Description of collaboration/licensing activity
New York State will expand its technological strengths and promote the commercialization that leads to economic growth through a $2 million pilot seed fund project. Empire State Development (ESD), the University of Rochester and Assemblyman Joseph D. Morelle today announced the creation of the Upstate Regional Seed Fund. Excell Partners Inc., a not-for-profit corporation formed in 2005 through an agreement with University of Rochester Medical Center, will use the grant funds to make equity investments in high-tech startups and emerging companies. Cornell University and Syracuse University will also provide direct in-kind support. “New York State is on its way to becoming a universally recognized center of innovation,” said Governor David A. Paterson. “New York is home to world-class companies and universities, and the creation of this $2 million seed fund will encourage commercialization activities and university-industry collaboration. The fund will provide pre-seed and seed-stage funding to New York State technology-based companies from university and research institutions in the Upstate Corridor, including Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, Ithaca, Corning and Albany, leveraging the critical private venture capital to compete in today’s economy. This is an important first step in developing seed-stage equity resources in New York State.” “Today’s announcement supports New York State’s high R&D capacity, increases the amount of pre-seed and seed-stage funding for companies commercializing technologies developed upstate, and fosters high-growth and high-impact companies that will create quality jobs for our residents,” said ESD Chairman & CEO Dennis M. Mullen. “This seed fund has long been a priority of mine as it will aid in that critical goal of investment between the laboratory and the marketplace, resulting in the start-up enterprises that define the well-documented economic expansion of regions, such as Silicon Valley.”
