Philadelphia: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow as a Tech Hub

Since its founding, Philadelphia has been rooted in innovation and technology. Philadelphia’s most famous inventor, Benjamin Franklin, can be credited for much of the city’s innovative history. His forward-thinking mindset and prolific inventions helped propel The City of Brotherly Love to the hub we know today. Grounded in its innovative history, Philadelphia’s technology sector continues to lead the way toward an exciting future.

Philadelphia—also a city with a rich banking history—is an increasingly nurturing environment for capital investment and finance. The city offers many opportunities for startups and entrepreneurs that have game-changing ideas to work with leading venture capitalists and a robust community of angel investors. Philadelphia’s vibrant health care sector, universities and research facilities are helping spur innovation through private grants and government funding, which further attracts potential investment here.

Due to these vast resources, a dynamic and vibrant startup environment has developed throughout the city. What can the city offer to tech and life science employers? Philadelphia offers a skilled workforce, state-of-the-art lab space, and the aforementioned world-class infrastructure. Add to that an outstanding network of incubators, tech meet-up groups, and member associations that unite the community through events, education, mentoring and networking opportunities.

The result? There are some really exciting projects happening throughout the city, from Comcast’s new Innovation Center to U City Square, located near the University of Pennsylvania’s campus. There are also numerous tech and biotech companies in the surrounding region that support the city’s wealth of energy and innovation.

EisnerAmper has been an active member of the Philadelphia tech community through participation in various organizations and events. Sessions at EisnerAmper’s eighth Annual Philadelphia Business Summit on November 8 will explore how businesses use different aspects of innovation to grow in new ways. Our keynote speaker, Comcast’s Karen Dougherty Buchholz, will discuss how she led the charge in developing the new Technology Center. There will also be in-depth panel discussions on automation, new business models and the impact of using innovative thinking to power growth.