Best Sustainability Tech Companies in Pittsburgh, United States
The 48 best Sustainability Tech companies in Pittsburgh, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Plextronics.
Our analysis of 84 Sustainability Tech companies
$19.4b in tracked funding; 85% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
Ranked: Best Sustainability Tech companies in Pittsburgh
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Employees | Founder | Tech stack | Web popularity | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plextronics Developer of conductive polymers and inks for electronic printing | $59M | 154 mo ago | 31 | — | — | — | 293 patents Conductive polymers for organic photovoltaics, OLEDs, capacitors, and device encapsulation | — |
| 2 | RedZone Robotics Robotic and software solution for wastewater network monitoring | $53M | 126 mo ago | 76 | Dave Petrosky Chief Executive Officer | WordPress Block EditorElementorWordPress+32 | Top 10M | 100 patents Robotic modular platforms for visual and sensor‑based inspection of underground infrastructure | — |
| 3 | Peptilogics Developer of antibiotics to target MDR bacteria 50Patents top 20%Funding top 23%Innovation top 24%Moat top 32% All 9 signals ▾Patentstop 20% Fundingtop 23% Innovationtop 24% Moattop 32% Talentbottom 49% Techbottom 48% Newsbottom 42% Globalbottom 42% Marketbottom 29% Patents: 83 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 67 filings since 2022 vs 16 in 2017-21 Funding: Raised $42.4M across 13 rounds · 13 rounds over 10 yrs (1.3/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 50/100 | $42M | 9 mo ago | 23 23 → 22 (-4%) | Jonathan Steckbeck Founder | President | CEO | WordPressBugHerdMySQL+25 | Top 50M | 83 patents Antimicrobial peptide therapeutics and AI-driven peptide drug discovery platforms | — |
| 4 | Powercast Provider of wireless power technologies, devices, development kits, and design services | $10M | 232 mo ago | 14 | Joe Walton co-founder | WordPressMySQLPHP+28 | Top 10M | 263 patents Wireless RF power transfer and energy harvesting for battery‑less IoT devices | 1 launch |
| 5 | kWantera Predictive analytics for Power seller and purchases of the wholesale energy market | $10M | 115 mo ago | 7 | Mark DeSantis Co-Founder | — | — | — | — |
| 6 | Conservation Labs Provider of IoT-based water pipeline monitoring solutions | $10M | 29 mo ago | 19 | Mark Kovscek Founder and CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+23 | Top 50M | 51 patents Patents concentrated in transport & manufacturing processes | — |
| 7 | Encentiv Energy Online platform offering energy efficiency incentive solutions | $7M | 66 mo ago | 27 | — | — | — | — | 3 launchs |
| 8 | Crystalplex Develops alloy gradient quantum dots (QDs) for the Optoelectronics industry | $6M | 85 mo ago | 4 | Matt Bootman CEO & President | — | — | 41 patents Nanocrystal quantum dot dispersion and stabilization for optoelectronic devices | — |
| 9 | The Efficiency Network Provider of building energy efficiency management solutions | $6M | 125 mo ago | 29 29 → 59 (+103%) | Rob Campbell Pe President and Co-Founder | SanityTailwind CSSEmotion+8 | Top 50M | — | 1 job opening |
| 10 | Boss Controls Energy management system with smart plugs | $5M | 95 mo ago | 15 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 11 | Clean Robotics Manufacturer of a smart trash bin robot for sorting recyclables from landfill waste | $4M | 38 mo ago | 15 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 12 | Airviz Device for indoor air quality monitoring | $3M | 105 mo ago | — | Shweta Sarode Founder | — | — | 14 patents Indoor air quality sensing, low‑energy ultrafine particle detection, and data analytics | — |
| 13 | Pearl Street Technologies Provider of grid planning solutions | $3M | 16 mo ago | 13 13 → 23 (+77%) | David Bromberg Co-Founder & CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+22 | Top 50M | — | — |
| 14 | HiberSense Premier online platform for direct web slots, offering secure gaming | $775K | 80 mo ago | 5 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 15 | Evoqua Provider of water treatment solutions | $772K | 128 mo ago | 11 | — | Cart FunctionalityOptimizely Content ManagementApple iCloud Mail+24 | Top 5M | — | — |
| 16 | LeanFM Technologies Provider of an AI-driven smart 3D building visualization management platform | $605K | 76 mo ago | 8 | Burcu Akinci Co-Founder & CIO | — | — | — | — |
| 17 | Anactisis Technology solution for recycling of wastes | $375K | 100 mo ago | 2 | Athanasios Karamalidis Co-Founder & Co-CEO | — | — | — | — |
Top 12 Sustainability Tech companies in Pittsburgh
#1
Series B · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · founded 2013 · 23 employees$42.4Mraised▾
Peptilogics has developed antibiotics to target Multi-drug resistant bacteria. The company has developed eCAPS technology to produce novel antibiotics for drug-resistant bacteria. It acts by disrupting the bacterial membrane and inactivating it. It has shown effectiveness against the ESKAPE pathogens, both gram-positive and gram-negative, that cause the majority of resistant hospital-acquired infections.
