Situated in each region across the state, these 20 incubators and 10 hot spots provide support such as physical space, shared administrative staff, funding, coaching, mentoring, networking, prototype development and other technical services.

The return on New York’s investment has been significant: nearly 1,000 new jobs, more than 1,000 retained jobs and $552 million in economic gains, according to NYSTAR’s most recent impact report covering January 2022 through June 2023.

But the impact of the state’s incubators and hot spots go well beyond the numbers. Behind the statistics are people: entrepreneurs chasing their dreams, job-seekers landing a new opportunity, and neighbors benefiting from a stronger local economy.

• At its 2023 pitch competition, the Hudson Valley Venture Hub brought together Busie, a Kingston-based software as a service company for the ground transportation industry, with Diadem Capital, a downstate startup specializing in facilitating capital growth for emerging companies. “After meeting, the two founders spoke about Busie’s raise and ideal investor,” said Eliza Edge, director of the hot spot that operates out of SUNY New Paltz. “Fast forward six months and a portion of Busie’s fundraising efforts has already been secured through Diadem Capital. This illustrates how the Hudson Valley ecosystem is interconnected, with local startups supporting each other’s growth.” Edge also noted two other startups: Laronix and Kingston Standard Brewing Co., both of which recently secured six-digit funding with the help of Hudson Valley Venture Hub. 
• The Southern Tier’s IncubatorWorks helped the startup SoupaPOTamus cook up a new way of sourcing food using “sustainable, mostly-locally sourced ingredients.” The growing company now sells its soups online and at regional events, crediting its success to networking and business skills provided by the incubator.
• JelikaLite, a client of the CNY Biotech Accelerator at Upstate Medical University and graduate of its Medical Device Innovation Challenge (MDIC) program, has been awarded a two-year, $959,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. JelikaLite has also raised $1 million from private investors — and is currently hiring — as it develops an innovative solution to permanently reduce a child’s autism symptoms.
• JelikaLite also took part in Mount Sinai Innovation Partners’ virtual incubator program, known as Elementa Labs, in winter 2023. “As a result of JelikaLite’s involvement in the program, the company gained recognition from key opinion leaders, attained further venture and non-dilutive investment, and launched their pivotal clinical trial at Mount Sinai and SUNY Upstate Medical University with the aim of U.S. FDA submission,” said Cynthia Cleto, managing director for outreach at the New York City–based incubator.
• Communitas America, Inc., is building an entrepreneurial ecosystem, primarily made up of BIPOC and women changemakers, who are creating inclusive and equitable local economies in historically under-resourced communities in the U.S. The hot spot’s impacts include its work with entrepreneur Monique T. Marshall, a member of Communitas America’s Cohort 9. Marshall turned a small budget and years of podcasting experience into Black to Business, a popular podcast, business toolkit, masterclass, and start-up course for Black entrepreneurs nationwide.
• The Hub Business Incubator helped establish the Rural Equity Group to foster collaboration and initiatives between 14 non-profit programs to increase public awareness of available resources to businesses in Madison County. The Hub is partnering with the group to host a series of roadshow events across the county this fall to showcase the success stories of local businesses and provide expertise in marketing, workforce development, transitioning trades into businesses, and other areas. As a result of its work uplifting rural small businesses, The Hub received the Central New York Business Journal’s Non-Profit Award this past year. 
• The Koffman Southern Tier Incubator and Shipley Center for Innovation at Clarkson University have both been instrumental in the trajectory of KLAW Industries. The company has grown quickly thanks to its innovative product, Pantheon™, a clean concrete made from recycled glass. KLAW has established a 6,000-square-foot production facility in Binghamton and has earned national recognition. It is now amid an equity funding round, on the heels of a major initiative by the New York State Department of Transportation to use 74 tons of KLAW’s material in the $21.2 million Route 11 bridge project in Whitney Point, New York.

To read the latest NYSTAR incubator and hot spot impact report, visit ESD’s website, where you’ll also find more information about the New York State Certified Incubator and Innovation Hot Spot Program.

Behind the modern-day jobsite are companies like neARabl, a startup that was spun out of the City College of New York Visual Computing Research Laboratory. The research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation through the Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC) Program and the Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) Program, a partnership with Bentley Systems, Incorporated and a collaboration with Rutgers University and Lighthouse Guild.

The company has developed software that combines accurate indoor navigation with augmented reality resulting in more efficient project management.

The software also provides real-time updates to offsite stakeholders like project managers and building owners.

But this game-changing technology wasn’t meant for construction — at least not at the outset.

neARabl founders Jin Chen, Arber Ruci, and E’edresha Sturdivant knew they had a powerful technology application. Their precise indoor navigation solution brought real accuracy to indoor spaces — to within 1 centimeter — where traditional GPS systems were lacking.

At first, they saw their mobile application as a way to help people who are blind or visually impaired navigate indoor spaces. While the initial vision showed potential, there wasn’t any demand for the product to take off.

The company then pivoted to indoor navigation for first responders — a potentially life-saving application for its technology, enabling firefighters and paramedics to access, navigate, and ultimately, safely exit spaces that they have never been in before. Similarly, the founders learned that there wasn’t substantial demand in this sector, as safe building egress is a very small portion of first responders’ daily jobs.

Not to be discouraged, the company used the technology’s versatility to adapt to market needs, which were uncovered with the help of their partners in industry and innovation.

So neARabl began the process of transforming the infrastructure sector.

While taking part in the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps’ immersive seven-week program, the neARabl team interviewed 113 potential customers, discovering the market that most needed its technology was infrastructure.

The feedback they heard was that infrastructure professionals could use neARabl’s technology to visualize their digital twins on the ground, keep multiple stakeholders updated in real time, visualize workflows, and save significant money on physical signage at job sites by going digital. And the response was strong. Today, the company’s software is deployed on five job sites including in New York City, while preparing to launch its technology at job sites in the western United States as well as overseas.

Through the entire process, the company has leveraged the expertise and support of 13 different centers backed by NYSTAR — Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation.

Ruci, the company’s CEO, had experience navigating the NYSTAR Innovation Network, having led the New York City Innovation Hot Spot for five years.

“I knew the rich resources that were available throughout the state and how committed New York and NYSTAR are to cultivating collaborative innovation,” Ruci said. “And it’s not just in New York City. We received support from the Western New York Incubator Network, the New York I-Corps Hub at CUNY and Central NY Biotech Accelerator at Upstate Medical University.

