Startups at the start of the stadium are strong in 2025, with AI, the social and the environment in force.
We collected data on 74 startups at the start of the stadium in the Atlantic region, via our annual startups Reallist in Philadelphia, DC, Baltimore and Pittsburgh. The data include the number of employees, the funds collected, the configuration of the workplace and university affiliation.
Startups have fallen into eight categories: software, health, greentech, biotechnology, cybersecurity, robotics, fintech and services. Whatever the category of startups, many of them have incorporated AI, such as the detection technology of pervista AI firearms, based on DC, the inspection robotics of the Sahay AI railway based in Philly or the agricultural analyzer of Moss, based in Pittsburgh. No more startups this year use AI on a title or another than not.
Another trend that is obscured by the limited number of categories are three startups of social applications – Spinnr, INPRESS and RYLA – which offer alternatives to large social media platforms like X and Facebook. Reallist startups continue to rely on the Greentech and Healthtech sectors, but the global variety is diversified, including startups that offer everything, from the manufacture of vinyl records to the laundry service.
Right now, however, we are looking at the situation as a whole. Read the continuation for some of the main regional startup trends of this year, by figures.
Hybrid work reigns supreme
This is now a few solid years, industries declaring that distant and hybrid work has come out and 100% in person. Although there are industries of course where employees must be in person, whether it is a wet laboratory or a brick and mortar company oriented consumption, technological jobs generally allow a lot of flexibility.
This flexibility is reflected in the 74 companies at the start of the stage named on reality 2025. Less than 10% – only seven – work entirely in person. These seven startups are distributed in the industry categories, with four in the largest category, software and one in Healthtech, Greentech and Service.
The software, by far, has the most remote work only in the sample, with 17 startups which are only remotely. The two cybersecurity startups are both from a distance, just like some in health care, Greentech, Fintech and Service.
47% of startups are hybrid – the major part of the type of workforce. Hybrid dominated in Healthtech, Greentech, Biotech, Robotics and Fintech.
Do not start so small
Startups in our data set have all been founded in the past three years. Most of them have not yet have a large number of employees, and this is reflected in the data, where 29 of the 74 startups have 0-2 employees and 51, or around 70% of startups, 5 employees or less. But there are a few surprises.
Gemma Biotherapeutics, less than a year old, is an aberrant value, with 80 employees, five times more than startups with the next largest number of employees, Clean Plate Innovations and Roboloop, both Pittsburgh startups founded in 2024 with 15 employees each. Contrary to what we could expect, some of the youngest startups have the most employees, although it should be noted that Gemma, Clean Plate and Roboloop are all affiliated with university.
Overall, approximately a third of Reallist 2025 startups have between 5 and 15 employees.
Accelerators have an impact, but some startups succeed without them
More than twice as many startups have participated in accelerators or incubators, 19 startups replied that they did not do so.
29 Accelerators’ treatment startups collected between $ 100,000 and $ 999,999, compared to five of startups without access.
Where it becomes interesting is when you look at the startups that have raised $ 1 million or more. Eight startups in total exceeded the mark of millions of dollars – and six of them did not participate in accelerators, incubators or pitch competitions. A startup, Gemma Biotherapeutics in Philadelphia, affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, is an aberrant value in several areas, including increases. The biotechnological company, founded in 2024, has raised $ 34 million. It is almost three times more than the next highest increase out of 12 million dollars per hyperspectral corp of DC.
At the same time, many startups are pre-series and have not yet collected funding. 12 Accelerator startups said $ 0 in funding, as are six of the startups without access.
University affiliations are more common on the coast
With so much innovation, not to mention business programming, leaving universities in the region, it is not surprising that almost a third of startups are affiliated with a university.
Philadelphia has the most affiliated startups at the university in our data set, with ten, but Baltimore is up there with nine; Pittsburgh has the least, with four, and DC is in the middle with five.
As indicated with data on the number of employees, startups affiliated to university can grow earlier and have the possibility of raising funds through networking and other university resources.