After a year of big moves, the Philly tech community has an opportunity for reflection and celebration.
2025 was full of major deals, new companies and community building in the Philadelphia tech ecosystem. Now, it’s time to look back at everything that happened with the annual Technical.ly Awards.
After refining our six award categories, we gathered your nominations and reviewed the past year of reporting. Then we curated a list of finalists that represent the biggest moments.
Now, we need you to vote for your favorites, or what you think had the most impact on the ecosystem.
The deadline to vote is Nov. 30, and winners will be announced in December.
Read all about this year’s nominees below and submit your votes here.
Product of the Year
The technology product, service or upgrade in your ecosystem this year that had the most impact, either locally or globally.
Programming of the Year
The activation, program or event that made the most difference in the local innovation community this year.
PhilaCon Valley: This meetup group, which started earlier this year, is focused on providing a supportive community for Black, brown, LGBTQ+ and other underrepresented people in the tech ecosystem.
Founders Alley: For the first time this year, Founders Alley brought together founders, investors and creatives for a day of panels, pitches and networking.
SaaS and Tech Growth Meetup: Founder and CEO of Saas Talent Michael Bertoni launched this monthly meetup group to bring together seasoned founders with their early-stage counterparts to share lessons and advice.
The Ground Floor: Venture studio United Effects Ventures took over longtime tech meetup Welcome Wagon and rebranded it after Philly Startup Leaders announced its plans to expand nationally.
Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year
The newcomer — who started their entrepreneurship journey within the past 2 years — making the biggest splash, whether locally, regionally or globally.
Andrew Sayles: As the cofounder and COO of biotech company Livestock Labs, Sayles has been pushing the company forward, including by securing Delaware’s EDGE Grant and The Innovation Space’s Early-Stage Growth Grant.
Meredith Tretiak: Tretiak is embracing the mission of her company Ryla, a community-building platform, by engaging with the Philly community through events like Founder’s Alley, the LionCage pitch competition and Founders Live.
Tom Zhang: Zhang was previously working on a robotic tool that would assist fruit pickers at his startup, Daxo Industries. This spring, he pivoted the company to develop robotic hands and rebranded as Daxo Robotics.
Joshua Freedman and Yi-An Hsieh: The cofounders of medical device company Airalux, Freedman and Hsieh are active in the Pennsylvania biotech community and secured a Small Business Innovation Research grant earlier this year.
Thought Leader of the Year
The person who changed the most minds, inspired the most conversation or added the most knowledge to your ecosystem this year.
Calan the Artist: Following her departure from Ben Franklin Technology Partners in March, Calan is pursuing her creator-focused startup 69&Sunny and spreading the word about how artists and founders can collaborate.
Bill Provine: As CEO of the Innovation Space, an incubator and lab space in Delaware, Provine is working to solidify the Greater Philadelphia Region as a scientific hub through startup support and partnerships.
Robert Christmas: Christmas, COO of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center, is an active advocate online and in the community for scientific research support and building life sciences companies.
Eliza Erickson: After a decade in city government and now working for the commonwealth, Erickson is a champion for government innovation. She is passionate about showing how the government can use technology to make processes easier to manage and interact with.
Power Move of the Year
The strategic move that made the most difference to the local ecosystem.
Spark Therapeutics layoffs: After parent company Roche declared Spark Therapeutics a financial loss, the company laid off almost half of its workforce — and sparked a debate about the future of life sciences in Philadelphia.
HiveBio Accelerator launches first cohort: This new accelerator for underrepresented life sciences founders selected its first cohort.
Dbt Labs merges with Fivetran: Local unicorn and data analytics firm dbt Labs announced a merger with California-based data movement company Fivetran.
FSH Tech secures city contracts: FSH Tech, which creates software platforms for city operations, landed deals with both the City of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh Public Schools to improve workflow structure.
Money Move of the Year
The financial transaction that made the biggest difference in the local ecosystem.
Phenom acquires sixth company: HR tech company Phenom continued to buy out the competition, acquiring its sixth company in five years, a talent platform called EDGE.
Proscia raises $50M: Digital health company Proscia raised $50 million this spring, which it planned to use to support a local hiring push, integrate AI and increase adoption of its platform.
Sojo Industries raises $40M: Sojo Industries announced a $40 million Series B this summer, to increase marketing efforts and improve its technology. Shortly after, the robotics company announced plans to open another facility in Pennsylvania.
City of Philadelphia wins, then loses, $12M Digital Equity Act grant: The federal government terminated an almost $12 million award that would have supported affordable internet, device distribution and digital skills programming, stalling major initiatives.