“Key for us as well was the New York State Science & Technology Law Center, which is based at Syracuse University. They helped us ensure our technology didn’t infringe on any other company’s intellectual property.”

With solid grounding from the NYSTAR ecosystem, neARabl has partnered with Bentley Systems, Incorporated (Nasdaq : BSY) — an influential global infrastructure engineering software company. This partnership allows neARabl to adopt the iTwin Platform and earned the powered by iTwin designation, which serves as a channel enabler to a large ecosystem of architecture, engineering, and construction firms, developers, and Bentley partners building digital twins and the infrastructure metaverse.

“This partnership is a gigantic step towards establishing our imprint on the infrastructure market. As an academic spin-out, integrating with Bentley’s open-source digital twin technology was a no-brainer for many reasons,” Ruci said. “Where we found the most value was in familiarity and ease of use for our end-users — we launched as a mobile-first application to great initial early reviews of our mobile visualization, but soon enough we realized that our end users were much more comfortable editing and changing neARabl mobile content on an iTwin desktop/web interface. We quickly integrated the process and have been deploying it in some cool places.”

neARabl’s solutions have served diverse audiences including not only construction site managers but digital tourists, people with low vision, and metaverse enthusiasts. To find out more about the technology, visit nearabl.com.

Patty Rechberger/FuzeHub
patty@fuzehub.com

FuzeHub Announces Second Round of 2022 Grant Awards to Support Innovations in Manufacturing throughout New York State

FuzeHub’s Manufacturing Grants program awards $450,000 in grants to facilitate research and development, technical advancements, and process improvements for New York State manufacturers.

(Albany, NY – July 05, 2022) – FuzeHub, a not-for-profit organization providing small to medium-sized manufacturers with guided access to an extensive network of industry experts, programs, and resources to solve business growth challenges, recently awarded nine collaborative projects through its Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund.

The Innovation Fund, consisting of more than $1 million annually, supports a set of activities designed to spur technology development and commercialization across New York State.

As part of the Fund, FuzeHub offers Manufacturing Grants to New York State not-for-profit organizations, including higher education institutions, that propose innovative projects in partnership with New York State small to medium-sized manufacturers. Project categories cover the adoption of new technology to enhance a process and/or product, prototype development, design for manufacturing, proof-of-concept manufacturing, certain equipment purchases, manufacturing scale-up, and other projects to advance manufacturing capabilities.

In addition, the Innovation Fund is used to provide assistance to early-stage companies through FuzeHub’s annual Commercialization Competition, which will take place this fall.

The Innovation Fund is made possible through funding from Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR). New for 2022, FuzeHub received additional funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), supporting additional awards benefiting start-up companies.

“The strength of the applications was impressive, and the projects that were awarded have the potential to create a significant number of high-paying jobs”, said Matt Watson, Empire State Development Senior Vice-President, and NYSTAR Executive Director. “The advancement of manufacturing drives economic growth, and we are always looking for ways to support the state’s ten economic development regions. In this round of grants, almost every single region is represented – and that’s proof that expertise exists statewide.”

“Stronger domestic production supports a more resilient economy,” added Elena Garuc, executive director at FuzeHub. “During this round of Manufacturing Grants, many of the projects that were selected involved advanced materials. As awardees work to solve technical challenges, they’re also supporting the onshoring of production, which is crucial for supply chain resiliency, especially in these post-pandemic times.”

“For the first time since the start of the pandemic, we had a second round of Manufacturing Grants,” said Patty Rechberger, innovation fund manager.

“With the added EDA funds, FuzeHub was able to award a record 19 projects this year. Some of this year’s awardees are new to the Fund while others have been awarded previously, and I look forward to working with them all. There is an exciting mix of technologies, and I can’t wait to see how this funding will help.”

FuzeHub is pleased to announce the grantees:

(Southern Tier/Capital Region)

Cornell University, College of Engineering/ Lithoz America & Dimensional Energy | $50,000

Additive Manufacturing of Durable Ceramics for Clean Energy Applications

Researchers at Cornell University are partnering with ceramic 3D printing company Lithoz America and energy startup Dimensional Energy (DE) to develop new advanced printable ceramics that are better able to withstand the challenging operating environments of clean energy reactors. This work targets specialized thermocatalytic reactors, which can create more environmentally responsible fuels and chemicals by improving the efficiency of traditional production processes and reducing their carbon footprint.

(Southern Tier)

Koffman Southern Tier Incubator/ KLAW Industries LLC | $49,900

Recycled Glass Cement Replacement

For the past 40 years, New York’s recycled glass has been sent to our landfills due to high contamination and the lack of an end market. KLAW Industries has developed a process to use this waste glass as a raw material to create Pantheon™, a cement replacement for concrete, to decarbonize the construction industry. Pantheon™ makes concrete stronger, lower cost, and drastically reduces the carbon impact, launching New York towards its Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) and Low Embodied Carbon Concrete Leadership Act (LECCLA) goals. Working with the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator, and its Southern Tier Clean Energy Incubator program, the proposed project will scale KLAW Industries’ logistics system to pick up waste glass from Potential Environmental Justice Areas (PEJA) around New York and deploy Pantheon™ into the Southern Tier concrete market with partners at Barney & Dickenson Inc.

(Long Island)

Brookhaven National Laboratory/Magnet Launch, LLC | $50,000

Space Launch Assist by maglev in vacuum

Magnet Launch, LLC exists to reduce the cost and environmental impact of space launches by an order of magnitude each. To realize those goals, a launch assist system is proposed. This system will consist of a ground-based track, built on the side of a tall mountain. Inside the track will be a vacuum, and launch vehicles will be accelerated to a significant fraction of orbital speed by superconducting magnetic levitation. With this project, Magnet Launch and Brookhaven National Laboratory will work together to prove the feasibility of the launch assist concept, and create a system architecture to satisfy stakeholder requirements.

(Central New York)

CNY Biotech Accelerator, SUNY Upstate Medical University/ CathBuddy Inc. | $50,000

Aurie Reusable Catheter System Development

The Aurie Reusable Catheter System helps 600,000 intermittent catheter users in the US automatically clean, disinfect, and lubricate their catheters between uses with the help of tap water and pre-packaged cleaning supplies. The completed system will help improve access to high-quality catheters that help reduce potentially life-threatening infections by 30% relative to the standard, single-use intermittent catheters that are the standard of care today.

