Four startups receive combined $1.46 million in funding
With these investments, the Foundation has invested
more than $28 million in 67 social-mission companies
PITTSBURGH (October 7, 2025) – The Richard King Mellon Foundation today announced the
winners of its fourth Social-Impact Investment Pitch Competition.
“Each of these companies is driven to use their businesses to make a positive difference in the Pittsburgh area,” said Sam Reiman, Director of the Richard King Mellon Foundation.
“The Foundation is investing in their success because our communities will be the beneficiaries.”
The winners of the Pitch Competition are:
First place: Untapped Solutions ($515,000 investment) – Untapped Solutions is an AI-powered CRM and workforce navigation platform built to transform how nonprofits, governments, and employers serve communities. Originally inspired by the challenges faced by formerly incarcerated individuals reentering society, Untapped has expanded to support all underserved populations — including those facing homelessness, unemployment, and systemic barriers. The platform empowers caseworkers and social service agencies with AI social worker agents that streamline case management, automate reporting, and free staff to focus on human connection.
“I know what it’s like to reenter society with little more than hope,” said Andre Peart, Founder & CEO of Untapped Solutions. “Today, we’re turning that hope into infrastructure: releasing AI agents directly into communities to help with jobs, services, and life navigation. This isn’t just about technology — it’s about giving nonprofits, governments, and the people they serve real tools to create second chances.”
Second place: Earflo ($415,000 investment) – Earflo’s device treats otitis media with effusion, chronic fluid in the middle ear that causes hearing loss in millions of children under five, presenting a groundbreaking alternative to ear tube insertion, the most common pediatric surgical intervention. The Earflo device is FDA 510(k) pending and on track to debut commercially this year.
“At Earflo, our mission is to give every child the chance to hear clearly and thrive. This investment helps us bring a simple, at-home solution to families, reducing the need for invasive surgeries and making a lasting difference in children’s lives,” said Dr Peter Santa Maria, Earflo Chief Medical Officer & University of Pittsburgh Division Chief of Otology & Neurotology.
Third place: Co-Angler ($315,000 investment) Co-Angler has developed an app-based platform connecting recreational fishers to plan outings together, encouraging outdoor recreation. Co-Angler anticipates that health insurers will offer the platform as a paid benefit, to encourage outdoor recreation and its many health benefits.
“I am thrilled to have the support of the Richard King Mellon Foundation as we continue to grow our platform to better serve anglers across the country by making fishing more affordable, accessible, and fun,” said company founder John Bledsoe.
Fourth place: Zegenex ($215,000 investment) Zegenex has developed a novel topical therapeutic for wound care, with a primary focus on diabetic foot ulcers that affect 20 percent of individuals with diabetes, with the likelihood of severe infection and possible amputation.
“In a healthy body, growth factors naturally awaken to repair wounds quickly and effectively,” said Manush Saydmohammed, who founded the company along with Michael Tsang. “But in diabetes, these healing signals are disrupted by poor blood flow and blocked growth factor signaling pathways. Traditional treatments focus on easing symptoms like boosting circulation, supplementing oxygen, or growth factors, but too often these fall short, leaving wounds vulnerable to infection. That is why we are taking a bold new approach: instead of loading the wounds with missing signals, we are targeting the very inhibitors that accumulate by aging and metabolic disease. By blocking these inhibitors, we unlock the body’s own ability to heal, opening the door to faster recovery and renewed hope.”
The Pitch Competition is part of the Foundation’s Social-Impact Investment Program (SII). The SII program focuses on early-stage investments, to help new companies to develop and launch products or services to advance one or more of the Foundation’s philanthropic programs: Conservation; Economic Development; Economic Mobility; and Health and Well-Being.
Since the SII program launched in 2021, the Foundation so far has invested more than $23 million in 67 companies.
“The Pitch Competition, and the Foundation’s broader Social-Impact Investment program, have become an essential component of Pittsburgh’s growing startup marketplace,” Reiman said.
This is the Foundation’s fourth SII Pitch Competition. This latest competition was announced in November 2024 and the winners were identified earlier this year. The Foundation received 59 submissions in this fourth Pitch Competition.
Unlike most pitch competitions, where the investment goal is to make money for investors, the Foundation’s primary goal with its SII investments is to generate positive social impact.
Companies applying for an SII investment can be located anywhere in the United States – but the positive impact generated by the Foundation’s investment must accrue to the benefit of communities in Allegheny and/or Westmoreland counties. The one exception is businesses aligned with the Foundation’s Conservation program, which is national in scope. The positive impacts from Conservation-focused businesses can be anywhere in the United States.
The Foundation prioritizes startups ranging from pre-seed to Series A. In all instances, the proposed positive social impact should be clear and central to the business plan.
“Our philanthropic goals are ambitious, and we need great ideas from the private sector, along with our traditional nonprofit grantmaking, to achieve our goals at scale,” said Reiman. “There is a new generation of compassionate entrepreneurs who are using their talents to create businesses designed to improve our communities. Too often they are unable to obtain the financial support they need to make their dreams a reality. Our SII program is affirming that their ideas are worthwhile – and that Pittsburgh is an ideal city to launch and grow such companies.”
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About the Richard King Mellon Foundation: Founded in 1947, the Richard King Mellon Foundation is the largest foundation in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and one of the 50 largest in the world. The Foundation’s 2024 year-end net assets were $3.1 billion, and its Trustees in 2024 disbursed more than $155 million in grants and program-related investments. The Foundation focuses its funding on six primary program areas, delineated in its 2021-2030 Strategic Plan.