A look at what's happening in Buffalo's startup scene this week...
The Kyklowdown
Kyklo announced recently that it inked a deal with Panasonic, its sixth such distribution partnership in the U.S. in the last 18 months.
Kyklo now has 10 employees working from its North American operations hub in Buffalo, and expects to continue adding to the workforce here.
“These leading manufacturers collaborate with Kyklo to provide their channel partners with a program that allows the manufacturers to ensure digital brand equity, first-class user experiences and ensuring that their distribution channel is positioned the best to shift to a digital world,” Kyklo chief of staff Ryan Francis said.
The partnerships have allowed Kyklo to shorten its sales cycle and provided much-needed validation from major corporations, Francis said.
“These global leaders don't choose their partners blindly,” he said. “A lot of work goes into it, so to say you are a partner of theirs, means a lot.”
Number to watch
IPOs are fun. Quarterly earnings are rote.
Buffalo-based ACV Auctions got on with the latter chore last week, its first such event since going public in March.
The web-based wholesale automotive platform reported first quarter revenue of $69.1 million, up 64% since last year.
The company is focused on growth right now, not profits, so the key figure to watch is its 2021 revenue expectation of $307 million to $313 million. That’s the benchmark on whether the company is meeting its own expectations.
