Draft Pittsburgh tech startups with Innovation Works and the Pittsburgh Technology Council.
With the NFL Draft coming to Pittsburgh April 23-25, the city’s football roots will be on full display. For decades, Pittsburgh has been building a roster that doesn’t compete on the gridiron. It’s stocked with startups working in AI, robotics, life sciences, manufacturing, and more.
Innovation Works and the Pittsburgh Technology Council are tapping into the draft buzz with Pittsburgh Drafts Innovation, our own draft to define the best of the startup scene. Starting April 6, we’ll reveal one company per weekday through April 17 as first-round picks, each assigned a football position that reflects its role in the region’s tech economy. Follow along here for content on each company and founder to understand their backstory and how they’re changing the future.
The selections are drawn from both Innovation Works’ portfolio and the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s membership — companies with revenue, traction, and stories that tend to stay under the radar outside Southwestern Pennsylvania. That’s the point. Pittsburgh ranked seventh nationally last year in AI and autonomous vehicle venture funding per capita, according to the 14th annual investment report from EY and Innovation Works. The region’s 124 unique companies raised roughly $2.29 billion in 2025, the third-highest annual total on record and the fifth straight year above $1 billion. The pipeline is deep, and the rest of the nation should see what we do.
But the roster isn’t set yet. You can get involved through the People’s Pick submission process. Anyone can nominate a Pittsburgh-area tech company for the second round. The top vote-getters will be featured after the first-round reveals wrap up — a crowdsourced scouting report on the startups the community thinks deserve attention.
Whether it’s a company you work for, one you’ve watched grow, or a team building something you think the rest of the country should know about, this is your chance to put them on the board.