CathBuddy, Inc. is a client within the state-certified business incubator, CNY Biotech Accelerator (CNYBAC), and Upstate Medical University. CNYBAC provides targeted resources and networking assistance to its clients. This collaborative project will enable CathBuddy, Inc. to identify NYS-based contract manufacturers (CM) for the Aurie Reusable system, a novel portable catheter disinfection device to increase reprocessor prototype readiness.

(Mid-Hudson/ Capital Region)

Hudson Valley Textile Project, Inc./ Battenkill Valley Fibers Inc. | $50,000

Developing commercial-scale wool scouring capacity: Phase II – drying line set-up

HVTP will partner with Battenkill Fibers to complete phase II of a wool scouring operation through the addition of innovative Low-Temperature Radio Frequency loose fiber drying to the washing line currently in development. Commercial-scale scouring is needed in order for the Hudson Valley’s farm-to-fabric supply chain to expand to meet the growing demand for locally-sourced materials. Shipments of materials from overseas have become unreliable and there is considerable fluctuation in quality. Several short-term jobs will be created installing equipment and renovating space. Once in place, the scouring facility is expected to create three new permanent first shift jobs; and two jobs on second shift as demand increases. Additionally, the operation will result in considerable processing cost savings to the agricultural sector; and reduce environmental impacts through lower flows of wastewater and reduced fuel consumption by the RF dryer compared to traditional hot air equipment.

(Mid-Hudson/ Long Island)

Manufacturing & Technology Enterprise Center (MTEC)/Kegr LLC | $50,000

Kegr Expanded Design and Manufacturing

Kegr LLC is partnering with the Manufacturing & Technology Enterprise Center (MTEC) to manufacture an app-connected electronic keg tap for consumer use. The Kegr device is an electronic smart tap that improves upon a standard hand pump without requiring CO2. Although developed for the keg industry, the technology can be adopted by many other monitoring applications looking for simple and sustainable solutions.

(Southern Tier/ New York City)

Binghamton University, IEEC/Kepco, Inc. | $50,000

SMT Production Line

Implement a surface mount technology (SMT) assembly line to modernize Kepco’s DC power supplies to replace obsolete through-hole electronic components and take advantage of more modern components only available in SMT. The SMT line will use lean manufacturing techniques to improve responsiveness to customer requirements in a low volume / high mix manufacturing environment. The improvement in product density will enable the expansion of Kepco’s product line to include AC power supplies and recuperative electronic loads. The SMT line will facilitate the on-shoring of manufacturing to the United States and the expansion of manufacturing jobs at Kepco’s Flushing, NY factory.

(Western New York)

University at Buffalo, Department of Chemistry/Copprium Inc. | $50,000

Manufacturing Scale-up of Printable Copper Inks for Flexible Electronics

Copprium Inc. has partnered with Prof. Shenqiang Ren, UB’s Dept. of Chemistry, to commercialize a family of conductive copper inks for applications in printable flexible electronics. The new patent-pending copper inks solve many of the problems with current conductive inks in the industry at a significant cost advantage. Leveraging the strong UB entrepreneurial ecosystem, this project enables Copprium to launch its new ink products in 2022 into applications using screen printing, direct writing, aerosol jetting, and related printing technologies. The UB inks are printable, flexible, solderable, capable of low-to-high temperature sintering, compatible with traditional equipment, and importantly, are corrosion and oxidation resistant as well as shelf-stable and shippable at ambient temperatures. Copprium expects to gain a significant competitive advantage globally, open new markets, increase sales revenue and grow its operations in Buffalo by creating high-quality technical jobs.

(Finger Lakes)

University of Rochester, OB/GYN Department/EndoGlow | $50,000

GreenEgg Packaging

EndoGlow manufactures surgical instruments that fluoresce under near-infrared imaging. The funds will be used for packaging design and testing and allow EndoGlow to release its first product.

The application period for the Commercialization Competition is set to open on July 19, and FuzeHub will be accepting applications until August 17. Finalists will pitch live at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center on October 25 & 26.

For more information about the Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund, visit www.fuzehub.com/innovation-fund/ or contact Patty Rechberger, innovation fund manager at patty@fuzehub.com.

About FuzeHub

FuzeHub is a not-for-profit organization that connects New York’s small to medium-sized manufacturing companies to the resources, programs, and expertise they need for technology commercialization, innovation, and business growth. Through our custom assessment, matching, and referral platform, we help companies navigate New York’s robust network of industry experts at Manufacturing Extension Partners centers, universities, economic development organizations, and other providers. FuzeHub is the statewide New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program (MEP) center, supported by Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology & Innovation. For more information on FuzeHub, visit www.fuzehub.com.

About Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR)

Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology, and Innovation (NYSTAR) mission is to advance technology innovation and commercialization in New York State. NYSTAR’s programs are designed to enable new and existing businesses to become more competitive through the use of innovative technologies and emphasize the importance of working with industry to leverage the state’s technology strengths. Through funded programs that support world-class technology research at colleges and universities, NYSTAR works to promote a robust network of industry-university partnerships throughout the state. It administers the New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which provides direct technology assistance to small-to-medium-sized manufacturers. For more information on NYSTAR programs, visit www.esd.ny.gov/doing-business-ny/innovation-development-support.

About U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA)

The U.S. Economic Development Administration’s investment policy is designed to establish a foundation for sustainable job growth and the building of durable regional economies throughout the United States. This foundation builds upon two key economic drivers – innovation and regional collaboration. Innovation is key to global competitiveness, new and better jobs, a resilient economy, and the attainment of national economic goals. Regional collaboration is essential for economic recovery because regions are the centers of competition in the new global economy and those that work together to leverage resources and use their strengths to overcome weaknesses will fare better than those that do not. EDA encourages its partners around the country to develop initiatives that advance new ideas and creative approaches to address rapidly evolving economic conditions. For more information on EDA, visit www.eda.gov/.

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Newly Certified Business Incubators Address Needs of BIPOC Entrepreneurs, Agribusiness, Medical Technology Startups

Five Innovation Hot Spots, Six Other Business Incubators Earn Redesignation from NYSTAR

Empire State Development today announced the addition of three New York State-Certified Business Incubators to the robust network of innovation resources administered by NYSTAR, ESD’s Division of Science, Technology & Innovation. Each of the Business Incubators will have a different primary area of focus, such as lowering barriers to business entry for BIPOC entrepreneurs, cultivating new AgTech companies and technologies, and turning medical discoveries into commercial solutions.

