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|  | From left: Farnam Jahanian, CMU President; Joel Kaplan, Chief Global Affairs Officer, Meta; Theresa Mayer, Vice President for Research, CMU; Meredith Meyer Grelli, Managing Director/Interim Executive Director, CMU Swartz Center
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| Meta to Fund Promising Early-stage CMU Startups
Meta will invest in the university’s Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
The Swartz Center is proud to announce that Meta has committed to support promising early-stage, CMU-affiliated startups.This initiative will provide funding to startups in advanced technologies, and cross-disciplinary innovation arising out of CMU’s work in AI, robotics and systems engineering. The partnership with Meta is projected to support high-potential startups in areas critical to the energy, infrastructure, health care or defense industries during its launch period.
Carnegie Mellon is known for its leadership in emerging technologies and supporting commercialization of resulting startups. Collectively, CMU-affiliated companies have created over $658B in value and raised over $40B in capital. “Thanks to Meta’s partnership, we can expand our support for breakthrough companies at the earliest, highest risk stages,” says Swartz Center Interim Executive Director Meredith Meyer Grelli.
The Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship is the heart of the university’s innovation ecosystem. Named for CMU alumnus, entrepreneur and founding partner of Accel venture capital James R. Swartz, the center works to accelerate bringing research innovations and promising ideas from across CMU to
the global marketplace.
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Pittsburgh Tech Leaders Showcase AI Prowess Ahead Energy and Innovation Summit
On the eve of Senator Dave McCormick's Energy and Innovation Summit, local economic development organizations partnered to showcase Pittsburgh's tech sector. The AI Horizons Preview Event featured panels with the CEOs of several local tech success stories from CMU, including recently minted unicorn companies Gecko Robotics and Abridge AI Inc. Abridge CEO Dr. Shiv Rao discussed how Abridge, which transcribes and contextualizes conversations between health care providers and patients, had begun before more mainstream investment in artificial intelligence was kicked off.
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|  | Photo courtesy of Bedrock Robotics via TechCrunch
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| Bedrock Robotics Raises $80M in Funding for Autonomous Construction Technology
Bedrock Robotics, the company developing advanced autonomous systems for the $13 trillion global construction industry, emerged from stealth this week with $80M in Seed and Series A backing. Bedrock Robotics upgrades customers' existing heavy equipment fleets with reversible, same-day hardware and software installs to enable fully autonomous operations.
Bedrock Robotics is co-founded by CMU Robotics Institute alumnus and CEO Boris Sofman, Ph.D.
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|  | Gecko co-founders Jake Loosararian, CEO (left) and Troy Demmer, CPO (right)
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Gecko Robotics Partners with U.S. Steel to Explore AI-driven Infrastructure Analysis
North Shore-based unicorn company Gecko Robotics announced two partnerships with local companies alongside this week's Pennsylvania Energy & Innovation Summit. Gecko, which uses robotics and AI to perform infrastructure analysis, will "explore a new collaboration" with U.S. Steel, according to a joint statement from Gecko CEO Jake Loosararian and U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt.
Gecko is co-founded by Loosararian and CMU alumnus Troy Demmer, CPO. Loosararian was a prominent speaker and panelist at this weeks Pennsylvania Energy & Innovation Summit held at CMU.
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Abridge Partners with Allegheny Health Network to
Bring AI Innovation
One of Pittsburgh’s tech unicorns, Abridge AI Inc., will soon be announcing a partnership with Allegheny Health Network and Highmark Health that will bring the generative AI company’s innovation into the hospital and health care system.
Carnegie Mellon University alumnus Shiv Rao, CEO and co-founder of Abridge, talked briefly about the work the company has been doing at AHN and parent company Highmark Health during a panel discussion Monday afternoon sponsored by AI Horizons Pittsburgh, part of the events accompanying the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit held at CMU this week.
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| Codeflash Named a Cool Vendor in 2025 Gartner's Cool Vendors in Software Quality and Testing
Codeflash, founded by CMU ECE '19 alumnus and CEO Saurabh Misra—also a James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow among other Swartz Center programs—has been named a 2025 Gartner® Cool Vendor in the “Software Quality and Testing” category. The company has also been recently recognized as the only Continuous Optimization tool in the market by GitHub.
Codeflash helps developers continuously improve the performance of their Python code while preserving correctness.
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VENTUREBRIDGE '25 FOUNDER SPOTLIGHT
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Welcome to the VentureBridge '25 Founders Spotlight!
Carnegie Mellon University’s VentureBridge program, an initiative of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, supports CMU-alumni founded companies with capital, co-working space, access to mentorship and resources, and investor demo days across San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and New York City.
For the next few weeks, we will feature the founders of the '25 VentureBridge cohort.Join us in celebrating these amazing founders.
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| Michael Provenzano, CEO & Co-Founder of Clear Solar
In this spotlight series, we take a behind the scenes look at an interview with Michael Provenzano, Co-Founder & CEO of Clear Solar. The mission at Clear Solar is simple: maximize the sun, minimize the work for solar panel operators all over the world. "My goal for Clear Solar is to have a stable foundation where we can meet these needs for companies on earth that are cleaning solar panels and also have some applications in space—but not depend on the space industry, because the space industry can be very volatile", says Provenzano.
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| Support a CMU Health Startup!
HeartTech~Provider of Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Discharge Tracking
HeartTech, founded by a group of CMU students including the primary founder Alexander Pichi, Tepper School of Business MBA, provides implantable cardioverter defibrillator discharge tracking on your wrist and quickly notifies your emergency contacts to reduce response time by greater than 50%.
If you or a loved one has survived a sudden cardiac arrest or have an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD), and would like to contribute to the survey, please visit the link below. Your input will be kept 'strictly confidential' and is valuable as the team continues to improve this important product!
