Six Philadelphia Projects Receive Start-Up Grants From City
CITY HALL (CBS) -- Philadelphia has awarded one-hundred-thirty-thousand dollars to six new enterprises it hopes will take off and create jobs. The five-year-old program is also planning to accelerate its award process.
StartUpPHL issues a call for ideas each fall. Director of Entrepreneurial Investment Archna Sahay said they're looking for ideas that promote developing a tech economy in all the city's neighborhoods.
"How can we make sure all our citizens are participating in this economy or have the resources to participate in this economy," Sahay said.
This year, awards went to Coded by Kids to develop a data science curriculum; DASH, to help students produce original music; the Hacktory, for a summer hardware bootcamp; SecondMuse for research on the city's hardware and manufacturing community; and two non-profits that will help low-income and immigrant business owners get started.
"We're very lucky that we have a start-up tech community that gives back on a regular basis."
Archna said the city plans to begin making the awards twice a year so a new call for ideas is expected to go out in the spring.