- Oct 2025Series B$78M
- Jan 2025Grant (prize money)$3.3M
- Aug 2022Grant (prize money)$499.4K
- Sep 2021Grant (prize money)$698.7K
#2
Acquired · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · founded 2018 · 13 employees$2.8Mraised▾
Provider of grid planning solutions
- Mar 2025Grant (prize money)$1.3M
- Mar 2022Seed$2.8M
- Oct 2021Grant (prize money)$340K
- Apr 2020Grant (prize money)$749.9K
#3
Series A · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · founded 2016 · 19 employees$10Mraised▾
Provider of IoT-based water pipeline monitoring solutions. The device can be plugged into the water plumbing system which senses water flow and transmits data over a wifi network. The data is processed using a proprietary machine-learning algorithm in a cloud platform to provide water flow behaviour & detects leakage conditions. Provides a smartphone application that gives water usage reports and alerts the user about water leakages. Can be used in residential properties and restaurants.
- Feb 2024Series A$7.5M
- Dec 2023Seed—
- Aug 2020Seed—
- Apr 2020Seed$725K
#4
Acquired · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · founded 2002 · 31 employees$59.3Mraised▾
Developer of conductive polymers and inks for electronic printing. Its main product is an organic solar cell and OLED lighting system. Its technology is solution processable ink for printed electronics either conductive, photoactive, or semi-conductive. The inks are unable to provide customized solutions.
- Oct 2013Conventional Debt$572.5K
- Jun 2013Series B$2.5M
- Jul 2012Series B$4M
- Apr 2012Conventional Debt$3M
#5
Acquired · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · founded 1987 · 76 employees$53.3Mraised▾
Robotic and software solution for wastewater network monitoring. The robotic solution offered an unmanned sewer inspection robot which has a camera to capture video and can tilt by 360-degrees, an underwater condition assessment unit that uses a sonar platform and multi-sensor for volumetric debris calculation and water level mapping, a multi-sensor inspection technology to perform mid-diameter pipe assessment operations, a synchronized laser and sonar dimension platform hardware for large interceptors and tunnel pipeline assessment and a remotely operated solution for inspection and rehabilitation of large diameter pipes and tunnels. Provides SaaS solution for planning, budgeting, fact-based decisions, integrated inspection, and asset management operations. Can be used for reporting data through charts and graphs. Also offers multi-sensor inspection, 3D engineering report generation, 3D modelling, and pipeline assessment services.
- Jan 2016Series C$6.8M
- Jun 2013Series C$3.2M
- Feb 2012Series C$8.5M
- Sep 2011Series C$25.6M
#6
Funding Raised · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · founded 2007 · 5 employees$25Kraised▾
Provider of hydrocarbon remediation products for industrial, stormwater, and railroad applications. These products remediate oil, fuel, and other liquid petroleum hydrocarbons. Offerings include powder, booms, and socks for use in various applications. These applications include groundwater remediation, machine shops, oil separators, transformers, and rail yards.
- Jul 2025Conventional Debt$25K
#7
Series A · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · founded 2015 · 15 employees$4.5Mraised▾
Manufacturer of a smart trash bin robot for sorting recyclables from landfill waste. It uses advanced robotics and artificial intelligence during the sorting process. The product monitors the waste processed and analyzes the data about recycling. It also provides an online dashboard to view instant waste-related data and enables data to drive waste management decisions. It comes with a monitor which can be integrated for advertisement and corporate communication.
