Money Moves is a recurring series where we chart the raises, grants, contracts, mergers and other funding news of tech companies across our regions. Have a tip? Email us at [email protected].
A local digital health startup quietly closed a new funding round to grow its insomnia treatment platform.
Noctem Health raised $1.4 million in early March, which will go toward expanding its commercial growth.
Meanwhile, investment is flowing into Pittsburgh from Pennsylvania to expand robotics and AI development in the region.
Carnegie Mellon University’s newly unveiled $100 million robotics center is already anchoring major investment from the state, and it’s set to host a high-profile AI pitch competition during the NFL Draft this spring.
Read on for the latest money moves shaping Pittsburgh’s startup scene.
Noctem raised $1.4M for insomnia care
Noctem Health, a provider of a remote monitoring tool for insomnia treatment, raised $1.46 million, according to a recent filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
“We plan to use the funds to accelerate commercial growth,” founder and CEO Anne Germain told Technical.ly. She declined to share specifics while the company formally closes the funding round.
The March 2 filing indicates the company has secured equity funding from 12 investors, with a first date of sale on Feb. 20.
It can be difficult for people with insomnia to find the right treatments, according to Germain, but Noctem’s platform helps patients avoid referrals or long waitlists by giving their current healthcare providers tools to upskill in behavioral health medicine.
Launched in 2017 and named after the Latin word for night, Noctem gives healthcare providers personalized, evidence-based sleep treatments for their patients and ways to track their progress.
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) labels Noctem one of its startup success stories. The company began as university research, working with US veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq who were living with sleep problems related to post-traumatic stress disorder.
The company has previously received funding from grants and accelerator programs, like $1.23 million from the Department of War and $400,000 Innovation Works’ AlphaLab Health, according to PitchBook.
PA awards $1.5M grant for physical AI accelerator
Backed by a $1.5 million state grant, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) will build a 25,000-square-foot physical AI hub inside its new Robotics Innovation Center (RIC) at Hazelwood Green.
Physical AI integrates artificial intelligence software into hardware to perform tasks in the real world, like self-driving cars or humanoid robots. Pittsburgh is already a hub for this kind of work, home to companies like Skild AI and Gecko Robotics that have built national profiles in the field.
CMU’s new accelerator “will connect the dots between the cutting-edge work that’s done by CMU students and researchers with leading startups that want to take that technology out of the classroom and apply it in the real world,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said at the RIC’s unveiling ceremony last week.
Funded through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, the space will be used by CMU-affiliated corporate teams, startups and researchers to collaborate on projects. The new build will include rapid-prototyping labs, electronics workstations, wet labs for biorobotics and environmental robotics, a motion-capture lab and a one-acre outdoor environment for drone operations or agricultural experiments.
Design work is scheduled to begin this year, with completion expected in 2028.
“We are proud to build on our partnership in turning state investment into jobs and economic growth for Western Pennsylvania and the commonwealth,” CMU president Farnam Jahanian said in a prepared statement. “This investment will empower entrepreneurs, attract world-class talent, and reinforce our region’s leadership in robotics, AI and advanced manufacturing.”
$275k plus $1M AWS credits up for grabs at NFL Draft
Pittsburgh is set to draw national attention during the NFL Draft, and the second Forge AI pitch competition is looking to capitalize on that spotlight.
The competition will be featured at an invitation-only showcase event at CMU’s RIC on April 22, hosted by CMU in partnership with the Steelers and local advocacy group the AI Strike Team.
Companies deploying AI in real-world environments will have an opportunity to win $275,000 in investment capital, led by Pittsburgh-based investor Magarac Venture Partners, and $1 million in AWS compute credits.
Competition judges will include former Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban, executive chairman of Dick’s Sporting Goods Ed Stack and former Pittsburgh Steeler Will Allen, among others. Gov. Shapiro will also be in attendance. Special consideration will be given to companies that commit to establishing a “meaningful presence” in Pennsylvania, according to a recent press release.
Manufacturing tech startup Surface Design Solutions won $100,000 and a year of free office space at the inaugural competition last year.
More money moves:
The Small Business Administration pledged $600,000 to the nonprofit Catalyst Connection to help integrate more local manufacturers into the data-center supply chain.