The new state-certified Business Incubators are Communitas America, the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park and Mount Sinai Innovation Partners. NYSTAR also redesignated five Innovation Hot Spots and six other Business Incubators that were already within its innovation network. Administered and overseen by NYSTAR, the state’s Business Incubator & Innovation Hot Spot Support Program provides operating grants to the centers throughout their five-year designations. The three newly designated centers will receive a total of $1.875 million in operating grants.

Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight said, “From the beginning of an idea to the marketplace, New York supports startup innovation and inclusion through its NYSTAR network. As NYSTAR’s newest business incubators, Communitas America, the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park and Mount Sinai Innovation Partners will foster the diversity and growth of BIPOC entrepreneurs, agribusiness and medical technology startups, and add to the robust resources available to support their success.”

“Our network of Business Incubators and Innovation Hot Spots have accelerated the expansion of our state’s technology and innovation ecosystem by reaching more entrepreneurs and engaging more local collaborators and resources,” said NYSTAR Senior Vice President Matt Watson. “They provide ground-level services that make a dramatic difference in helping startups and early-stage firms take important next steps in their development. It has created a culture of innovation that connects communities across the state – generating inclusive growth, expanding access to opportunities and contributing to New York State’s economic competitiveness.”

The state-certified Business Incubators accelerate the development of early-stage companies through an array of support resources and services specifically designed to meet the needs of startup companies. Innovation Hot Spots also coordinate regional entrepreneurial ecosystems and can offer support and incentives to local businesses.

About $12.1 million in state funding from the Business Incubator & Innovation Hot Spot Support Program was awarded to the 14 newly designated and redesignated programs across the state as part of the Regional Economic Development Council initiative.

The three newly designated incubators focus on a variety of challenges facing businesses and entrepreneurs across the state and in various industries:

Communitas America cultivates a growing community of BIPOC and women entrepreneurs igniting social changes in areas of New York City, such as the Bronx and Harlem. Its cohort-based Communitas Ventures Accelerator program equips early-stage entrepreneurs with the resources necessary to develop, sustain and scale their businesses, including weekly learning sessions, networking and funding. Heyground Harlem, the organization’s upcoming incubator, will be a community-driven space that furthers connections, mentorships and partnerships to increase access and opportunity.

The Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park operates a 20,000-square foot incubator facility in Geneva, N.Y., providing office, manufacturing, and laboratory space to startups and emerging companies in agribusiness industries. The Tech Farm, the park’s dynamic incubator, will partner with the Center of Excellence for Food and Agriculture at Cornell AgriTech to better coordinate, market and deliver its wide variety of services and provide access to facilities to support companies and new technologies in the ag and food industry.

New York’s medical technology startups can grow through Mount Sinai’s robust healthcare innovation ecosystem. Mount Sinai Innovation Partners, the commercialization arm of the Mount Sinai Health System, provides comprehensive support to turn scientific discoveries from the system into commercially viable businesses. It assists early-stage companies with knowledge, mentorship, intellectual property protection and network resources to raise capital and find partners. Through Elementa Labs, external startups are matched with mentors and champions (subject matter experts) to bolster the startup’s understanding of customer needs, helping advance their products to the next level. Mount Sinai Innovation Partners plays a crucial role in growing the life sciences industry in New York City and across the state.

Now part of NYSTAR’s statewide network of innovation resources, the three Business Incubators will receive state funding as well as administrative support and assistance.

The five Innovation Hot Spots that earned redesignation have delivered significant impacts for their regional economies and innovation ecosystems, fostering new collaborations, encouraging local entrepreneurship and supporting growth and job creation within startups and early-stage companies. They include:

CENTRAL NEW YORK: Located in downtown Syracuse, The Tech Garden, operated by CenterState CEO, continues to focus on increasing outreach to diverse entrepreneurs and veteran entrepreneurs, providing startups with access to professional business development services at no cost, improving access to capital and improving regional communication around the sharing of best practices.

FINGER LAKES: NextCorps and Rochester Institute of Technology’s Venture Creations Technology Business Incubator (VCI) jointly lead the Finger Lakes Innovation Hot Spot. Through the Hot Spot initiative, they seek to expand their successful incubator models to serve more entrepreneurs.

NORTH COUNTRY: Led by the Shipley Center for Innovation, the North Country Incubator builds on the scalable and proven model developed by Clarkson University through its successes at the Shipley Center, the Center for Advanced Materials Processing (CAMP), the Reh Center for Entrepreneurship. By centralizing resources and services at Clarkson and decentralizing idea generation across the region, the North Country’s Hot Spot positions the region to harness existing intellectual capital to create the businesses needed to drive economic development.

SOUTHERN TIER: The Southern Tier Startup Alliance (STSA), an organization led by Cornell University, operates regionwide through a network of member incubators. Member incubators serve as focal points for entrepreneurial communities and locations where mentors can deliver services to startups.

WESTERN NEW YORK: Operated by the University at Buffalo, the Western New York Incubator Network (WIN) is a consortium of business incubators in the WNY region that helps entrepreneurs start, build and grow businesses. WIN’s program offerings include pitch prep, embedded consultants, outreach and student entrepreneurship.

The six New York State-Certified Business Incubators — which were awarded redesignation for the impact they’ve generated thus far — take a more targeted approach than the regional Innovation Hot Spots to meet the entrepreneurial support needs of communities or specific industries. They include:

CAPITAL REGION: Tech Valley Center of Gravity’s manufacturing Incubator and protostar rapid prototyping center in Troy is focused on assisting manufacturing startups by providing a one-stop shop for prototype development along with the skills and structure needed to successfully launch small-scale manufacturing businesses.

CENTRAL NEW YORK: The CNY Biotech Certified Business Incubator is an academic-based biotech incubator and accelerator located in Syracuse and operationally supported by Upstate Medical University. It promotes access to Upstate Medical’s experts, facilities and equipment. CNYBAC’s diverse network of resources — such as its labs, offices, conference rooms, TED-enabled 200+ seat theater, National Grid Creation Garage, Café and short-term occupancy Pods — are available to for-profit biotech startups, early discovery innovators, entrepreneurs, mentors, service providers and innovation clubs.

MOHAWK VALLEY: Located in Rome and adjacent to the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate, the Griffiss Institute Business Incubator (GIBI) provides a unique space in the Mohawk Valley where startups and growing small businesses can find a wide range of business support services tailored for each client. The Griffiss Institute has a unique relationship with the Air Force Research Laboratory allowing it to nurture new businesses seeking both opportunities to work with the Lab or to commercialize its intellectual property.

