SYRACUSE — The selection process to determine the finalists in the Genius NY business competition will include about 20 people, says Jonathan Parry, director of Genius NY. Genius NY is a $2 million business accelerator based at the Syracuse Technology Garden. Genius NY stands for Growing ENtrepreneurs & Innovators in UpState New York. It’s an […]
SYRACUSE — The selection process to determine the finalists in the Genius NY business competition will include about 20 people, says Jonathan Parry, director of Genius NY.
Genius NY is a $2 million business accelerator based at the Syracuse Technology Garden.
Genius NY stands for Growing ENtrepreneurs & Innovators in UpState New York. It’s an in-residence business competition accelerator at the Tech Garden that CenterState CEO operates.
Empire State Development, New York’s economic-development agency, funds the overall Genius NY program budget.
As of Oct. 11, just over 230 applicants had submitted material to compete for placement as competition finalists. Parry anticipates the program will have attracted more than 250 applicants by the Oct. 16 deadline for submission.
The selection group will include about 14 judges who aren’t affiliated with the Tech Garden.
“They’ll be third-party, nonbiased,” says Parry, who spoke with CNYBJ on Oct. 11.
Most of the judges are based in Central New York, he adds. The judges have technical expertise, investing expertise, and knowledge on the legal aspects for intellectual property.
“We tried to get a broad base of judges to review all the applications,” says Parry.
Neither Parry nor anyone working at the Tech Garden or CenterState CEO will be involved in the selection process, he notes.
Besides the judges, the group also includes five or six individuals handling tasks to make sure the applications have the required information.
The process will involve two rounds of judging, eventually reducing the field to six finalists to compete in the Genius NY competition.
The selection group will be looking at criteria that include the experience of the company employees and their technical background. Group members and judges will also look at the “scalability” of the technology developed by each startup applicant.
“We’re definitely leaning toward the technology that’s scalable to the broader market, globally,” says Parry.
The group will also consider if the company has plans to relocate to or establish a presence in Central New York and potentially work with local firms, such as SRC, Inc., Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT), or Saab.
The initial judging will continue into early November with a semifinalist round for 12 to 18 teams scheduled for Nov. 22, which will reduce the field to the group of six finalists.
“We will announce the finalists hopefully that week, Thanksgiving week,” says Parry.
The program will award six companies at least $250,000 for participating in the program, the Syracuse Technology Garden said. That’s up from $175,000 last year. The six companies will spend a year at the Tech Garden developing their business plan, their operations, and working with mentors.
The program will award grand prizes of $1 million, $600,000, and $400,000 to the top three competitors, with “additional opportunities for follow-on funding,” while the other three firms get the $250,000 minimum.
The finalists will begin competing in Genius NY on Jan. 2, 2017.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
