Skip to content

Tech 50: 2017 Category Leaders and Finalists Propel Technology Excellence

The Pittsburgh Technology Council’s annual Tech 50 Awards recognize southwestern Pennsylvania’s most successful, innovative, and thought-leading technology companies, which have become the backbone of Pittsburgh’s innovation economy.

The awards represent transformative technology centers of excellence with tech companies at all stages of growth. Tech 50 also recognizes the region’s top tech executive.

“Each year, the Council canvasses the region for the most distinguished public and private technology-oriented companies, and the Tech 50 awards honor those companies that demonstrated the strongest growth and advancement in product or sales success, corporate citizenship, job growth and retention, industry achievement and innovative product or technology,” said Audrey Russo, President and CEO, Pittsburgh Technology Council.

“We are especially excited to announce the category winners at the awards gala this fall. This year, we are taking a closer look at how the finalists are propelling technology excellence, not only in Pittsburgh but around the world. It is truly a night to honor our region’s technology companies and the contributions they have made to our economic vitality.”

Check out pics from the event right here.

[caption id="attachment_2828" align="alignleft" width="198"]Tech 50 Ethical Intruder Ethical Intruder[/caption]

Solution Provider of the Year: Consulting and IT Services

Tech 50 Category Leader: Ethical Intruder Ethical Intruder is a local Pittsburgh business that offers business driven, technology driven or user driven Cyber Security services and evaluations.  Their services range from their Cyber Liability Maturity Model (CLMM) business roadmap which assists companies that are looking for a plan when it comes to cyber security or compliance requirements, to their vulnerability and penetration testing services which helps to validate existing organizational security, and their user based phishing and social engineering engagements and awareness programs to lower the risk of cyber-attacks brought on by unintended user and employee actions. Finalists:
  • Accion Labs
  • Continuum Managed Services
  • IQ Inc.
  • LunaMetrics
  • Plus Consulting
  • SDLC Partners
  • Summa
[caption id="attachment_2829" align="alignleft" width="254"]Tech 50 Autosoft Autosoft[/caption]

Culture Leader of the Year

Tech 50 Category Leader: Autosoft Autosoft, Inc. is a dealership management system (DMS) software company that has served the retail automotive industry for more than 29 years. Autosoft provides world-class support and an innovative product suite, resulting in maximum efficiency and profitability for any size dealership. Finalists:
  • Confluence
  • Excel4Apps
  • Summa
  • Tier1 Performance Solutions
[caption id="attachment_2830" align="alignleft" width="241"]Tech 50 Schell Games Schell Games[/caption]

Innovator of the Year: Consumer Products

Tech 50 Category Leader: Schell Games Schell Games is the largest full-service education and entertainment game development company in the United States. Since 2002, we’ve worked to create interactive experiences that engage and inspire players of all ages across all platforms. Finalists:
  • Diamond Kinetics
  • Philips
  • Simcoach Games
  • UPMC Health Plan
[caption id="attachment_2831" align="alignleft" width="251"]Tech 50 Cybergenetics Cybergenetics[/caption]

Solution Provider of the Year: Innovative Technology

Tech 50 Category Leader: Cybergenetics Cybergenetics is a Pittsburgh-based bioinformation company. Its flagship TrueAllele® technology interprets DNA data from crime scene evidence. Their technology is used worldwide as the sole objective solution to previously unsolvable DNA mixtures. In nearly 500 cases, Cybergenetics has provided forensic support for crime labs, police, and attorneys. In a 2009 conviction, TrueAllele identified a murderer through his victim’s fingernails. In a 2016 exoneration, TrueAllele helped free an innocent man after 24 years in prison. Around the globe, communities become safer and more just with Cybergenetics scientific computers. Finalists:
  • 412 Food Rescue
  • ANSYS, Inc.
  • GrayMatter
  • JazzHR
  • LUMA Institute
  • Savvior
  • Truefit
[caption id="attachment_2832" align="alignleft" width="310"]Tech 50 M*Modal M*Modal[/caption]