- 2023Series A—
- Oct 2022Grant (prize money)$400K
- Aug 2022Series A$4.5M
- Aug 2021Series A—
#8
Series A · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · founded 2009 · 27 employees$6.9Mraised▾
Online platform offering energy efficiency incentive solutions. It offers a platform for identifying and keeping track of energy efficiency incentives and financing opportunities. It also provides energy audit, project financing, and energy advisory services.
- Jan 2021Series A$2.7M
- Sep 2016Series A$2.4M
- Jun 2016Series A$1.1M
- Mar 2015Seed$75K
#9
Acquired · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · founded 2006 · 7 employees$10Mraised▾
kWantera is an energy analytics company which provides predictive modeling based recommendation engine to power market players, such as Commercial and Industrial electricity consumers and power generators who sell their power in the wholesale energy market. kWantera's predictive engine assists tracks and monitors a million data points to help users in day ahead purchase and sale of power in the exchange. The system provides for the daily optimized bidding strategies through their cloud-based web portal, the HUB, which provides access to market intelligence, data visualization, and energy management tools. It is backed by Ben Franklin Technology Partners.
- Dec 2016Series A$2.8M
- May 2016Series A$813.8K
- Dec 2014Series A$4.4M
- Nov 2012Seed$1.9M
#10
Series A · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · founded 2003 · 4 employees$6.2Mraised▾
Crystalplex works on nanotechnology for wavelength engineering to develop high performance LED lights and displays. The firm develops nanocrystals for photoluminescent, electroluminescent and photovoltaic applications. The nano-illumination technology is capable of yielding light with precisely controlled color temperature and diffusion.
- Jul 2019Conventional Debt$326.1K
- Jun 2019Series A$50K
- Apr 2018Series A$908K
- Oct 2016Series A$2.1M
#11
Seed · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · founded 2012 · 15 employees$5.4Mraised▾
Boss Controls is an Internet of Things (IoT) energy management and controls company. Boss designs, markets, and sells patent pending, cloud-based, WiFi enabled product solutions and software. Their product includes 120V smart plug for smaller loads and 220V smart plug for heavy loads which can measure appliance level consumption. Atmospheres®, their cloud-based platform collects data from smart plugs and provides the web and mobile interfaces data. Boss works with schools and commercial for monitoring and managing energy. They also work with utilities for demand response programs
- Sep 2018Seed$825K
- Oct 2017Seed$120K
- May 2017Seed$250K
- Sep 2016Seed$1.2M
#12
Series A · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · founded 2003 · 14 employees$10Mraised▾
Provider of wireless power technologies, devices, development kits, and design services. The company offers radio frequency, magnetic resonance, and inductive wireless power solutions. It provides antenna design, product design, engineering, and manufacturing services. The company's technologies aim to reduce the need for wires and batteries.
- Mar 2007Series A$10M
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Sustainability Tech coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
How research on Climate Adaptation is moving in the United States
A read on the academic research around Climate Adaptation — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 1,953 United States-affiliated papers.
- Columbia University52
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill43
- Arizona State University42
- Texas A&M University42
- Purdue University West Lafayette35
- Flood myth4→56
- Climate change6→47
- Flooding (psychology)2→23
- Climate resilience1→16
- Flood mitigation2→14
- Flood myth50→178
- Climate change35→155
- Flooding (psychology)18→97
- Resilience (materials science)10→84
- Psychological resilience12→55
- Climate change71→449
- Resilience (materials science)17→139
- Flood myth36→158
- Psychological resilience13→115
- Climate resilience14→92
Where climate adaptation is researched across United States
Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.
Who's filing climate adaptation patents in the United States
United States climate adaptation patent filing is cooling — 28 filings from 19 assignees (2016–2025), led by ILC Dover, Garcia Rogerio, Serralta Denset; annual filings 6→1.
- ILC Dover20
- Garcia Rogerio4
- Serralta Denset4
- Zesty AI2
- Yodock GUY1
- Mckee TONY RAY1
- Ballard Tristan1
- Cooper Matthew1
Common questions
Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.