NEW YORK CITY: The Downstate Biotechnology Incubator, which is adjacent to SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and BioBAT at the Brooklyn Army Terminal provides services to early-stage companies, focused especially on biotech and technology expansion and manufacturing. This initiative provides job training programs for graduate and undergrad students and access to Downstate Medical Center resources, and the entrepreneurship program provides mentorship and business support as well as connections to various funds, angel investors and venture capitalists.

NEW YORK CITY: Operated by the Tandon School of Engineering at New York University, NYU Tandon Future Labs, brings together several incubator programs that target various needs within the city’s innovation ecosystem, including the Data Future Lab, Digital Future Lab, Urban Future Lab and Veterans Future Lab. Combined, they provide incubation resources and services to increase the success rate of new ventures and generate positive economic impact.

SOUTHERN TIER: The Binghamton Incubator Program focuses on developing and delivering entrepreneurial and business skills through workshops, seminars, events and mentoring at two locations in the Greater Binghamton Area: The Start-Up Suite pre-incubator with office and wet lab space at the Binghamton University Innovative Technologies Complex campus in Vestal, and the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator with offices, dry- and wet-labs, high-bay and co-working spaces in downtown Binghamton.

In total, NYSTAR has designated 10 Innovation Hot Spots and 20 state-certified Business Incubators – including the five Hot Spots and nine Business Incubators just designated or redesignated. NYSTAR also oversees the state’s network of Centers for Advanced Technology, Centers of Excellence, New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership centers and more. Across its programs, there are over 70 NYSTAR-backed centers across the state that are actively working to generate technology-driven economic growth. Collectively, they provide innovators, entrepreneurs and business leaders with access to the support they need to solve challenges and grow companies, often connecting academia and industry to spark collaborations that lead to new discoveries and job creation.

State Senator Anna M. Kaplan said, “It’s important that we do everything we can to support the development of small businesses in New York, and the State’s network of business incubators have proven to be an engine for entrepreneurism, innovation, and economic growth across the state. As Chair of the Committee on Commerce, Economic Development, and Small Business, I have championed funding for incubators and entrepreneurial assistance centers, because they have a proven track record for success, and deliver significant return on investment for the taxpayers. I’m thrilled that the network of services continues to grow with this announcement, and I applaud Empire State Development for their efforts to support these vital services.”

“I applaud Communitas America, the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park and Mount Sinai Innovation Partners for their commitment to our state,” said Assemblymember Harry Bronson. “Today’s announcement by the NYSTAR Network of Innovation Resources and Empire State Development shows that New York State has an appetite for strong, diverse, business startups and is in an economic position to create jobs for the future. I look forward to this exciting growth and welcome these additional three new business incubators.”

About Empire State Development

Empire State Development (ESD) is New York’s chief economic development agency. The mission of ESD is to promote a vigorous and growing economy, encourage the creation of new job and economic opportunities, increase revenues to the State and it’s municipalities, and achieve stable and diversified local economies. Through the use of loans, grants, tax credits and other forms of financial assistance, ESD strives to enhance private business investment and growth to spur job creation and support prosperous communities across New York State. ESD is also the primary administrative agency overseeing the New York State Regional Economic Development Councils and the marketing of “I LOVE NY,” the State’s iconic tourism brand. For more information on Regional Councils and Empire State Development, please visit www.regionalcouncils.ny.gov and www.esd.ny.gov.

About NYSTAR

Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation – known as NYSTAR – advances technology innovation and commercialization in New York State. NYSTAR offers programs that assist companies from start-up through maturity, leveraging the state’s unparalleled investment in world-class technology assets and expertise. It provides roughly $55 million annually in funding to support over 70 centers that provide direct assistance to New York State companies – a network of vital assets for enabling technology- and manufacturing-led growth and job creation. NYSTAR and its partners are proud to contribute to New York’s leadership in the global innovation economy. For more information, visit esd.ny.gov/nystar.

Contact:
Kristin Devoe | Kristin.Devoe@esd.ny.gov | (518) 414-1087
John Mackowiak | jmackowiak@martingroupmarketing.com | 518.618.1175

By Kathi Durdon, Executive Director, CNY Biotech Accelerator

The economy is ramping up — great news for everyone, especially those in industries that have been hit hard by the pandemic.

Still, as our recovery kicks into its next phase, the big questions remain: How do we bolster the resiliency of our economy and prepare for future uncertainty? How do we develop a workforce and build companies that have the potential to drive lasting, inclusive growth?

The answer is clear: by leaning into innovation.

For years, New York State has been investing in and building out its innovation infrastructure — a robust, statewide network that provides innovators, entrepreneurs and business leaders with access to the support they need to solve challenges and keep growing, even during periods of downturn and recovery.

Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation, known as NYSTAR, connects and supports each of the assets within that network. NYSTAR oversees funding for university research centers and provides assistance to businesses. Every year, over 70 NYSTAR-funded centers deploy more than $50 million in funding to generate technology-driven economic growth. The CNY Biotech Accelerator is an important part of this NYSTAR-backed network of centers.

Just as our state’s transportation infrastructure network has various critical assets — highways, airports, train stations — that each fulfill an important need, so too does our innovation infrastructure. Centers for Advanced Technology, New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership Centers, Centers of Excellence, Innovation Hotspots, and Certified Business Incubators — these are the assets that will provide the backbone of our economy during this rebound and into the future.

Finding Solutions Together

Collaboration fosters innovation. From Bishop and Varmus’ discovery of oncogenes to Pfizer and BioNTech’s dash to produce a COVID-19 vaccine, some of society’s most important advancements have come from teamwork.

Organizations that find space for inventive, cooperative initiatives are laying the groundwork for sustained success — and are setting up their communities for a strong rebound. There are dozens of examples alone within the NYSTAR network, which forges partnerships with university researchers, innovation-support resources and private industry.

At the CNY Biotech Accelerator, we are helping Quadrant Biosciences team up with top academic institutions, medical researchers and engineers to develop incredible advancements in medical diagnostics by integrating genetic and epigenetic sequencing with advanced AI technologies. Quadrant’s recent innovations include the world’s first molecular test to facilitate the early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. The test, Clarifi ASD, has received Breakthrough Device Designation, a special FDA program that will fast-track its development, assessment and review.

