The Pittsburgh Technology Council (PTC) Tech 50 awards program convened once again to honor southwestern Pennsylvania’s most innovative technology companies.
Yesterday, area business leaders and entrepreneurs took home awards in several different categories during an event at the Wyndham Grand Hotel in Downtown Pittsburgh. Now in its 20th year, the Tech 50 awards recognized innovators in health IT, life sciences, manufacturing, consumer products, consulting services, and other fields.
“The winners and finalists of this year’s Tech 50 really demonstrate the depth and diversity of the Pittsburgh region’s tech industry,” says PTC’s vice president of communications and media Jonathan Kersting.
He adds that winners were chosen based on a variety of factors, including economic contributions such as revenue growth, capital raised, R&D investments and payroll growth. Judges also looked at what differentiated the companies in the marketplace based how they used technology to solve problems.
The language learning software company Duolingo won the distinction of Startup of the Year for their work in education and world affairs. The company recently launched English, German, French and Swedish language courses for Arabic speakers in order to help Syrian refugees find jobs and integrate quickly and successfully into their new European homes.
“Our goal at Duolingo is to help people access better opportunities and improve their lives through education, no matter the situation they find themselves in,” says Duolingo CEO and co-founder Luis von Ahn. “We sincerely hope our efforts made a difference.”
The award also recognizes Duolingo for Schools, a platform the company created to help teachers to track their students’ language learning progress. The app is currently used by more than 300,000 classrooms all over the globe, including several in Pittsburgh.
“Although we’d never worked with schools, thousands of teachers and ministries of education across the world wrote to us saying they were already using Duolingo with their students,” says von Ahn. “We’re thrilled to work hand-in-hand with wonderful teachers looking to improve their students’ futures.”
See a complete list of 2016 Tech 50 award winners and nominees below:
Startup of the Year
Winner: Duolingo
Finalists:
Innovator of the Year–Consumer Product
Winner: YinzCam
Finalists:
Winner: Jesse Schell, CEO of Schell Games
Finalists:
Innovator of the Year–Health IT
Winner: TeleTracking
Finalists:
Innovator of the Year–Life Sciences
Winner: Peptilogics
Finalists:
Solution Provider of the Year–Innovative Technology
Winner: ANSYS
Finalists:
Innovator of the Year–Manufacturing
Winner: Advantech U.S.
Finalists:
Solution Provider of the Year–Consulting and IT Services
Winner: Summa
Finalists:
Culture Leader
Winner: TiER1 Performance Solutions
Finalists:
