Super Bowl LIX is coming, with a rematch of the 2023 Super Bowl, when the Philadelphia Eagles narrowly lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. Technical.ly was born in the heart of Eagles Country (Go Birds!), so we asked: What if, instead of football, Philly and Kansas City competed in a “Super Bowl” of economic development and innovation? (Gif via Giphy.com)We went to our proprietary Technical.ly Map of Innovation Ecosystems and put the two cities head to head in the six different categories used to determine the Technical.ly Innovation Index.Overall, Philly (10.57)  has a higher Innovation Index than Kansas City (1.38), but when you look at the six individual innovation areas, it’s a much closer matchup:The Innovation Index, explainedTechnical.ly launched the Innovation Index Map in December 2024 to compare ecosystems all over the United States, using six data sets: Institutional RD spending, ecosystem value, ease of doing business, software development employment concentration, trend in economic mobility and relative cost of living. The lowest Innovation Index on our map is Omaha, Nebraska, with 0.25. The highest index, by far, is San Jose, California, with 222.36.Institutional RD spending — winner: PhiladelphiaKC: 77.2, Philly 99.8This number is the percentile of RD expenditure by top institutions in the region, via the National Science Foundation. While Kansas City’s 77.2% expenditure by Missouri University of Science and Technology could be worse, Philly’s expenditure is in line with the bigger innovation hubs at nearly 100%. Philly’s top institution, The University of Pennsylvania, had the third-highest RD expenditures in 2022 and 2023.Ecosystem Value — winner: PhiladelphiaKC: 5.21, Philly: 91.6This number refers to the total value of exits and startup valuations in the region as calculated by the Startup Genome Project in billions of US dollars. No competition here — Philly blows Kansas City out of the water when it comes to ecosystem value, as KC tops out at just over $5 billion, compared to just over $90 billion for Philly, including digital human resources platform Lluna’s acquisition by startup The Best Answer.Ease of doing business — winner: PhiladelphiaKC: 0.70. Philly: 0.89This is the percentile ranking of the region’s primary city, as determined by the Doing Business North America study at Arizona State University

Decrypt’s Art, Fashion, and Entertainment Hub. Discover SCENESince gracing the cover of the New York Times, Pudgy Penguins have been on a rollercoaster ride. Originally a cute profile picture NFT collection, Pudgy Penguins endured the ousting of its founder before finding mainstream success, with licensed toys landing on the shelves of Walmart and Target stores nationwide.Launched amid the NFT boom in 2021, the collection and its ecosystem of companions has become the face of Web3, garnering millions of social impressions and exploding beyond the relatively small sector of crypto participants on X (formerly known as Twitter).Here’s everything you need to know about Pudgy Penguins.What are Pudgy Penguins?A collection of 8,888 flightless bird NFTs, Pudgy Penguins first launched in July 2021, selling out shortly after launch for a price of 0.03 ETH, or around $90 at the time, according to data from NFT Price Floor.The collection quickly gained acclaim, gracing the cover of the New York Times in August 2021 after columnist Kevin Roose shared his experience in “joining the Huddle.”In just a few months after its mint, the collection held a floor price, or the lowest listed asset on the marketplace, of more than $6,000 according to NFT Price Floor. That price would dip towards $1,000 through the next six months amid the subsiding of NFT mania and some unrest within its community, leading to the ousting of its founder and a leadership turnover.All change at the topRestlessness in the Pudgy Penguins community grew throughout the early months of 2022 in part due to criticisms of its project founder, Cole Villemain, who goes by ColeThereum on X.Allegations of mismanagement and more led to distrust between the founding team and the community.As displeasure with the team grew increasingly loud, the project held a community vote which led to the removal of Villemain and takeover offers from the community.One offer came from Netz Capital's Luca Netz, who publicly offered around $2.5 million, or 750 ETH, in January 2022.750 ETH for @Pudgy_Penguins by the NFT degenerates. Make your move @ColeThereum — Luca Netz 🐧✳️ (@LucaNetz) January 6, 2022Months later, that offer was accepted and Netz purchased the project and its intellectual property for the amount, tweeting that he was “looking forward to spreading love.”After Netz’ acquisition, the Pudgy Penguins floor price quickly rebounded, jumping from about $4,300 on the day of the announcement to $8,900 three days later.Under new leadership, the project quickly installed a new roadmap and began the journey to establishing itself as a leading NFT project.Pudgy Penguins: from NFTs to toysOne of the first major initiatives led by the new leadership was launching a Pudgy Toys line.The project announced its intentions to work with PMI Toys in July 2022, for which it licensed Pudgy Penguin NFTs via its OverpassIP project, allowing holders to directly benefit from the usage of their Pudgy NFTs in commercial endeavors such as the physical toys.The first toyline launched in May 2023 and could be purchased directly on Amazon, but it later expanded to include major retail partnerships with Walmart, Target, Walgreens, and more.Just a year after rollout, Pudgy Toys had sold more than 750,000 units, according to the company, bringing in more than $10 million in the process.Building the Pudgy Penguins brandSince Netz took over the Pudgy Penguins have been hard at work to reach as many eyeballs around the world as possible and proliferate the brand.One major focus for Pudgy Penguins has been in growing its social media channels to reach more consumers. The project had around 100,000 Instagram followers in July 2022, but it has since increased that following to 1.7 million as of January 2025 while amassing more than 39 billion GIF shares, according to data from GIPHY.Efforts to spur the brand even further were buoyed when it raised $9 million in 2023 shortly after signing with talent agency WME.Since that time, it’s also gone on to notch collaborations with brands like PEZ, CD Castellon, and Last Crumb (as well as MYRIAD, the prediction market from Decrypt’s parent company DASTAN).PENGU: The Pudgy Penguins tokenIn November 2024, the project announced it would launch an ecosystem token on Solana as a way to better align incentives between the brand and its fans