Quadrant Biosciences — and other companies supported by the NYSTAR network — are key to our state’s continued economic competitiveness. The CNY Biotech Accelerator is one of nearly two dozen NYSTAR-certified business incubators that support early-stage companies with a variety of critical resources to help them break through; these programs helped to create or retain almost 600 jobs in the latest data available. Additionally, NYSTAR’s 15 Centers for Advanced Technology generated a total positive economic impact of over $500 million for the state, according to the most recent annual figures.

Invention Amid Crisis

Even during the pandemic’s most challenging moments, centers within the NYSTAR network continued to push forward with new research and technology development — the type of work that generates innovation-led economic growth.

Several of our companies at the CNY Biotech Accelerator have been at the forefront of COVID-era breakthroughs. Having developed the most sensitive FDA authorized COVID-19 saliva test available in the United States, Quadrant Biosciences played a pivotal role in detection and, by extension, helped keep our economy running.

Vita Innovations, one of the participants in our Medical Device Innovation Challenge, is creating a “smart mask” that will monitor vital signs for patients in waiting-room hospitals as a solution to emergency room overcrowding. Vita is also working with the New York State Science & Technology Law Center (NYSSTLC) at Syracuse University — another NYSTAR-backed organization — which helps entrepreneurs and high-tech companies identify potential challenges and devise strategies to bring technologies to market. Delivering “innovation through law,” NYSSTLC provides legal research, education and information to help commercialize new technologies — roughly 60 projects a year.

Somewhat counterintuitively, global economic crises often generate more innovation. Necessity is, after all, the mother of invention. The CNY Biotech Accelerator — and our colleagues at NYSTAR’s centers around the state — are doing our part to create products, jobs and even some buzz around those ideas.

That work will be on display October 28 at the CNY Biotech Accelerator event “Promoting Tech Innovation in Upstate New York,” featuring keynote speaker Dr. Robert Atkinson, one of the country’s foremost thinkers on innovation economics and lead author of the Brookings Institute report “The case for growth centers: How to spread tech innovation across America.” We’re excited to showcase how innovation truly is the path forward.

New York State’s recovery won’t be without its challenges. But it also provides unprecedented promise. If we’re willing to double down on innovation, we can build a stronger, more resilient economy that creates new opportunities for all.

Kathi Durdon is the executive director of the CNY Biotech Accelerator.

As a result, Lai’s company, Cress Health, forged a partnership with Illinois-based AMITA Health, one of the Midwest’s largest hospital systems, to put the Callie App at its employees’ fingertips. The company also is successfully marketing the application to other organizations and individuals, including healthcare workers, young adults and college students dealing with social isolation.

“We have tried to get the app into as many hands as possible during the pandemic,” Lai said. “Without ideaHUb I don’t think I would be where I am today. It is really a tremendous program.”

The ideaHUb is a New York State Certified Business Incubator, as designated by NYSTAR in 2019. It is physically located in the Business School Building, offering a high-tech maker space, conference rooms and other co-working amenities, but it pivoted to a virtual model during the pandemic.

Stacey Sikes, Executive Dean of Entrepreneurship and Business Development at Hofstra, said ideaHUb is open to all sectors, “so it can be a technology-based business or a business that supports community economic development. We have programs and mentors that can help any type of business.”

Like most ideaHUb companies, Cress Health first took advantage of programs offered by the affiliated Center for Entrepreneurship (CFE). Sikes described the CFE, which was established in 2015, as “a place where regional entrepreneurs and students can collaborate, innovate, and build entrepreneurial skills.”

“[Hofstra] President Stuart Rabinowitz started the Center because he wanted to instill an entrepreneurial culture across the university,” she said. “Hofstra is one of three New York City regional universities with colleges of law, engineering and medicine, as well as a highly regarded school of business. It is my opinion the CFE has had a transformative Impact on Long Island and the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.” she said.

Some CFE programs are limited to Long Island businesses but others are open to entrepreneurs nationally. They include the Hofstra-Digital Remedy Venture Challenge for Hofstra students and the Hofstra Veterans Venture Challenge open to veterans, military spouses, and Gold Star Families from around the United States. Sikes said many of the CFE program participants, particularly those headed by student entrepreneurs, are companies in the very early stages—sometimes just the idea stage while others, including those in the Veteran’s Challenge, may be a bit further along.

Since 2015, CFE has offered more than 1,700 mentor sessions with its entrepreneurs in residence, and has hosted more than 400 events with a combined attendance of more than 10,000 people. Entrepreneurs affiliated with the center have received over $670,000 in prize money, not counting any follow-on funding or investments, and about 150 prototypes have been created and tested.

In January 2021, the CFE received a national award and a $10,000 prize from the U.S. Small Business Administration and the National Science and Technology Council’s Lab-to-Market subcommittee, for supporting local small businesses during the pandemic, including through its Ascend Long Island program for diverse entrepreneurs.

Lai started at Hofstra as a biology major in the pre-med program. He had an idea for a comprehensive “all in one” self-care application with a variety of features including meditations, sleep stories, self-affirmations, guided encouragement, breathing exercises and a virtual wellness coach. But when it came to starting a business, “it was definitely very foreign to me,” he said.

That changed with the guidance and mentorship he received through the CFE and ideaHUb.

“They really set the foundation for me to build my business and gave me the technical knowledge I needed to find market opportunities and operate on them,” he said.

Lai entered the Digital Remedy Challenge and took third place, winning $8,500. He also took second in the Healthcare Entrepreneurship Challenge, receiving $18,000.  He said that just as beneficial as the money was the education he received during the boot camps that preceded both events, with a series of speakers on a number of topics.

“Those talks were really instrumental,” he said.

Lai also took first place in the 2019 Long Island Business Plan Competition and was the national grand prize winner in the Graduate Management Admission Council’s 2019 “Think Like and Entrepreneur” contest, which netted him a $10,000 prize.

The ideaHUb is the next step for companies like Cress Health that have completed programs within the CFE, providing a continuing source of mentorship and assistance from a number of entrepreneurs in residence.

“We do periodic update meetings with the companies, and we are there if they run into anything and need help,” Sikes said.  “We also have client-specific workshops which have included such topics as intellectual property, grant writing and HR.”

Lai, who joined ideaHUb while still a Hofstra student, said the incubator’s mentors were not only helpful in guiding him though his pivot at the start of the pandemic, but also in connecting him with “multiple industry professionals to help guide me and give me insight on what is currently going on.”

Sikes said one of the biggest draws of the incubator is the ability to work with Hofstra students placed through an intern matching program. Students participate in workshops at the CFE and then work on a project related to their area of study with a client company in return for academic credit or a stipend supported by a NYSTAR grant.

