2020 Best Tech Startups in Pittsburgh

November 19, 2019February 8, 2023 thetechtribune

The Tech Tribune staff has compiled the very best tech startups in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In doing our research, we considered several factors including but not limited to:

Revenue potential
Leadership team
Brand/product traction
Competitive landscape

Additionally, all companies must be independent (unacquired), privately owned, at most 10 years old, and have received at least one round of funding in order to qualify.

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1. Duolingo

Founded: 2011

Also honored in:

“Duolingo is the world’s most popular way to learn languages online with over 200 million users. Founded in 2011 by crowdsourcing pioneer Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, it is the most downloaded Education app on iOS and Android and has been awarded Apple’s iPhone App of the Year and Android’s Best of the Best.

With the mission to bring ‘free language education to the world, we’re building a future in which the highest-quality education is accessible to all. Our approach is simple — language learning should be fun, personalized, and based on science.”

2. Petuum

Founded: 2016

Also honored in:

“Petuum provides innovative industry solutions with the most advanced artificial intelligence methodologies that have been out of reach for most businesses. Our products solve complex real-world challenges that traditional techniques have failed to solve in a simple, cost-effective manner. These are operationalized by world-class AI experts and deep subject matter specialists, on the Petuum AI Symphony platform, which delivers distributed computing and parallelized data processing as well as machine learning and deep learning workflows, at scale in every environment.”

3. RoBotany

Founded: 2016

“Fifth Season (founded as RoBotany in 2016) is a consumer tech company and indoor farming pioneer with Carnegie Mellon University roots that is creating a new era of fresh foods. Its commercial-scale indoor vertical farms use proprietary robotics, AI, and smart operations technology to grow leafy greens and herbs at affordable prices year-round. All Fifth Season food is grown without pesticides and is delivered to local grocery retailers, restaurants, and consumers at maximum freshness. Fifth Season’s first full-scale farm will open in early 2020 in Braddock, an historic steel town near Pittsburgh. The company is evaluating sites for similar farms in cities across the U.S.”

4. Pineapple Payments

Founded: 2012

Also honored in:

“Pineapple Payments powered by CardConnect provides payment processing technology for both brick and mortar and online businesses with a specific focus on mid-market E-Commerce, SaaS, and Enterprise technology integrations. By bundling innovative products and services to bring a more integrated and seamless credit card processing experience to merchants, Pineapple has a compelling value proposition. With credit card processing industry leader Brian Shanahan at the helm, Pineapple is undoubtedly a fresh approach to payments through its simple pricing, secure processing, flexible reporting, and high-touch servicePineapple Payments is a payments technology company that provides payment processing, proprietary technology, and omni-channel payment acceptance solutions for merchants of all shapes and sizes.

Its core payment platform and suite of value-added payments tools are distributed by resellers nationwide, including some of the largest payment processing companies and Independent Sales Organizations. Pineapple offers both API based and out-of-the-box solutions for everything from Hosted Payments and Recurring Billing to online Invoice Management and a QuickBooks® Integrated Application. By bundling innovative products and services to bring a more integrated and seamless experience to merchants, Pineapple has a compelling value proposition.”

5. JazzHR

Founded: 2009

Also honored in:

“JazzHR is powerful, user-friendly and affordable recruiting software built to help growing companies exceed their recruiting goals. JazzHR’s best-in-class solution replaces manual, time-consuming hiring tasks with intuitive tools and automation, empowering hiring managers to recruit and hire the right talent faster. To learn more about JazzHR, visit jazzhr.com.”

6. RoadRunner Recycling

Founded: 2014

“RoadRunner makes recycling massively more efficient for businesses in the United States. Using powerful technology, we help businesses recover valuable materials – and earn money back – from their waste and recycling streams. We deliver unheard of value to retailers with small and medium size store footprints, as well as building operators of all sizes and varieties.

Businesses who engage with RoadRunner save 15-45% while recycling more, sending less to landfill and reducing their carbon footprint by 80%. It’s a big opportunity – for our customers, for our team members, and for our planet. Needless to say, we’re pretty excited to talk trash with anyone who will listen.”

7. Forever

Founded: 2012

Also honored in:

“FOREVER makes it easy for you to have all of your memories digitized, secured, and ready to be enjoyed for generations to come. Here’s how our complete memory-keeping solution works:

1.) Convert all your physical memories to digital form by packing them into a FOREVER conversion box and sending them in to us. Our professionals will handle them with the utmost care and your originals will be quickly returned to you. Shipments both ways are fully tracked and insured for your peace of mind. Never worry about the safety of your family treasures again!

2.) Your digitized memories will be uploaded into a free FOREVER™ Intro Account. If you wish, you can secure them for your lifetime plus 100 years by upgrading to a permanent FOREVER Storage® account. No hidden fees, no recurring costs. We will never share or mine your data. Learn more about the FOREVER Guarantee™ at www.forever.com/guarantee.”

8. Iagnosis

Founded: 2010

Also honored in:

“DermatologistOnCall® uses the best of intelligent medicine, technology, and workflow to deliver vastly improved access to expert-directed skin care for patients with skin disease.

EXPERT CARE
Dermatologic care today is extremely limited by low numbers of qualified physicians globally. DOC will provide direct access to qualified U.S.-based board-certified dermatologists who can diagnose and treat over 3,000 skin, hair, and nail conditions.

EASILY ACCESSIBLE
Today, it takes significant time and effort to see qualified medical practitioners. A DOC visit can take up to 10 minutes, with a treatment plan and prescription sent to a pharmacy in less than 24 hours.

AFFORDABLE
Rising health care costs, especially for specialists, can be difficult to manage. DOC will provide expert care at reduced time and expense for the consumer.”

9. ForAllSecure

Founded: 2012

“ForAllSecure is building autonomous cybersecurity tools for developers, enterprise IT, and end-users that automatically find and fix vulnerabilities in run-time executable software pre-production and when deployed.

We also believe maximizing human potential is required to secure the world’s software. We create problem-driven online and in-person hacking experiences to help you educate and promote security awareness in your team.”

10. SnapRetail

Founded: 2010

Also honored in:

“SnapRetail is a Software As A Service (SaaS) company that offers a comprehensive online marketing solution to independent retailers. The platform combines numerous digital marketing tools into a single, easy-to-use interface and simplifies the process of engaging with customers online to increase sales. The company has enabled thousands of retailers to grow their businesses via websites, email marketing, and social media.”