Pittsburgh's 15 Best Startup Accelerators & Incubators [2024]

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Updated: January 20th, 2022

Are you looking for an accelerator program in Pittsburgh city?

Did you know that according to NEXTpittsburgh, Pittsburgh ranks sixth in the country in the number of tech companies founded by venture capital?

If you're starting a startup in Pittsburgh, you might be wondering what startup accelerators or incubators exist in the area. Here's the full list:

Startup Accelerators & Business Incubators In Pittsburgh

#	Accelerator/Incubator	Funding	Location	Apply
1	AlphaLab	$50K	Pittsburgh	Apply
2	Idea Foundry	Not Disclosed	Pittsburgh	Apply
3	IncubateHER	$1,500	Pittsburgh	Apply
4	Blast Furnace	Not Disclosed	Pittsburgh	Apply
5	Ascender	$5K	Pittsburgh	Apply
6	Innovation Works	Not Disclosed	Pittsburgh	Apply
7	PGH Lab	Not Disclosed	Pittsburgh	Apply
8	AlphaLab Gear	$50K	Pittsburgh	Apply
9	LifeX	Not Disclosed	Pittsburgh	Apply
10	Steel Bridge Labs	$25K-$250K	Pittsburg...	Apply
11	Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse	Not Disclosed	Pittsburgh	Apply
12	Numo	Not Disclosed	Pittsburgh	Apply
13	Startup Boost	Not Disclosed	Los Angeles	Apply
14	Riverside Center For Innovation	Not Disclosed	Pittsburgh	Apply
15	Project Olympus Incubator Program	Not Disclosed	Pittsburgh	Apply

Pittsburgh's 15 Best Startup Accelerators & Incubators [2024]

1. AlphaLab

Location: Pittsburgh
Industry: Technology Industry
Investment Size: $50K
Program: 4 Months

Alpha Lab is a software accelerator program in Pittsburgh that helps early-stage startup companies to build and grow. This four-month program helps founders build great companies through resources, funding, expertise, and networking. They provide tech startups with extensive mentorship and guidance from industry experts and partners, networking with investors, educational sessions, entrepreneurial environment, knowledge of sales and digital marketing, business operations, and fundraising opportunities.

Apply to AlphaLab, or learn more ➜

2. Idea Foundry

Location: Pittsburgh
Industry: Social and Environmental
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: Not Disclosed

Idea Foundry is a non-profit economic development organization for job creation. They act as a regional pioneer in technology transfer, hand-on-business development, and global efforts. To date, they have helped over 250 companies and have created an economic impact of $1B. They focus on job creation by supporting the growth of business and commercialization and believe that global opportunities solve local challenges more efficiently. They run different programs and provide mentorship from experienced leaders and entrepreneurs, access to capital and funding, and resources to the startups necessary for building a scalable business.

Apply to Idea Foundry , or learn more ➜

3. IncubateHER

Location: Pittsburgh
Industry: Product or Service
Investment Size: $1,500
Program: 12 Months

IncubateHER is a program that offers support and opportunities to the women entrepreneurs of the country. This year-long program incubates product and service-based businesses run by early-stage women entrepreneurs. Participants will receive mentorship from industry-specific people, entrepreneurial education by Chatham’s Women’s Business Center, tailored curriculum, networking opportunities, and peer-to-peer mentoring necessary for the growth of their business.

Apply to IncubateHER, or learn more ➜

4. Blast Furnace

Location: Pittsburgh
Industry: Technology Industry
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: 9 Weeks

Blast Furnace is an initiative by the University of Pittsburgh. This accelerator program provides deep knowledge, a rich curriculum, and an inspiring co-working space to the student startups who want to build and grow their business firm. The mission of this program is to help students fulfill their entrepreneurial dreams by providing them with hands-on- experience, knowledge, and various business opportunities.

Apply to Blast Furnace , or learn more ➜

5. Ascender

Location: Pittsburgh
Industry: All Industries
Investment Size: $5K
Program: 12 Months

Ascender is an incubator program that empowers entrepreneurs who want to build, grow and scale their businesses. They host a year-long incubator program and provide entrepreneurs with the tools necessary for building a sustainable business. They offer startup firms with one-on-one coaching, mentorship, educational sessions, 24/7 access to co-working space, tailored programming, financial support of $5K, marketing exposure, and access to investors and alumni network.

Apply to Ascender, or learn more ➜

6. Innovation Works

Location: Pittsburgh
Industry: Technology Industry
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: Not Disclosed

Innovation Works turns ideas into companies by empowering entrepreneurs to succeed and scale their businesses. The key sectors of focus are robotics, medical devices, artificial intelligence, enterprise software, retail technologies. Innovation Works offer several programs and provide access to mentorship, capital, networking, educational workshops, and future funding opportunities to the startups.

