Physical Sciences News

Leggy Bots, Flying Bots, Building Bots: Here’s What Penn’s Robotics Hub is up to

May 10, 2019

Celebration is critical and today we’re celebrating robots, Dean Miller said to the crowd gathered in Pennovation Center, the University of Pennsylvania’s research hub in Grays Ferry on Wednesday morning. “Sometimes when you think about robotics, you think about MIT, you think about [Carnegie Mellon University], you think about Stanford,” Miller, president and CEO of […]

South Philly Agtech Startup Augean Robotics Raises $1.5M

April 4, 2019

NextFab-based Augean Robotics, makers of a full-stack robotics platform for the farming industry, just raised a $1.5 million seed round to grow its staff and scale the deployment of its technology. The company, which makes an autonomous, collaborative farming robot called Burro, raised some initial cash as part of its participation in the RAPID accelerator, […]

This East Falls Startup, Makers of an Automated Drone Hub, Raised $1M

January 28, 2019

With drones poised to play a starring role in automating industries like agriculture and construction, the infrastructure that accompanies the flying gizmos needs to be able to keep up. That’s the driving premise behind Asylon, an East Falls startup working to bring more efficiency to industrial drone operations. The startup, founded in 2015, quietly raised $1 […]

Startup Kapsul’s Smart AC Unit Lands Offers From Big Retailers Amid Raising $5M

October 26, 2018

With October’s chill setting in, it’s hard to believe the sweltering, muggy heat of July isn’t that far away. But when it does come, Kapsul plans to be ready. That’s what COO Chris Myers told the Philadelphia Business Journal this week as the Philadelphia-based hardware startup is in the midst of a seed round to fund the […]

Philly Start-up Kapsul is Making a Quieter Air Conditioner Thanks to $2.3 Million From Crowdfunding

August 8, 2018

The summer months when air conditioning is considered a necessity are winding down, but a Philadelphia start-up is working to offer improved window units to make it through next year’s scorching heat. Kapsul, a company that designed a smaller and quieter air conditioning window unit, raised $2.3 million on crowdfunding platforms Indiegogo and Kickstarter in […]

Tozuda is Raising $30,000 for a Production Run of its Helmet Sensors

June 11, 2018

A $30,000 Kickstarter campaign will let NextFab-based Tozuda fund the production run of its helmet sensor, a cylinder-shaped add-on that turns red when an impact was hard enough to cause a concussion. On Tuesday, the company went live with the campaign, which has the dual purpose of helping finance the development of its sensor and […]

Could Better Sleep Be The Secret To Your Company’s Success?

June 4, 2018

Among your list of key business or career objectives for 2018, have you included a commitment to more quality sleep? If you haven’t, you might want to reconsider. Research from the Rand Corporation has shown that inadequate sleep leads to an estimated 1.23 million days of missed work, and an economic hit of up to $411B per year in the […]

With $400K From Ben Franklin, Kapsul Gets to Work on ‘smart’ Air Conditioner

May 21, 2018

Kapsul Air, the Center City company behind Philly’s biggest biggest Indiegogo campaign — a whopping $2.3 million in 2016 for preorders of its smart air conditioner — says that after eight re-designs, they should start shipping the sleek product in the summer. Of 2019. Cofounder and CEO Kurt Swanson will be the first to tell […]

Advanced Absorbent Technologies LLC is Bringing Dignity to Incontinence Products

March 23, 2018

Joe Howard, a Pittsburgh native with an MBA and a sales and marketing background in specialty steels and ketchup, isn’t a flashy guy. But he sure has a flair for magic. From his black shopping bag of tricks, he pulled a beaker filled with 100 milliliters of water, a clear-plastic drinking cup, and a gallon-size […]

Assembling an Ecosystem with the Robotics, UAV, & Drone Community

February 28, 2018

The robotics, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and drone industries are growing in the region. Last year the Philadelphia Inquirer announced the city as the “robotics hub of the East Coast,” and while the announcement seemed gratuitous to some, evidence supports Philadelphia’s ability to become that hub and more. Local universities are a huge resource of […]