After moving her startup to Philly for better opportunities, founder Celine King will now get a chance to represent the city on a world stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her company GreenIRR<\/a>, a platform that tracks emissions, fuel consumption and vehicle performance in the trucking industry, won this year\u2019s Philadelphia Startup World Cup<\/a> last Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPhilly does have some \u2026 badass tech, and is the real deal.\u201d<\/p>\n Celine King, greenirr<\/p>\n King plans to put the $25,000 grand prize toward the company\u2019s European patent and will attend the global Startup World Cup<\/a> competition in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an honor to represent not just the Philly tech scene,\u201d King said, \u201cbut the Philly startup scene on a global stage and show them that Philly does have some \u2026 badass tech, and is the real deal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Originally from Philly, King recently moved her company here from New York. Being in a bigger ecosystem meant there were more opportunities, but it also felt hypercompetitive, she said. She found herself fighting against more mature startups for the same wins, and it didn\u2019t feel beneficial to the company.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since moving back, King has been able to build consistent business relationships that helped spur growth, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re able to work more closely with the same people, seeing the same faces,\u201d King said. \u201cI feel like everyone has a vested interest geographically, which is something that I\u2019ve never experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n And these efforts have proven successful this year. The company recently closed a $2 million round<\/a> and won PACT\u2019s Startup Sprint pitch competition<\/a> during Philly Tech Week.\u00a0<\/p>\n Over the next 18 months, the company will be focused on getting customers to use the technology throughout their supply chain, proving that it works at scale, according to King.<\/p>\n \u201cEven on the business side, our traction\u2019s really taking off, and it feels really good,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n A bigger network for Philly\u2019s next generation of startups\u00a0<\/p>\n 2026 is the third consecutive year that Philadelphia has participated<\/a> in the Startup World Cup program, led by the city\u2019s Department of Commerce.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sonura<\/a>, which is creating a beanie for NICU babies that blocks out harsh noises and allows parents to talk to their baby, took home the $10,000 second-place prize.\u00a0<\/p>\n Third place and $5,000 went to Mexar<\/a>, a medtech startup developing a wearable device that lowers core temperature, with the goal of preventing heat-related deaths.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0Six additional companies pitched:\u00a0<\/p>\n Siah Labs<\/a>\u2019 platform allows business owners to track institutional knowledge and create a succession plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n Animal behavior data platform AgriGates<\/a> is working to provide insights to farmers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Earable Intelligence<\/a> developed a wearable system to track seizure activity and produce reports for healthcare providers.\u00a0<\/p>\n FlowEHR<\/a> is an electronic health record system specifically for the dermatology space that helps automate providers\u2019 tasks.\u00a0<\/p>\n Snaprefund\u2019s<\/a> platform helps insurance workers pay insurance claims digitally.\u00a0<\/p>\n Phyll<\/a> is collecting footage from existing cameras to identify infrastructure repairs in municipalities.\u00a0<\/p>\n Going into this year\u2019s program, the goal was to provide more growth opportunities to the top 10 companies, Tempest Carter, director of strategic technology initiatives for the city\u2019s Department of Commerce, told Technical.ly.\u00a0<\/p>\n Carter put together a stakeholder dinner for the founders, judges, local investors and other tech ecosystem leaders before the pitch competition, to get the founders more face time with people who could help their startups, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey were able to share their story, engage with each other, and figure out who in that room could really help them grow without the hot lights on them,\u201d Carter said.\u00a0<\/p>\n She also hosted an alumni breakfast for past pitch competition participants with the goal of putting them in front of Ben Franklin Technology Partners again, now that they\u2019ve made progress, she said. In the future, she\u2019d like to include other investment firms as well.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n For the next competition, Carter would like to bring in more stakeholders from different sectors so the founders can connect with potential partners without having to look outside the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n Companies that have participated in the pitch competition in past years have gone on to see success. FSH Tech, which pitched in the first year, just raised $20 million<\/a>. Carbon Reform, which won the first year<\/a>, raised $5.5 million<\/a> after pitching at the global competition.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOftentimes you\u2019ll hear, Philly doesn\u2019t have the talent, Philly doesn\u2019t have the type of founder that makes unicorns. There\u2019s no capital here,\u201d Carter said. \u201cEvents like this shatter those notions.\u201d<\/p>\n