipalities, mobile service platforms, insurance providers, and other key stakeholders understand how people move within cities. Full story in VentureBeat.

Digital Dream Labs

Pittsburgh's Digital Dream Labs has acquired Anki's assets. Since the acquisition, Digital Dream Labs has added 13 more people to its staff with plans to hire 31 more and bring the Vector line back in time for Christmas. Full story here.

Carnegie Mellon University

Team Explorer from Carnegie Mellon University is preparing for the next stage of the DARPA Challenge, the Urban Circuit. The Urban Circuit is the second in a series of scored contests in which autonomous robots map underground environments and look for objects, much as a first responder might in an emergency. Full story in Robotics Business Review.

Aurora

Aurora Innovation Inc. may soon match its growing headquarters presence on the West Coast with a major expansion in Pittsburgh as well. The company isn’t confirming anything, but sources indicate that Aurora is lined up to take the office space available at 1600 Smallman. Full story on WPXI.

Aethon

Aethon’s TUG robots are being deployed at over 140 sites. An executive from the company comments on the importance of having autonomous options for healthcare workers. Full story in Forbes.

Industry News in Pittsburgh

Hazelwood Green gets innovation hub with newest Silicon Valley tenant GSVlabs. Full story in NextPittsburgh.

2 of the 10 worldwide finalists for the $5 million AI XPRIZE are from Pittsburgh, with Pittsburgh boasting more finalists than any other city. Full story in NextPittsburgh.

Spear Street Capital turning Sears Outlet in Lawrenceville into high-bay R&D space. Full story in NextPittsburgh.

Montour Middle School offers a six-week elective course on AI autonomous robotics in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon Professor Dr. David Touretzky. Full story in Forbes.

Suggestions for reuse for Neville Island have included robotics manufacturing and a site for autonomous vehicles. Full story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

About the Pittsburgh Robotics Network (PRN)

The Pittsburgh Robotics Network (PRN) is dedicated to empowering and strengthening robotics companies in the Pittsburgh region and positioning the ecosystem as an internationally recognized powerhouse. Structured as a membership-based consortium, PRN Members have access to member only events centered on knowledge-sharing and collaboration. Learn more and apply for membership here.