Lai agreed that hosting interns is one of the most beneficial aspects of being an ideaHUb client. He has lost count of how many he has had work at Cress Health.

Although Lai is now focusing his energy on Cress Health full time, he has been accepted into Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and will be pursuing his MBA there at some point in the future.

“I think this really goes to show how much of a catalyst the ideaHUb program is,” he said. “I went from a bio major with very lackluster business experience to someone who is now pursuing this as a career.”

“No.”

The Stony Brook-based company, which developed a new thermodynamic process that uses natural gas, hydrogen or biofuels to heat or cool residential and light commercial buildings, is a 2020 graduate of CEBIP, one of six clean energy incubators sponsored by the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA).  Schwartz said ThermoLift made sure to take advantage of every resource CEBIP had to offer—and that is a lot of resources.

“We work with our members on virtually every aspect of their business,” said David Hamilton, Executive Director of CEBIP. “We sometimes know more about the company than the entrepreneur.”

CEBIP was founded in 2011 to assist pre-seed companies develop the next generation of clean energy technologies.  As a virtual incubator, it can work with entrepreneurs based anywhere in New York State. At NYSERDA’s request, CEBIP recently expanded its reach nationally. It has admitted a California company whose technology could ultimately benefit New York.

New York has put a premium on combating climate change through clean energy initiatives. In 2019, it passed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (or simply the Climate Act) which includes such ambitious goals as achieving 100% emission-free electricity by 2040 and reducing all emissions to at least 85% below 1990 levels by 2050.

“What CEBIP and the other clean energy incubators do is work with startups that have technology that may have an impact on these goals and missions,” Hamilton said. “These startups may have technologies that have not been considered or developed by the larger folks. So, it is critical that we help them move forward, because somebody could have that technology that takes us over the top and helps us achieve the goals I think we all know we need to achieve.”

He said the incubator works closely with its portfolio companies to “help them figure out what they want to be when they grow up.” The CEBIP team helps entrepreneurs perfect their technology, devise their commercialization plan, develop their business strategy, build their corporate structure and culture, handle their intellectual property and legal matters, create their pitch deck to attract investments and much more. The team includes a 26-member advisory board made up of a diverse group of volunteers who work with the startups to provide expertise in areas the companies may be lacking.

“We do a lot of one-on-one mentoring,” Hamilton said. “We have monthly phone calls with each company, but usually we have weekly or daily emails, too. We push them on deadlines. We push them on deliverables. We offer workshops and seminars. We try to bring as many resources as we can to our companies depending on their wants and needs.”

Schwartz, of ThermoLift, wanted and needed it all.

“We made an aggressive effort to utilize all of those channels,” he said.

When Schwartz first approached CEBIP in 2012, ThermoLift consisted of himself and a partner, Dr. Peter Hofbauer, the former global head of engineering and power train development at Volkswagen. Their idea was for a new, high-efficiency heating and cooling technology.

Today, the company is headquartered at Stony Brook’s Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center (AERTC), a NYSTAR Center of Excellence, and has manufacturing facilities in Michigan.  It employs more than 30 people, including several Stony Brook graduates who started as interns, and has signed contracts with multiple utility companies across North America for demonstration projects set to begin in the first quarter of 2021.

Plus, it has a new CEO in David Parks, the former head of Goodman, a major residential HVAC company.

“Think about that,” Schwartz said. “In 2012 we were this zero company that nobody knew about and I went to the incubator to ask for their assistance with a business plan and a pitch deck. Eight years later we have a guy who ran a $3 billion HVAC company who wants to be the CEO of our company.”

He said CEBIP connected ThermoLift to the right people, like Bob Catell (the former chairman of National Grid and current chairman of  AERTC) at AERTC to validate its technology—an important step in winning investor confidence—and helped it perfect its presentation to those investors, starting with the Long Island Angel Network. That pitch led to $1.6 million in first round capital and introduced the company to Jim Simons, one of the world’s most successful hedge fund managers. Simons has continued to invest in ThermoLift as the company developed.

Other contacts made through CEBIP also have proven valuable, providing speaking opportunities, grants, admission to a national incubator and introductions to industry leaders.

“We attended as many events and conferences as possible,” Schwartz said. “There is always a networking opportunity wherever you go, and that can’t be replaced. This is why CEBIP was really an invaluable asset in our strategic growth and the capital we raised over time, the number of patents we’ve filed and many other things.”

Hamilton said ThermoLift is “probably the epitome of what I would want a startup company to be in my incubator.”

Another prime example of a CEBIP success story is not an energy company but fits within the incubator’s broader mission of greenhouse gases, sustainability and agriculture. NYC-based Re-Nuble turns organic waste into organic hydroponic nutrients for use in controlled-environment farming.

Tinia Pina, Founder & CEO of Re-Nuble, said the company’s mission is to take food waste—which is abundant, particularly in urban areas—and produce an alternative to the mineral salts commonly used in soilless farming. Mineral salts are subject to pricing variability and costs are expected to surge as phosphorus grows scarce.

“Re-Nuble is the answer, to make our food system more resilient by using local waste streams as a main substitute for mineral salts,” Pina said.  “We want to give farms the ability to increase their profitability, lower their carbon footprint and hopefully increase the nutrients in the produce available to the consumer.”

Re-Nuble joined the incubator about five years ago and graduated in November. In 2015, it had plans to build a manufacturing facility in the South Bronx and was focused on a liquid product that was expensive to make and ship and did not perform well in soilless farming.  CEBIP helped the company pivot to developing a pelletized product and connected it to M-Corps, a statewide cleantech manufacturing program, which in turn guided it to building its manufacturing facilities in Rochester, where space is more available and more affordable than in the Bronx.

“So CEBIP really helped us refine our business model to bring down our cost of manufacturing and to help us mobilize resources in upstate New York, where there is a lot of manufacturing talent,” Pina said.

She added that the technological expertise and scientific approach of the CEBIP team and advisory board were vital in helping Re-Nuble with the “technical readiness” of its product, something the food and agricultural-based accelerator programs she took part in did not offer.

“We were experiencing some challenges on the manufacturing redesign,” she said. “Just having one-on-ones and the monthly advisory phone calls allowed us to make sure we were asking and answering the right questions so that we could manage outsourced engineering teams effectively to help us reach an outcome sooner. A lot of those times, with those challenges, you don’t really know what you did wrong until you’ve already done it wrong so I think CEBIP saved us time and money in realizing how we could reposition things or do things differently sooner.”