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| Apply to the Forge AI Pitch Challenge by August 8!
Spotlighting Pennsylvania’s most promising AI and AI-adjacent startups, the Forge AI Pitch invites deployment-ready ventures to showcase their solutions live on stage. Six finalists will pitch their solutions in front of national investors, tech leaders and media—showcasing how Pennsylvania startups are delivering real-world AI deployment, while competing for $50K in funding.
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Join the CMU T&E, in partnership with CMU's Graduate Entrepreneurship Club (GEC), for a casual mixer for Tartans in Pittsburgh to gather for connection and conversation.
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SkyDeck x CMU: Accelerator Virtual Info Session
Join us for a virtual info session hosted by Berkeley SkyDeck, UC Berkeley’s accelerator and global startup hub. SkyDeck combines the best of Silicon Valley acceleration with access to top-tier research, a vast advisor network, and $200K in funding for startups accepted into our flagship program. We’re looking to deepen our connection with CMU and share how your founders can get involved. Whether you're actively raising, building your MVP, or exploring accelerators, this is a great opportunity to learn how SkyDeck can support your journey.
The next application deadline is approaching soon. Register to attend and learn more!
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Come Join Swank Works on July 31!
The Swank Special Projects Team Invites the CMU Swartz Center and CMU/Pittsburgh entrepreneurship community to another friendly game of Pickleball on Thursday, July 31 from 7:00-8:30 am at Washington's Landing.
Email jaimel@swankco.com to RSVP!
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Date: Friday, August 8, 2025
Time: 3:00-7:00 PM | ET
Location: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
Welcome to the series of events with PITTSBURGH UNLOCKED, where you will learn from various community leaders and startups about their Startup Ecosystem. Pittsburgh Unlocked connects entrepreneurs with innovation centers and entrepreneurs across the region to increase knowledge and access.
Founders can apply to pitch for the Dell Business Partnerships Pittsburgh Demo Day.
Apply to pitch by July 25th!
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| Date: September 11-12, 2025
Location: Bakery Square and Hazelwood Green, Pittsburgh
The race for AI adoption, commercialization and market leadership is on. Join the world’s leading researchers, innovators and adopters and explore how AI is transforming healthcare, manufacturing, defense, finance, robotics and beyond!
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| CONNECTS/START SMART LAW SEMINARS
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| Can't make a CONNECTS? Watch on our YouTube channel.
See the full schedule and register for ALL of the seminars here!
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The CONNECTS/START SMART LAW Seminars have ended for the Spring semester and will resume in the Fall.
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The mission of 99 Tartans is to partner with the highest potential, early-stage CMU alumni companies and accelerate their success through access to capital and networks. Find out more.
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CMU ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUBS
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| Click the images to see upcoming Club events!
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The CMU T&E has launched its new website, which also includes a newly revamped Jobs Board, available for people across the community to share and seek new opportunities in the startup & entrepreneurship ecosystem. Find out more and visit the website here.
The CMU Tech & Entrepreneurship group aims to build a bridge between CMU students and alumni across the startup and tech continuum. With main chapters in NYC, Pittsburgh, and SF, we offer a range of in-person and online events and programming in the form of panels, workshops, founder/investor engagements, startup support, and socials to foster collaboration, innovation, and networking opportunities.
Join 7,000+ Tartans on our Slack workspace and mailing list for resources and updates on how you can engage in the community and CMU entrepreneurial ecosystem. Headline TextDesign best-practices suggest a large font size for easy readability both on desktop and mobile devices.
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The following companies help directly support our programming and entrepreneurs.
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| Pillsbury and Steptoe & Johnson, PLLC are holding office hours for the CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship. The office hours are for any interested CMU graduate, undergraduate or alumni interested in entrepreneurship or connecting with members of the Swartz Center network.
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Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
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Legal Services Weekly Virtual Office Hours with Matt Kirmayer
Mondays 1:00-3:00 PM ET (10-12 PT)
Matt Kirmayer of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, is offering office hours for newly established startup and emerging companies. Matt specializes in representing technology startups and emerging growth companies, assisting with entity formation, fundraising and overall growth needs. Startup companies with a founder who is a CMU graduate, undergraduate or alumni is eligible to register for
an appointment. Complete the Signup Form for a 30 minute session by the Thursday prior to your
desired appointment.
Contact Daria Stokes or Sean Mawhinney for office hours outside of these regular hours.
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PwC
Our purpose—to build trust in society and solve important problems—is at the core of everything we do. It guides how we serve our clients, our people and the world. To help our clients build trust and deliver sustained outcomes, PwC provides professional services across two segments: Trust Solutions and Consulting Solutions. Within these segments we bring a range of capabilities to help organizations solve faster, solve more and realize more value. These capabilities include cloud and digital, deals, ESG, cybersecurity and privacy, governance/boards, risk, transformation, tax services and much more. Across our global network of more than 295,000 professionals in 156 countries, we are committed to advancing quality in everything we do.
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HOW TO WORK OUT OF THE SWARTZ CENTER
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Swartz Center Education and Resources
No matter what phase of the entrepreneurship cycle you're in, there are programs and resources at the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship that will take your idea to the next level. Find out more.
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Project Olympus Incubator Program
Want more help with finding product/market fit, developing your business model, making connections and attracting funding? Project Olympus will team you up with a business coach to develop a personalized ‘roadmap. Find out more.
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COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES/RESOURCES
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FIND OUT WHAT OUR PARTNERS ARE DOING
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Have startup news or opportunities to share? Have questions about the Swartz Center Weekly Bulletin? Send news, opportunities or questions to Sonya Ford, Program Manager.
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Carnegie Mellon University Swartz Center For Entrepreneurship
5000 Forbes Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890 |
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