The Robotics Factory adds 5 startups to Accelerate Program’s 2025 cohort

The Robotics Factory, an Innovation Works program designed to create, accelerate and scale robotics startups in the Pittsburgh region, has accepted five companies to its Accelerate program.

The program’s third cohort includes Beyond Reach Labs, OctaPulse, roboLoop, Silly Surfacing, and Space Precision Systems.

New members receive funding, access to facilities

The companies will receive up to $100,000 in pre-seed investment, access to the Robotics Factory’s co-working and production-grade prototyping space, and tailored mentorship from experienced professionals in robotics and business.

“Robotics and automation are this region’s bread and butter, and these five impressive founders show how these foundational technologies apply to more and more industries,” said Kevin Dowling, managing director of the Robotics Factory. “Our team of entrepreneurs is eager to guide Pittsburgh’s next generation of robotics startups and help them evolve into successful companies.”

The Robotics Factory said that participants benefit from the nationally recognized AlphaLab program, which covers essentials like customer and market fit, scaling a hardware business, manufacturing at scale and designing for production. Founders engage regularly with a dedicated team of experts committed to their success.

This year’s cohort includes companies in a wide range of sectors:

• Beyond Reach Labs develops portable, rapidly deployable network and monitoring offerings
• OctaPulse creates advanced technology offerings for sustainable ocean farming and ecosystem monitoring
• roboLoop builds custom robotic offerings for material recovery from electronic waste items
• Silly Surfacing uses an autonomous process to detect, map, and repair potholes
• Space Precision Systems delivers custom space mechanisms regardless of mass, volume, functional or environmental constraints

“Space Precision Systems is eager to join a community of robotics and entrepreneurship experts, and looks forward to supporting our IW-backed colleagues,” said Hahna Alexander, CEO of Space Precision Systems. “The workspace, manufacturer and investor partnerships, SME workshops, and seed funding will be instrumental in accelerating our mission of eliminating valve leaks in the space industry.”

Robotics Factory said two alumni, Cell X Technologies and Aquatonomy, have attracted VC investment and entered their next stage of growth. The Robotics Factory also helps startups grow across its programming. Space Precision Systems and Beyond Reach Labs were residents with the Scale program before joining this year’s cohort. 

“Participating in the residency program enabled us to build and test prototypes outside the university setting, helping us showcase our vision and technical capabilities to win funding through startup competitions,” added Mitchell Fogelson, founder and CEO of Beyond Reach Labs. “Now, as part of the accelerator, I’m excited to take the next step: turning those prototypes into real products that support our customers and advance the design, optimization and simulation of intelligent deployable architectures for both Earth and space applications.”