Apply to Innovation Works, or learn more ➜

7. PGH Lab

Location: Pittsburgh
Industry: Civic and Social
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: Not Disclosed

PGH Lab is a program that connects local startups to the local authorities of the City of Pittsburgh and tests new and innovative products and services. They invite startup companies to find and apply off-center solutions to civic challenges like; climate and environment, resident engagement, and government operations. This program provides startups with working space, valuable resources and is encouraged to test innovative tech ideas and gain valuable feedback.

Apply to PGH Lab, or learn more ➜

8. AlphaLab Gear

Location: Pittsburgh
Industry: Hardware Industry
Investment Size: $50K
Program: 30 Weeks

AlphaLab Gear is a hardware accelerator program in Pittsburgh that helps early-stage startups with innovative prototypes or ideas to grow their physical product business in the industry. They provide funding, mentorship, network building, one-on-one engagement, and offline space to their participants. They allow entrepreneurs to grow their hardware and robotics startups by providing them knowledge about sales, digital marketing, manufacturing, and customer acquisition.

Apply to AlphaLab Gear, or learn more ➜

9. LifeX

Location: Pittsburgh
Industry: Drug, Diagnostic, Device. Technology and Digital Health
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: Not Disclosed

LifeX Labs is a startup program that focuses on providing early-stage life science companies with the resources and ecosystem necessary for its growth and success. Its mission is to develop and support drug, diagnostic, device, and digital health startups. They offer tailored incubator and accelerator programs, workshops and seminars, speaker series, and founder forums to the participating startups.

Apply to LifeX, or learn more ➜

10. Steel Bridge Labs

Location: Pittsburgh, Miami, and NewPort Beach
Industry: FinTech
Investment Size: $25K-$250K
Program: Not Disclosed

Steel Bridge Labs is a place that converts ideas into reality. They inspire the growth of fintech businesses by filling the gap between financial services and the industry. They provide entrepreneurs with deep industry experience, knowledge, and tools for success. They also provide access to mentorship and guidance from experienced leaders, seed investment of $25K to $250K, offline space, tailored curriculum, and networking opportunities with investors.

Apply to Steel Bridge Labs, or learn more ➜

11. Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse

Location: Pittsburgh
Industry: Life Sciences and Healthcare
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: Not Disclosed

Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse is a program that helps entrepreneurs to grow their companies and give good investor returns. The people at Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse provide business knowledge, access to capital, and connections to entrepreneurs to ensure commercial success in the healthcare system.

Apply to Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, or learn more ➜

12. Numo

Location: Pittsburgh
Industry: FinTech
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: Not Disclosed

Numo is a fintech lab for innovation, banking, and entrepreneurship. They follow a unique model for building new products in financial services. They discover unsolved problems of fintech and find solutions and create products addressing the same. They act as builders and creators whose job is to build innovative and impactful products and convert them into world-class fintech companies.

Apply to Numo, or learn more ➜

13. Startup Boost

Location: Los Angeles
Industry: Tech or tech-enabled startup
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: 6 weeks

Startup Boost is an accelerator program for pre-seed startups and helps with investment, revenue generation, and acceleration. In this 6-week accelerator program, startups are provided 1-on-1 mentorship with experts, hands-on experience, and pitch coaching. They also help entrepreneurs in building connections with investors, top accelerators, and industry partners.

Apply to Startup Boost , or learn more ➜

14. Riverside Center For Innovation

Location: Pittsburgh
Industry: All Industries
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: Not Disclosed

Riverside Center for Innovation (RCI) is a program that engages in activities related to a healthy environment for entrepreneurs and small startup businesses. RCI is a non-profit incubator program that targets women entrepreneurs, veterans, minorities, and LGBTQ and supports them to start, sustain and grow a business firm. They run several programs and provide entrepreneurs access to offline co-working space, mentorship, capital, business education, networking opportunities, and industrial connections.

Apply to Riverside Center For Innovation, or learn more ➜

15. Project Olympus Incubator Program

Location: Pittsburgh
Industry: All Industries
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: Not Disclosed

Project Olympus Incubator Program bridges the gap between university research and economy-promoting commercialization for the people of Pittsburgh. This program promotes and supports students of Carnegie Mellon University. They encourage entrepreneurship on campus. They provide incubator space, advice, micro-grants, connection opportunities to the startups and help them convert their ideas and research into a successful startup business firm.

Apply to Project Olympus Incubator Program, or learn more ➜

meet the author

Pat Walls

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.

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