Add one more asset to the region’s growing cache of entrepreneurial resources. Earlier this month, Pittsburgh’s largest and most-active seed-stage investor, Innovation Works (IW), officially opened the doors of its AlphaLab program on East Carson Street in the South Side. With the launch of AlphaLab, IW selected six promising teams of entrepreneurs to participate in an intensive, five-month-long program that will provide all of the essentials for rapid product development and entrepreneurial success out of the gate.

“With AlphaLab, we wanted to create a unique program aimed at the software, Internet and gaming space,” said Jim Jen who is heading up the AlphaLab program for Innovation Works. “We are focused on companies that can make significant progress in a five-month time frame with an investment of $25,000.”

IW tailored the AlphaLab program specifically to help technologists launch new software and Internet-based companies in fast-growing sectors, including Web applications, gaming and mobile. Software startups comprise the majority of Innovation Works’ investment portfolio while also making up the largest segment of overall venture capital investment as well.

In addition to the 25K Innovation Works will invest in each company selected to participate in AlphaLab, IW will also provide free office space for each company to develop its product in a collaborative environment, invaluable relationships with market-tested advisors, entrepreneurial mentors and industry experts, as well as access to a community of peers facing the same challenges on a daily basis.

“A unique aspect of AlphaLab is the community that the entrepreneurs are a part of while developing and testing their products,” Rich Lunak, President and CEO of Innovation Works explained. “At the end of the AlphaLab cycle, it is our goal for each company to have a user-tested, working version of their product in hand, a business plan and a pitch for potential investors.”

Innovation Works has assembled an impressive list of industry experts to act in advisory roles to the entrepreneurs developing their products in AlphaLab . The advisory committee is comprised of local entrepreneurial CEOs and leading technologists, leaders in Pittsburgh’s venture capital community, as well as nationally-renowned industry experts on emerging technologies.

Chris Shipley, an expert on emerging technologies based out of Silicon Valley, agreed to participate as an advisor because she believes AlphaLab will create a valuable community for entrepreneurs in Pittsburgh, which will in turn produce successful companies. Shipley, a Pittsburgh native and the Executive Director of DEMO - the premier national conference for debuting emerging technologies, brings a unique and invaluable perspective to the AlphaLab entrepreneurs.

“I spend a lot of time traveling around the country visiting different cities and entrepreneurial communities,” Shipley said. “What I’ve noticed is that communities that are more vibrant than others have specific resources in place to connect entrepreneurs with one another.

“I think this is a real advantage to what is happening in Pittsburgh with AlphaLab,” she continued. “By bringing people together who are on a common path of entrepreneurship, the program creates a valuable entrepreneurial community. From what I’ve seen of Pittsburgh’s entrepreneurial community, I think there is a lot of great talent in Pittsburgh and I’m excited to contribute to building upon the community that I grew up in.”

Sean Ammirati, Co-Founder and Vice President of Business Development and Product Management at Pittsburgh-based startup mSpoke, joined on as an advisor to bring his own personal experiences to fledgling entrepreneurs. Additionally, as an influential technology news blogger, he is a thought leader on next generation Web-based technology trends.

Ammirati believes the AlphaLab model works particularly well with the current entrepreneurial climate emerging around Internet-based technologies. “One key concept behind the evolution of the ‘Web 2.0’ niche is the increasing ability to attract capital to efficiently start and develop Internet companies. Put another way, the combination of numerous open source technology platforms and utility computing have empowered Internet entrepreneurs to grow companies much quicker and with significantly fewer resources than was possible 10 years ago.

“As it has become clearer how capital-efficient Internet entrepreneurs can be – especially in the early stages – more and more institutional seed-stage funding sources have emerged similar to AlphaLab,” Ammirati continued. “Interestingly, Innovation Works has a history of doing seed-stage institutional investing making AlphaLab a logical, yet very important next step of this heritage.”

The AlphaLab community extends beyond just participants and advisors – anyone who is interested in joining the AlphaLab community can become a fan of AlphaLab through its Facebook page or on the AlphaLab Web site: www.iwAlphaLab.org.

“People can sign up to be a part of the alpha-stage test group that will be testing the products being developed by AlphaLab companies,” Lunak added. “Through AlphaLab, we hope to enhance the vibrant information technology community in Pittsburgh by adding to its critical mass and forward momentum.”