A decade ago, the Western New York region lacked a complete startup ecosystem, and most in the community didn’t have basic startup vocabulary to even know where to begin.

But a lot has happened in 10 years. Countless forward-thinking people with big ideas have laid the groundwork and built a solid foundation to support our community’s dreamers and doers. With state support and the collaborative work of organizations like the University at Buffalo, Launch NY, 43North and many others, the WNY startup ecosystem has matured into a broad support network that helps countless entrepreneurs start, grow and succeed.

Three years ago, UB added another piece to the puzzle by introducing its Cultivator program to support startups in the earliest stages — from just past ideation to generating first revenue. These are some of the riskiest days in the lifespans of startups, and founders who have access to wealthy, experienced friends and family often tap into them for guidance and investment. Historically, however, women and founders of color often lack extensive networks to assist them through this stage.

Cultivator democratizes access to this critical support by providing WNY-based startups, regardless of previous affiliation to the UB, with nine months of mentorship and investments of $100,000. Of the 67 companies that have participated in the program, more than 70% have been led by underrepresented founders. 

One of the most common causes of startup failure is a lack of market demand. Thus, Cultivator’s mentorship process helps founders substantiate that the problem their product solves is big enough for customers. This helps provide a steady pipeline of risk-reduced, scalable startups for organizations that support startups in the later stages, like 43North.

Each October, the ecosystem and greater WNY community come together for 43North’s annual startup competition, where 16 semi-finalists pitch and five high-growth companies walk away with $1M each.

This year, in 2024, three of the 16 semi-finalists call Buffalo home. All have been supported in various ways by UB’s Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships team, which leads Cultivator and many other initiatives that help build stronger businesses.

Offerwell is an AI-driven platform that streamlines home showings and transactions for real estate agents. Co-founders Simon Mahfoud, a software developer who previously worked at the London Stock Exchange, and Nicholas Giambra, a real estate agent, joined UB’s Cultivator program in October 2022. 

In Cultivator, the team gained mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs who guided them through officially launching Offerwell in May of 2023. A $100,000 investment from Cultivator also helped kickstart the company, which has now raised nearly $1M in a pre-seed round with local angel investors, according to the Buffalo News. Hundreds of agents use the platform, and Offerwell is expanding into several different states across the U.S. 

The team is also headquartered within UB’s Incubator at CBLS in downtown Buffalo and operates tax-free through the state’s START-UP NY program, managed in WNY by UB.

BosonQ Psi is a software venture that specializes in quantum-powered simulations across multiple industries like aerospace and industrial manufacturing. The company, which moved to Buffalo from India, utilizes UB’s high-performance computing infrastructure available to WNY and New York State companies through the Center for Computational Research (CCR).

Access to the CCR has helped the startup perform R&D and product development, according to founder and CTO Rut Lineswala.

The company's CUDA-capable code runs effectively on CCR's industry cluster, which is equipped with NVIDIA A100, LS40, and H100 GPUs. This has significantly accelerated computations and reduced runtimes. Shared scratch memory has also allowed BosonQ Psi team members to access data and results in real-time, streamlining collaboration and handling large datasets efficiently. The CCR's scalable compute power, pre-installed software, and multi-language support have enabled all BosonQ Psi team members to run tasks concurrently, ensuring parallel workflows, collaborative development across programming environments, and efficient resource use.

Like Offerwell, FoodNerd participates in START-UP NY, a state tax incentive program facilitated by UB that supports the growth of innovative companies in WNY.

Employees who work for START-UP NY companies and meet eligibility criteria do not have to pay state income taxes for 10 years. This provides a powerful recruiting tool as startups seek to attract talent in a competitive labor market.  

START-UP NY paved the way for FoodNerd’s new 7,500-square-foot manufacturing facility in Cheektowaga, as companies can only receive tax exemptions when they operate out of a pre-approved location. UB added FoodNerd’s new home to its list of approved START-UP NY facilities in June, allowing FoodNerd and its employees to continue receiving tax benefits.