New mechanism allows Launch NY to inject funding into two Buffalo startups (New York: fit in)

[ckhthankgod]

Launch NY has made four investments out of a new funding mechanism – its for-profit seed fund – which could have a big impact for Buffalo-based entrepreneurs with fledging business ideas.

Launch has been investing out of an early-stage nonprofit venture funded by philanthropic dollars for several years. That fund was recently recapitalizedwith a major grant from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation.

But the most recent investments are something different. They come from a network of private, accredited investors who respond to calls for individual deals.

Why is this important? Because Launch NY has proven a prolific backer of early-stage startups, injecting funds into 35 startup companies from Buffalo to Albany in the past two years. That is a positive firehose of activity compared to the otherwise slow drip of funding-related startup activity here.

The four investments include two from Buffalo:

• EagleHawk One, a Buffalo-based startup that offers aerial roofing surveys via drone. EagleHawk had previously received a Launch NY investment from its nonprofit fund.

• Willow, a startup in Buffalo that has created an online decision-making tool for families who need assisted living facilities.

The other two companies come from Ithaca. They include gardening e-commerce platform ShrubBucket and clean energy startup Ecolectro.

Source: https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/...to-inject.html

[ckhthankgod]

Information on one of the Buffalo area companies and Launch NY...

EagleHawk One: https://eaglehawkllc.com/

https://launchny.org/


Also, a similar article...

More local startup companies are receiving a financial boost from Launch NY.

The organization invests out of two pots of money, including a nonprofit fund backed by philanthropic sources and a for-profit investment vehicles that funnels money from its network of private investors into local startup deals.

The latest batch of Launch NY investments come from the nonprofit fund, which invests between $25,000 and $100,000 per deal. They include:

• AKE Games, run by Stephen Witt, which has developed a bottle flipping game.

• MemoryFox, led by co-founders Chris Miano, Lindsay Macaluso and Trip Higgins III, is a social media management platform that helps companies capture and share meaningful content.

• Open Bottle, founded by Dan Roycroft and Scott Steffan, offers an app that allows customers to reserve single glasses of high-quality wine at restaurants.

Source: https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/...om-launch.html

Another related article...

Five student teams are finalists for the region's premiere collegiate entrepreneurship competition.

The teams will make their final pitches starting at 4 p.m. on April 10 in a finale event for the University at Buffalo's Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition at UB's Center for the Arts.

The winner of the competition gets $25,000 in seed funding and $27,000 of in-kind services from Colligan Law LLP, Lumsden and McCormick LLP, People Plan from HR Foundations, the UB Office of Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships, the Western New York Incubator Network and North Forest Office Space.

The teams include:

• ColdSpace, from students Abidul Alam and Elijah Tyson, which is developing on-demand refrigerated food storage compartments for health-conscious and consumer students.

• Immunaeon, led by students Adam Utley, Kaitlyn Dykstra, James Cooper, Daniel Rera and Scott Portwood, which provides basic cryopreservation services for healthy clients.

• Livandala, from student Ogechi Ogoke, which offers a patient-specific cell therapy used as an alternative to orthotopic liver transplantation.

• Surgino, from students Jinwei Hu, Tatiana Boyko, Stephen Chiang and Thomas Langan, which is developing a device that measures fascial tension, assisting in the closure of surgical incisions and improving abdominal surgery outcomes.

• Tivvy, from student Jon Goodrum, a location-based messaging app that facilitates real-life interactions between users.

Source: https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/...r-panasci.html

[ckhthankgod]

Launch NY receives $300k from Economic Development Administration for New Investor Network