Buffalo Inno is expanding its “Startups to Watch” feature this year to 10 companies, a reflection of the overall growth of Buffalo’s startup scene.
The list has always been about expectations, and simply put, there is more than ever to expect.
2021 in Buffalo was marked by a seismic event — the public listing of ACV Auctions — and the return of the 43North business competition, along with its annual autumn finale event, which serves as a rallying cry for Buffalo’s place in the national tech economy.
Dealflow was stronger than ever across the startup spectrum, from pre-seed deals to companies approaching unicorn status.
Two of last year’s companies to watch, HiOperator and Kyklo, made waves by settling into long-term headquarters space in downtown Buffalo. Another company on that list, Ellicottville Greens, raised $1 million in Series A funding from local investors.
The criteria for the list is subjective. The exercise is meant to be a sampling of Buffalo’s tech economy rather than a hierarchical statement about which local startups are doing best.
ShearShare
Courtney and Tye Caldwell think it’s time to push ShearShare to the next level.
They’re moving to Buffalo to do it.
The married couple and company co-founders won a $500,000 award in this year’s 43North competition.
Their “HairBnB” software solution matches independent stylists with empty salon chairs. The company is already backed by a roster of prominent investors – having raised a $2.3 million seed round in October 2020 – and is releasing a new version of its platform heading into 2022.
ShearShare has spent years developing the framework of its business in Dallas. It is entering 2022 with a redesigned platform and plans to scale: from growing its customer base to building engineering and operations teams in Buffalo.
Verivend
Verivend burst onto the scene in 2021, with a co-founding team of successful business executives in Buffalo. The company also closed a $2.5 million seed round, won a $500,000 prize in the 43North competition and engaged a variety of local partners to help prove out and then scale its fin-tech solution.
Founded by CEO Rodney Reisdorf, president Aaron Santarosa and CTO Jonathan Ebel, Verivend offers a cloud-based platform for the management of business-to-business transactions.
The startup has big goals – to become a fintech “superapp” that helps businesses manage their cash. With a team that quickly passed 10 employees in its Seneca One Tower headquarters this year, Verivend executives plan to strike while the iron’s hot in capturing marketshare from industries where paper trails and email chains are the current standard.
HELIXintel
HELIXintel found footing this year for its multifaceted business plan, closing on a $1.6 million pre-seed round and scaling its employee count into double digits.
The startup seeks to help companies optimize their equipment maintenance – saving them money in the process. It does so through a high-tech tool that helps catalog, track and purchase equipment.
From restaurants to factories to building contractors, HELIXintel execs said their customer base underwent expansive growth this year.
HELIXintel is based in the University at Buffalo’s new Incubator @ CBLS facility on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. Founders include CEO Jon DeWald, president Michael Mainier, CFO Eliot Powell, vice president of strategy Peter Burakowski and vice president of business development Rob Franssen.
Centivo
Centivo was already a big story in Buffalo with one of the region’s most successful tech executives choosing to build an operations base in Cheektowaga.
The company took it up a notch in 2021. Ashok Subramanian, the co-founder of Liazon Corp., named Buffalo as Centivo’s corporate headquarters. Then the company announced in September it has raised $51 million in venture capital to fuel its national expansion.
By using data and partnering directly with companies, Centivo leaders believe they can simultaneously improve care and reduce costs. The goal now is pure scale – the company plans to be available in the top 20 American markets by the end of 2022.
Kickfurther
Kickfurther moved to Buffalo in 2019 after winning $500,000 in the 43North competition.
The company raised $5.9 million in a seed-plus round in 2021 to accelerate its breakneck pace. The company now has 35 employees, more than half of whom are based in Buffalo, and saw its revenue increase by 50 percent this year as it introduced a subscription model for its clients.
The goal now is to keep the good vibes going by spreading awareness of the company’s web-based inventory management tool.
The company targets small- to mid-sized businesses in the physical products space, allowing them to raise money via its web-based crowdfunding platform.
MemoryFox
MemoryFox used the pandemic to pivot, with CEO Chris Miano turning the startup into a software-as-a-service platform that helps nonprofits collect and tell stories from the people they serve.
The move worked - Miano reported tremendous sales traction in 2021 as customers adopted and used a tool that made their lives easier and their marketing more effective.
MemoryFox closed on a $380,000 seed round in 2021, with plans on raising a larger round this year as its business grows.
Immersed Games
Immersed Games continued making progress in 2021 with its flagship game, Tyto Online, which helps middle-school students learn science and engineering skills.
The company moved to Buffalo in 2018 after winning a 43North award and now operates in a Main Street building owned by the Olmsted Center for Sight.
With Tyto’s adoption spreading, Immersed raised $828,000 this year in seed funding, along with $750,000 in grant money. The company has 14 full-time and two part-time employees and is onboarding several teachers to help with content creation.
Immersed Games CEO Lindsey Tropf said the company has unlocked the keys to its product-market fit in the middle-school market. Now she said it’s about growing the base of customers, and using their feedback to make Tyto ever more effective.
Ognomy
Ognomy is a web-based way to diagnose and treat sleep apnea, based on the experiences of local sleep medicine specialist Dr. Daniel Rifkin.
Rifkin’s vision is to make sleep apnea treatment more accessible and effective – and in the meantime insert itself into a massive national market.
The company was a 43North finalist this year but did not end up being an awardee. Nonetheless, it raised more than $1.37 million in pre-seed funding in 2021, now has eight full-time employees and is looking to hire more.
Ognomy execs said more than 1,000 patients have already been treated through its platform in New York, Georgia, Arizona and California. The plan now is to connect with more doctors in more states while marketing directly to patients.
Arbol
What happens when two emerging business executives build a growth-stage startup that also tackles a deep societal problem?
Buffalo’s about to get the answer in the form of Arbol, a take on crowdfunding that helps low-income college students pay for their expenses.
Arbol is led by CEO Favio Osorio, last a manager at M&T Bank, and David Gonzalez, who was previously an executive at fast-growing startup Kangarootime.
The two friends are in the early stages of development. But they say they’ve got key partners, early traction and a massive potential market.
WhoseYourLandlord
Ofo Ezeugwu didn’t move to Buffalo at an ideal time – arriving from New York City just before the pandemic struck.
That hasn’t stopped the founder and CEO of WhoseYourLandlord from becoming a big part of the community, serving on the boards of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership and D’Youville College.
Now his company is set to soar as well. WhoseYourLandlord is in the process of closing a seed round to support the growth of its platform, which seeks to forge meaningful connections between tenants and landlords. The firm has found early adopters locally, undertaking pilot projects with major developers in Buffalo such as Newmark Ciminelli and Savarino Cos.
WhoseYourLandlord also scored $100,000 in grant funding from Google’s Black Founders Fund in 2021.
2021 startups to watch: Spatched, Kyklo, CloudInsyte, Ellicottville Greens, HiOperator
2020 startups to watch: Conversion Monster, Viridi Parente, Buffalo Automation, MimiVax
2019 startups to watch: SomaDetect, Tactiva Therapeutics, 3AM Innovations, Buffalo Automation
2018 startups to watch: CleanFiber, HigherMe, StimMed, Peeva, Vader Systems
2017 startups to watch: Circuit Clinical, Rezedent, Rachel’s Remedies, PostProcess Technologies, Thimble
2016 startups to watch: ACV Auctions, Electronic Gaming Federation, Pop Biotechnologies, Buffalo Automation Group, Energy Intelligence
2015 startups to watch: ClearView Social, Decision Pace, GradFly, HarkerBio, the Atinga Project
