Come January, five startups will move hundreds, if not thousands, of miles to relocate to Buffalo.
It’s a big production with the potential to springboard the growth of their business as well as the region.
Guidesly, KAV, Kredit Academy, StepWise and StoreCash each won $1 million on Oct. 12 in this year’s 43North Finals. The funds are contingent on the startups making Buffalo their headquarters for at least a year and giving 43North a 5% stake in their companies.
The judging process included deciding if the competitors were a good fit for Buffalo.
As freshly launched confetti coated the stage of Shea’s Performing Arts Center, Business First asked each CEO two questions: Why Buffalo? And what’s your biggest piece of pitching advice based on your 43North experience?
Here’s what they said.
Guidesly, based in Topsfield, Massachusetts, is a vertical software-as-a-service platform for outdoor recreational guides. Services include booking, payments and communication with clients.
CEO David Lord said the Great Lakes is a large fishery and Buffalo is the No. 4 guide market in the country.
“There’s just tremendous opportunities for us to grow in this area,” he said. “We just launched in Canada, so it’s a perfect launching pad.”
He wants to create an annual conference for outdoor guides and have it in Buffalo.
Pitching advice: Practice. Lord said he ran through his pitch for the 43North finals “at least 200” times.
KAV, based in Redwood City, California, creates custom helmets that are designed to reduce brain injuries and save lives. The company wants to build its second factory in Buffalo.
“That steep tradition in manufacturing, it’s just something we have a really hard time finding,” CEO Whitman Kwok said. “We just found that here in Buffalo. We’re really excited about building a factory and kind of reinvigorating the next generation of industrial manufacturing here in the U.S.”
The region's investment in green energy is appealing to Kwok, whose California factory is solar powered. Plus, Buffalo is strategically located for the startup which wants to sell in Canada and the Eastern seaboard.
Pitching advice: “Understand what you’re bringing to the world that’s unique," he said. "That's really what you’re trying to get to market to benefit customers, to benefit investors, to benefit community. I think if you have that passion and can spend the time to convey that, I think you will do well.”
Kredit Academy, based in Miami, Florida, offers a secured credit card designed for first-time users, particularly young adults and teens, that emphasizes education over spending. Users can build savings and credit simultaneously and gives financial institutions a way to engage with that age group.
CEO Evan Leaphart would like to tap into the $43 billion M&T Bank, based in Buffalo. The bank's commitment to support underserved populations, small businesses and communities of color aligns with the mission of Kredit Academy, Leaphart said.
“Everything we do from product to partnership to in-community brand activations, Buffalo needs it,” he said. “I’m a person of color. I resonate with the East Side. They’ll see me there.”
Pitching advice: Instead of trying to tell a story that matches your pitch deck, focus on telling your story and make the pitch deck line up with it. “People resonate with who you are and what you do, not what the slides say,” he said.
StepWise, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, aims to make home electrification cost effective, specifically for EV charger and heat pump installations, by optimizing existing electrical panels.
CEO Jane Chen wants to leverage the $1 million 43North prize to manufacture and deploy 1,000 units. To do so, she intends to tap into Buffalo’s pool of engineers and skilled labor. As of the finals, the startup had already interviewed three local engineers.
“We’ve talked to a couple of contract manufacturers already in Western New York, and we can basically get a 10% to 25% cost advantage of doing it here while keeping it made in America,” she said.
In addition, it’s kismet for the startup to be in the City of Lights and part of the “clean energy ethos” where Niagara Falls is, she said. Chen, a Toronto-area native, is excited to be close to home as well.
Pitching advice: Be authentic. Figure out what your message is and why you started your business. Then, make that resonate with your audience.
StoreCash, based in San Jose, California, has partnered with retailers in more than 200,000 locations so that its users get real-time notifications with QR codes to get maximum cash back at stores.
CEO Daricus Releford said Buffalo is already No. 3 on the list of places where StoreCash is being utilized. The company has about 65,000 users.
He’s excited to tap into the benefits of being part of a smaller, tight-knit community. For example, he anticipates about $433,000 of cost savings in the first year of operation by moving to Buffalo.
“I’m just excited to be part of a community that comes out and roots for us like this,” he said on Finals night. “It’s crazy. I don’t think we can get this many people out in San Jose.”
Pitching advice: Believe you already have the funds and pitch that way. It helps with confidence and eases nerves. “You believe something, you go and do it and it happens,” he said.