Hamilton said Pina, like Schwartz, was “incredibly driven.”

“She listened to everything we said,” he added. “She didn’t always do everything we said, but that’s ok.  As an entrepreneur you need to have your own vision and goals and make your own decisions. But if you are going to be part of a program like this you need the ability to listen to your advisers, process what they are saying and then make decisions. Tinia always listened and then made her own decisions.”

Pina said the incubator also was instrumental in helping Re-Nuble secure much-needed capital, including an angel investment and some state grants.

“Where we stand today is, we definitely have got a lot of traction as a result not only of CEBIP but of New York’s ecosystem really coming together to accelerate and fund climate tech solutions and help to decarbonize the economy,” she said. “I think Re-Nuble has definitely benefited from that by having CEBIP almost as an extension of our team with eyes and ears on the ground for us to identify opportunities we would not otherwise have had.”

Now, McCorry’s Possum House Games is a successful indie studio with its biggest game set for release early next year and enough contract work to keep him and partner Lesther Reynoso busy and solvent.

“The incubator was an awesome experience—how much I learned, the resources they made available to me,” he said. “Being able to work in that environment, having peers around me and being taken seriously and considered legitimate was huge.”

The community incubator is one of the many resources provided by RIT’s Media, Arts, Games, Interaction & Creativity (MAGIC) Center, a university-wide research center which takes a multidisciplinary, entrepreneurial approach to digital media, digital media research and production.

While MAGIC supports all forms of digital media, it is designated by Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology & Innovation (NYSTAR) as a Center of Excellence in Digital Game Development. It is one of three “digital game hubs”—the others being at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and New York University—created as part of an effort to grow the industry in New York.

What is called the “MAGIC Center” is actually composed of two entities: The MAGIC Center itself and MAGIC Spell Studios LLC. The MAGIC Center is the academic side, working with students and supporting a project-based curriculum.

“You can think of the center as a sandbox where people in any discipline can come and play, work on technology, and design and make cool things,” said Robert Mostyn, Digital Games Hub Coordinator at RIT.

MAGIC Spell Studios provides resources to entrepreneurial students and faculty with projects that may eventually be commercialized. Through the MAGIC Maker incubator program, students receive funding and academic credit to work on their games, films or other digital creations.

Students also may be hired to work on university projects in a setting that mimics an actual production studio. In 2016, this resulted in RIT becoming the first university to publish an Xbox game—Hack, Slash and Backstab. A second game, Fragile Equilibrium, was released in 2018 and a third is under development.

But MAGIC does not just work within RIT.

“We are focusing on boosting the economic development around digital media in Rochester, and MAGIC Spell Studios has been doing that by not only training the next wave of experts but by providing facilities the outside community can take advantage of,” Mostyn said.

These include a 7,000 square-foot soundstage, media labs, a color correction studio, a sound-mixing studio, a 180-seat theater, as well as the MAGIC Community Incubator—a program much like the MAGIC Maker Incubator but designed for outside entrepreneurs like Dennis McCorry.

“These are our local independent game developers, the ones that don’t have a direct line of funding,” Mostyn said. “They get funding from the incubator through the [NYSTAR] Digital Game Hub grant. We provide mentorship and we give them access to the facilities. They can come in and use anything we have. We try to connect them with industry. Our intention is to help them publish a game.”

That is exactly what happened with 29-year-old McCorry. He had an art degree and had been developing games as a hobby for a few years when he met Mostyn through ROC Game Dev, the Rochester indie developer organization of which Mostyn is Co-founder and Director. A game McCorry had spent three years creating, The Sword and the Slime, had just been published and he had a prototype for a new game, Shot in the Dark. He applied to the Community Incubator for the session beginning November 2019.

“Shot in the Dark is a really unique game and we were happy to accept him,” Mostyn said.

With $10,000 in grant funding, McCorry was able to quit his job and work full time at the incubator, developing Shot in the Dark.

“They supplemented a lot of what I didn’t know,” he said. “I came in saying ‘I know art, I know basic programming and I can work around my limited knowledge to make an interesting game with very simple tools.’”

He worked closely with John Veneron, Digital Games Hub Associate at RIT, “and he took on sort of a producer role for me. That was huge. He was able to help me break down a budget and really organize my workflow. He helped me figure out business contracts. It was a lot of logistical stuff [the resources at MAGIC] were able to hammer out. They were able to set me up with play testing, which is a whole operation on its own. They found testers for me. It was a lot of stuff like that. Really, if I had any questions at all, I would say ‘JV!’ and he was ‘Yeah, we got you.’”

As much as he enjoyed the atmosphere inside the incubator, and the ability to “bounce off” other developers, McCorry was just as grateful for MAGIC’s contacts in the industry outside those walls. For him, this meant finding both a game marketing expert and an affordable public relations firm that will assist in the release of Shot in the Dark.

By the time he left the incubator in March, at the start of the pandemic, Shot in the Dark was just about finished. He hired Reynoso to do some late-stage programming and the two decided to become business partners in Possum House Games. They plan to release Shot in the Dark after the holiday rush, when it is more likely to be noticed.

Sword and the Slime, the game that took McCorry three years to build without any budget, has 20 levels and basic programming. Shot in the Dark has 90 levels and more sophisticated programming.

“So, side by side, this is me without resources and me with resources,” he said.

In recent months, Possum House has kept busy with contract work for other area developers and is working on the prototype for another game.

“MAGIC has continued to be supportive,” McCorry said. “They have been amazing.”

Mostyn said Possum House “is a first example of how we want to help these smaller teams that are just getting a foot in the industry—help them make the connections, help provide guidelines for best practices and then get them off to the races and running.”

James Senall, President of NextCorps, said that the organization’s overarching mission is to assist entrepreneurs in launching new companies and to help existing businesses grow revenue and profitability, all aiming to create jobs in the Rochester area and statewide.

As an Innovation Hot Spot, in partnership with Rochester Institute of Technology, and a Certified Business Incubator, NextCorps offers entrepreneurs a variety of benefits including physical space, shared administrative staff, access to capital, coaching and mentoring, networking opportunities, prototype development and tax breaks. As an MEP center, it connects small and midsized manufacturers with the resources and services they need to grow and flourish.

Senall said that one of the things of which he is most proud is the opening in 2018 of the Downtown Innovation Zone, 40,000 square feet of incubator space in Rochester. The facility is now home to about 60 manufacturers, producing software, medical devices, physical products, clean technology and more.