\u201cThere\u2019s lots of activities that you can do to activate local capital, and sure we will continue to try and do those things,\u201d Dalton told Technical.ly, \u201cbut I do really think one of the big missing things for this ecosystem is the connection to the external markets in a meaningful way \u2014 a meaningful bridge for those founders who might not know how to reach it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/alex-dalton-1-scaled.jpeg\")
Alex Dalton (Courtesy)<\/p>\n
TiE<\/a> has more than 60 regional chapters in over a dozen countries, with some 4,000 charter members who are also active investors, according to Dalton.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pittsburgh founders have long cited access to external capital<\/a> as a major barrier to building a successful startup in the ecosystem. While the $25,000 grant isn\u2019t directly available as a source of funding for startups, Dalton says building out the network will ultimately lead to more connections and, eventually, investments for early-stage founders.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dalton plans to host outside and local TiE charter members during Pittsburgh\u2019s Tech<\/a> and StartUP<\/a> week (Sept. 10 to 18), offering tours of local robotics labs and Discovery Day<\/a>, as well as facilitating connections to local companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can build something around this and do it for the next 10 years, I think that is how you begin to move the needle for an ecosystem like Pittsburgh,\u201d Dalton said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n