The 2024 Philadelphia Venture Report, developed by the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technology (PACT) in collaboration with PitchBook, highlighted the Philadelphia region’s growth in startup exit activity and early-stage investment. The report identified Penn as a key contributor to Philadelphia’s status as a leading hub for life sciences venture funding, and several Penn startups were featured for their recent successes, including:
EpiVario, co-founded by Shelley Berger, PhD, the Daniel S. Och University Professor with appointments in Penn Medicine and Penn Arts & Sciences, and Phillip Mews, a former graduate student in the Berger Lab, is developing neuroepigenetic modulators to treat memory related addiction and psychiatric disorders. The company was recognized for raising $1.5 million to date and securing two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) federal grants.
GEMMA Biotherapeutics, founded by James Wilson, MD, PhD, the Rose H. Weiss Orphan Disease Center Director’s Professor at Penn Medicine, which exemplifies the region’s strengths in academic excellence and groundbreaking medical research, and its commitment to advancing gene therapies.
Exyn Technologies, co-founded by Vijay Kumar, PhD, the Nemirovsky Family Dean at Penn Engineering, is a pioneer in autonomous drone navigation and an example of Philadelphia’s thriving ecosystem for AI-driven startups.
Read the full report here. Read Technical.ly’s article about the report here.