CenterState CEO announces finalists in the Syracuse Surge accelerator

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — CenterState CEO says five companies will participate in the first year of the new Syracuse Surge accelerator program.

The selected businesses will participate in the yearlong accelerator, which provides direct resources and support to Black-Indigenous-Persons of Color (BIPOC) entrepreneurs who want to launch and accelerate tech-related and tech-adjacent startups, per a Monday announcement.

All five finalists are from either the Syracuse area or Rochester.

“We are excited and honored to work with such a diverse group of local startups,” said Dr. Emad Rahim, Syracuse Surge Entrepreneurship Manager, at CenterState CEO. “The technologies represented by our entrepreneurs provide a glimpse of emerging trends in innovation and creativity that are developing right here in Upstate New York. We look forward to showcasing these unique businesses and their leaders who will help foster inclusion in our local entrepreneurship ecosystem.”

The five selected companies on Aug. 22 will begin their 12-month work at the Tech Garden in Syracuse, where they will have access to “extensive” programming and resources. They include an ignition grant, stipends, and other resources totaling $90,000. Support for the Surge Accelerator is provided by JP Morgan Chase Foundation and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT).

“Our city and region are growing as a high-tech hub, creating exciting opportunities for higher paying careers and for new businesses to take root here,” Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said in the news release. “Nationally less than 25% of tech startups are founded by people of color—we must do better in Syracuse to ensure inclusive growth in the New Economy. The Syracuse Surge Accelerator is the right kind of investment to help breakdown systemic and social barriers that have kept founders of color away from the tech space and out of the workforce. I look forward to helping these entrepreneurs grow scalable businesses and thrive here in Syracuse.”

Participating companies

CenterState CEO provided brief descriptions of the five companies involved in the Syracuse Surge accelerator:

• Clutch Delivery LLC of Syracuse is designed to provide higher-education institutions with a dining experience that goes beyond the traditional on-campus options.
• HippoH Apparel, LLC of Clay is a boutique streetwear brand that seeks to “empower and lend voice to ‘Emergents’— up-and-coming BIPOC creatives and influencers —- while also supplying the most stylish streetwear culture and apparel to the masses.”
• Talkadot of Jamesville is a SaaS (software as a service) that helps public speakers collect audience data and testimonials; create real-time data reports on the effectiveness of their presentations; and capture people in the audience who want to book them to speak.
• Certainty Analytical Labs of Rochester is a business-to-business life-science laboratory that offers third-party compliance testing services to the environmental, food, pharmaceutical, and cannabis industry.
• Sign-Speak Inc. of Rochester is a real time Sign Language recognition, avatar, and transcription solution that allows Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HH) individuals to communicate with businesses in on-demand situations.