Despite recent editorial buzz about the entrepreneurial gap between genders widening, opportunities for New York startup founders is on the rise overall, thanks to premiere education, mentorship and funding resources available to entrepreneurs.
Relieving us from unwanted chores, Plowz & Mowz On Demand Snow Plowing and Lawn Mowing gives homeowners back their leisure time in a tap. Founded by Wills Mahoney and Andrew Englander in the winter of 2014, this Central New York Startup has already become a national brand.
After five years of working for Eastman Kodak, “Building really cool stuff that never made it to market,” Paul Travers decided he was better off making sound cards in the basement of his Henrietta home. With his youngest child born that same year, some people thought Travers was off his rocker. He’s now proven how working hard and believing in himself has evolved into this entrepreneur’s Picture Perfect story.
In building startup communities, measuring ecosystem growth and celebrating our achievements over the past five years, Upstate Venture Connect is at the center of what makes our region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem thrive as entrepreneurs continue to build products and companies that improve communities, cities and the world.
The 2015 JazzTech Conference held at the University of Rochester was the first annual event hosted by UR Ventures and Cranberry Capital. In a mission to build relationships and foster innovation throughout Upstate New York, startup founders pursuing ways in which to change the world with advanced technology were brought together with community leaders proven successful in building and funding ventures responsible for strengthening our region’s economy.
Storytelling. We all enjoy storytelling. But what happens when the dwarves are not off to work, the pig with the bricks is embezzling money out of the company, and you have to sell the pumpkin carriage because the wife wants to keep the glass slipper?
So you have an idea for a company perhaps you’ve “always wanted to start,” or you have some cash to invest and are looking for a worthwhile place to multiply your money. Regardless of whether you are an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, or both – you don’t want to give yourself to something that’s – for lack of a better word – crap.
Throughout the years, the major technology companies attracted generations of world class engineers. Plus, the two major universities – University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology –produced phenomenal leaders in medicine, optics, information technology, computer gaming, music and applied arts.
David Borkholder, PhD, CTO and Founder of BlackBox Biometrics®, Inc., does not follow the status quo. When he applied for a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) grant in 2009 to study traumatic brain injury (TBI) at Rochester Institute of Technology, Dr. Borkholder placed his focus on measuring blast overpressure following an explosion, rather than acceleration.
Without ever a thought of failure in her mind, Luanne DiBernardo, along with her brother, Van DiBernardo, revolutionized the world of cooling vests with the launch of Coolture. “I think I have an uncanny ability to forget that I could fail,” laughed DiBernardo, CEO. “There is a missing syntax in my brain that says ‘I cannot do this.'”
