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Upstate NY founders gathered in Canandaigua, NY on Thursday September 8th to recognize those leading the charge in transforming Upstate NY’s economy through entrepreneurship.
Density received the 2022 deal of the year award for unicorn valuation and contributions to downtown Syracuse.
Density raised a $125MM Series D led by Kleiner Perkins which valued the company at $1.05 Billion. This award is in recognition of the founders’ success in growing Density from an idea to a unicorn valuation. The company has doubled down on its commitment to downtown Syracuse by turning an abandoned building into its manufacturing and R&D hub. Steve VonDeak accepted the award on Density’s behalf.
TCG Player received the 2022 More Good Jobs Award for bringing hundreds of high growth job opportunities to Central New York.
Chedy Hampson has built TCG Player into a fixture of Syracuse’s tech economy, creating 700 jobs that range across all disciplines. The recent eBay acquisition cements the company’s future and its continued commitment to growing in Central New York.
Dan Miner and Christine Tate were honored with Community Catalyst Awards.
The Community Catalyst awards recognize individuals who are playing critical roles in promoting and sustaining emerging founders in their community.
Dan Miner moved back to Buffalo in 2012 and started to chronicle a new generation that was embracing entrepreneurship and creativity. Over the past decade, Dan followed hundreds of founders and wrote thousands of articles, all telling the stories of companies, their founders’ visions, and daily successes and struggles.
Christine Tate is active in the Upstate New York startup community through various channels. Over the past decade Christine has mentored scores of entrepreneurial students at RPI and other capital region colleges, created new physical space for founders in Troy, and hosted the Startup Tech Valley meetups. Christine has also played a lead role in building UVC’s region wide UNY50 group of entrepreneur leaders.