Stakeholders from all over Buffalo’s business community converged on Shea’s Performing Arts Center on Thursday night for the finale of the 43North business competition.
Top Seedz was the big winner, taking home a $1 million grand prize in exchange for 5% of the company. Seven other firms won $500,000 runner-up awards, becoming part of a 43North portfolio that now includes nearly 60 startups.
It was a celebratory night. Here are some notes from the party:
Kicking things off
A crowd of local startups pre-gamed at Hearth + Press, across the street from Shea’s, a party that was organized by a 1 a.m. email from ACV Auctions co-founder Jack Greco the night before. Groups from Kangarootime, HiOperator, 3AM Innovations, EagleHawk One, braidbabes, CoachMePlus, Graphenix Development, Aviate Audio and more fought their way to and from the bar.
One of the attendees was David Brown, managing partner of Rochester-based Impellent Ventures, who was among the 30 venture capitalists brought in to help whittle the 19 initial finalists to the 10 that would present Thursday evening. Brown – whose fund has invested in Buffalo startups 3AM Innovations and Kickfurther – said the group of investors sees the week as an opportunity to source high-quality potential deals.
“We’re looking at a lot of great companies this week,” he said. “These are companies that have raised money and been through other accelerators.”
Still winning
The crowd started filtering into Shea's well before its 6 p.m. start time, passing first by ushers who were explaining, person by confused person, that they wanted to see vaccine cards and not event tickets.
One of those attendees was James Regenor, co-founder and president of supply chain startup VeriTX, which made it all the way to the group of 19 finalists but not the final 10. Asked if he was discouraged, Regenor replied “(Heck) no. We’ve got $4 million in government contracts. We’ve got momentum.”
Interest building
Inside the lobby, Ronald Schreiber was holding court with a group of friends. Schreiber, a 43North board member and longtime local businessman (who now resides in Florida), wanted to talk about Top Seedz.
His wife found Rebecca Brady’s artisan crackers at a Whole Foods in Florida last year. Curious about the product, they looked at the label and found the company was based in Buffalo.
“I didn’t know there was a cracker company in Buffalo,” Schreiber said.
He made a note to look up the company when he was back in town. Then this summer, Schreiber was sitting with other 43North board members Jordan Levy, Pete Grum and Bill Maggio looking at applications when Top Seedz crossed his desk. He made the case for the company to become a finalist.
In a subsequent tour of the company’s headquarters/production space in Cheektowaga, Brady nonchalantly opened an email from supermarket chain Giant Foods, asking for samples of the product.
“I said, ‘You should probably answer that one,' ” Schreiber said. “This company could grow 3x to 5x just based on inbound interest right now.”
Of course they know each other
Elsewhere in the Shea’s lobby, a stream of local business leaders grabbed drinks before heading to their seats. Maura Duggan, the director of public relations at ACV Auctions, said she was sitting with a team of ACV employees in the second level and preparing to cheer for CEO George Chamoun, who spoke during the show.
Duggan was also rooting for Buffalo-based Verivend, the fintech payments firm that later came home with $500,000. That wasn’t a big leap – Verivend’s leadership team comes out of ACV Auctions and other recognizable businesses Duggan has been around in her career.
But no – it was a true Buffalo story. She’d been friends with Verivend co-founder Aaron Santarosa since they were students at Nichols School in the late 1990s.
“He always wanted to do this,” she said of pursuing a tech company.
Also seen
• Ace Callwood strolled into the lobby as well. Callwood’s startup, Painless1099, won an award in the 2015 competition and he pursued the company for several years in Buffalo. Ultimately, Painless didn’t work out and was wound down. Callwood said he’s back in his hometown of Richmond and doing well.
• Michael Wisler, the chief information officer of M&T Bank, strode by. As recently named 43North board chair-elect, Thursday was the culmination of a busy couple days for Wisler. “We’re back in person,” he said. “We have an amazing crew.”
• Backstage before the event, Maggio looked at the crowd as he waited for them to filter into their seats. The 43North show itself is famously unpredictable, relying almost entirely on startup founders making a high-stakes pitch in front of thousands of people. Asked if he’d written down any jokes, Maggio said, “No, they have to come to you.”
• 43North staffers Maura Devlin, Justine Palkowski, Devin Chavanne and Christian Gaddis were dispatched to get people out of the lobby and into their seats. This reporter excitedly followed Gaddis – a former NFL offensive lineman who now runs 43North’s Forge Buffalo careers initiative – but alas, there was no blocking or tackling, and I lost him in the thick of the crowd. (Speaking of me, there were no issues with car keys this year.)
• 43North President Colleen Heidinger kicked off the program – overcoming some early issues with her microphone. “We are on a mission to create the kind of opportunities that define all vibrant communities,” she said. “A place where people want to move to, not away from.”
• Verivend was the first company to make its pitch, and co-founders Rodney Reisdorf and Jonathan Ebel brought props, tossing a stack of paper (invoices, checks, etc.) onto the stage. Verivend proposes a secure, web-based way to manage business-to-business transactions. “We are energized to create a transformational fintech company right here in Buffalo that will create numerous jobs,” Ebel said.
Why Buffalo?
• For the out-of-town finalists, the 'Why Buffalo?" question was a major theme. Sam Eder, co-founder of grocery store supply chain developer Big Wheelbarrow, said his company will begin working with Tops Markets next week and name-checked Paal Elfstrum of Wheatfield Gardens.
• FLOX CEO Imtiaz Shams scored with the audience with a chicken wing reference — “Sixty years ago, you guys were at the forefront of chicken innovation” – and said he’d had discussions this week with Kreher Farms (FLOX uses software to help chicken farmers manage their flocks).
• ShearShare co-founder Courtney Caldwell said that the Texas-based company has always performed well in New York state. Zealot Interactive co-founder Shaun Masavage (flanked by his CTO, Sean Tolly, who held a Fender Jim Adkins Telecaster to showcase the company’s hardware) has already moved into Buffalo and established a new headquarters at the Tri-Main Center.
Begging for crackers
Brady has always bootstrapped her company, but professional investors are suddenly drooling over the opportunities ahead.
Instead of asking questions during her pitch, judge Howard Draft called the product “frickin’ ridiculous” and “one of the best crackers I’ve ever tasted.”
Another judge, Brian Brackeen (general partner of Cincinnati-based venture capital firm Lightship) told Brady he would invest tomorrow regardless of Thursday’s outcome.
“I’ll wrestle you for it,” Draft said.
More highlights
• The program included a tribute to Levy, who was introduced by 43North board chair Eric Reich. Levy previously invested in the company Reich co-founded and sold, Campus Labs. Reich called Levy “a mensch of the highest order.”
• Reporters are used to jumping onstage after the formal event, but things are different these days. A grandmotherly usher with a strong sense of purpose barricaded the steps. Heidinger, Brady and Brackeen took questions a short time later off the stage.
• Judge Peter Boyce, the founder and managing partner of Brooklyn-based Stellation Capital, mingled with the crowd. He got into Buffalo on Wednesday, in time for a dinner thrown at Hotel Henry. On Thursday morning, he found the downtown Public Espresso, deeming it an “amazing coffee shop.”
“It’s incredible to see what’s been accomplished in Buffalo,” he said.
Just getting started
A large crowd gathered after the show at nearby Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. By around 9 p.m., it looked like the party was just getting started.
