Most of the locally based companies remaining in the 43North competition survived Wednesday’s cutdown and will compete Thursday evening for the $1 million grand prize.
Thirty venture capitalists from around the U.S. converged on Buffalo to hear pitches from 19 finalist companies at Seneca One Tower on Wednesday.
After several hours of deliberation, those judges settled on ten companies to pitch live at Shea’s Performing Arts Center on Thursday evening. They’ll compete for the $1 million grand prize and seven $500,000 runner-up prizes.
43North is a state-funded business competition that seeks to seed startups in Buffalo. Those that accept prizes give up 5 percent of their company and pledge to operate from Buffalo for a year.
The four locally-based startups that made it through include:
BetterMynd, a web-based platform for college students to access therapy. The company is led by CEO Cody Semrau, who relocated from Rochester to Buffalo in 2020.
Ognomy, an online system for diagnosing and treating sleep apnea. Ognomy was founded by Dr. Daniel Rifkin, a sleep medicine specialist who serves as its CEO.
Top Seedz, the artisan cracker company from Cheektowaga. Top Seedz is the brainchild of Rebecca Brady, who started the company after years of making healthy snacks for her own children.
Verivend, a fintech startup focusing on payments. Verivend was co-founded by three veteran local entrepreneurs, including CEO Rodney Reisdorf, Jonathan Ebel and Aaron Santarosa.
The other six companies still in the running include:
Big Wheelbarrow: An Austin-based SAAS startup that helps grocers manage their supply chains, led by co-founder Sam Eder.
Flox: Hailing from London (United Kingdom), founder Imtiaz Shams will pitch an ag-tech suite of technology tools that helps chicken farmers manage their flocks.
Infiuss Health: A Silicon Valley startup that seeks to promote access to clinical trials in Africa, led by co-founder/CEO Melissa Bime.
NixCode: A Beverly Hills tech-enabled consultancy that aims to help underserved youth through the college admissions process, led by co-founder/CEO Perry Kalmus.
ShearShare: A Texas-based mobile marketplace that connects beauty stylists to open seats at hair salons, led by co-founder/CEO Tye Caldwell.
Zealot Interactive: Arlington, Virginia-based music tech startup that pairs instructional hardware with curated content marketplace, led by co-founder/CEO Shaun Masavage.
Digital supply chain startup VeriTX, based in East Aurora, was among the nine companies that did not move on Wednesday.