Innovator of the Year: Health IT

Tech 50 Category Leader: M*Modal M*Modal is a leading healthcare technology provider of advanced clinical documentation solutions, enabling hospitals and physicians to enrich the content of patient electronic health records (EHR) for improved healthcare and comprehensive billing integrity. As one of the largest clinical transcription service providers in the U.S., with a global network of medical editors, M*Modal also provides advanced cloud-based Speech Understanding™ technology and data analytics that enable physicians and clinicians to include the context of their patient narratives into electronic health records in a single step, further enhancing their productivity and the cost-saving efficiency and quality of patient care at the point of care. Finalists:
  • Careform
  • Health-Monitoring
  • Iagnosis, Inc.
  • MedRespond, LLC
  • Net Health
[caption id="attachment_2833" align="alignleft" width="285"]Tech 50 Carmell Therapeutics Carmell Therapeutics[/caption]

Innovator of the Year: Life Sciences

Tech 50 Category Leader: Carmell Therapeutics Carmell Therapeutics Corporation is a privately owned biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative Plasma-based Bioactive Materials (PBMs). Carmell has created a unique and highly innovative patented technology based on these PBMs, which contain a concentration of natural regenerative factors that promote healing, reduce complications, and lead to healthcare savings. Founded in 2007 as a spin out from Carnegie Mellon University, Carmell’s vision is to be the leading biotechnology company focused on improving and accelerating the healing process across various aspects of medicine with large unmet needs and where Carmell’s technology can be successfully applied. Finalists:
  • Better Body Image Corporation
  • Cook Myosite
  • Foundation Radiology
  • Omnicell, Inc.
[caption id="attachment_2834" align="alignleft" width="313"]Tech 50 Mine Safety Appliance Mine Safety Appliance[/caption]

Innovator of the Year: Manufacturing – The Kurt J. Lesker III Award for Excellence

Tech 50 Category Leader: MSA The Safety Company Established in 1914, MSA – The Safety Company is the global leader in the development, manufacture and supply of safety products that protect people and facility infrastructures. Many MSA products integrate a combination of electronics, mechanical systems and advanced materials to protect users against hazardous or life-threatening situations. The company's comprehensive product line, including self-contained breathing apparatus, fixed gas and flame detection systems, portable gas detection instruments, industrial head protection products, fire and rescue helmets, and fall protection devices, is used by workers around the world in a broad range of markets. Finalists:
  • BoXZY
  • Hänel Storage Systems
  • IAM Robotics
  • Interphase Materials
  • Optimus Technologies
[caption id="attachment_2835" align="alignleft" width="235"]Tech 50 Skycision Skycision[/caption]

Start-Up of the Year

Tech 50 Category Leader: Skycision The average U.S. farmer loses six percent of their annual yield to undetected threats in their fields that come in the form of pest, disease, blight, water and heat stress. Skycision provides a world-class decision support technology to farmers that uses aerial imagery collected by drone and satellite combined with field data to help farmers identify threats and remedy them before they impact their bottom line. Growers leveraging the solution see enhanced yield and reduction of costs in labor, fertilizers and pesticides. Finalists:
  • Angler Labs
  • Ariel Precision Medicine
  • ForAllSecure
  • Forest Devices
  • PECA Labs
  • Small Change
[caption id="attachment_2836" align="alignleft" width="306"]Tech 50 Nathan Martin, Deeplocal Nathan Martin, Deeplocal[/caption]

CEO of the Year

Tech 50 Category Leader: Nathan Martin, Deeplocal Named “Willy Wonka with a toolkit from Mythbusters,” by Forbes magazine, Nathan Martin is the founder and CEO of innovation studio Deeplocal. Nathan isn’t your typical CEO: a former hardcore singer and artist, in 2006 he spun Deeplocal out of an art and technology lab at Carnegie Mellon University. He has become a globally recognized leader of innovation in advertising, redefining the agency model, and presenting around the world from Cannes to Cape Town. In the last decade, Nathan has grown Deeplocal’s portfolio to include award-winning work for some of the world’s most celebrated brands—including Google, Netflix, Spotify, Lyft, and Nike. Finalists:
  • Luis von Ahn, Duolingo
  • Jim Gillespie, GrayMatter
  • Ted Teele, Touchtown
  • Jessica Trybus, Simcoach Games