(From left to right) Frank Taylor, Ian Dickerson, and Mike Smith, co-founders of Centscere, hold their prize check as the winners of the $200,000 Startup Labs Syracuse competition. CenterState CEO made the announcement as part of its annual meeting and luncheon at the Oncenter. (Photo by Eric Reinhardt)
SYRACUSE — CenterState CEO today awarded Centscere of Syracuse $200,000 in cash and prizes as the winner of the latest Startup Labs Syracuse competition.
CenterState CEO made the announcement during its annual meeting and luncheon held at the Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center at Oncenter.
Startup Labs Syracuse, which CenterState CEO describes as the region’s “largest business competition,” supports the region’s entrepreneurs and “accelerates” their ideas to the marketplace, CenterState CEO said in a news release.
The top prize includes $150,000 in cash, and the “Market Ready Award,” which includes a suite of marketing and branding services valued at $50,000.
Eric Mower + Associates, Central New York’s largest advertising agency, presents the Market Ready Award.
Centscere emerged as a finalist from a field of 87 applicants. The young firm says it is developing a micro-donation platform that harnesses the power of everyday social media to accumulate contributions to charities and causes.
Centscere is the brainchild of co-founders Ian Dickerson, Frank Taylor, and Mike Smith.
Earning the recognition from Startup Labs Syracuse is “just an amazing feeling,” says Dickerson, who spoke with the Business Journal News Network after the event.
The funding will help Centscere continue operating for “at least another year,” says Taylor, who also spoke afterward.
The firm will use its funding to hire additional staff. Centscere is currently operating at the Syracuse Tech Garden with six employees, including the co-founders, they say.
It’ll also use the marketing award to educate more nonprofits and users about the company’s “innovative, alternative” way to raise money, says Dickerson.
“We’re hoping to really expand nationwide with this,” he adds.
The Startup Labs Syracuse finalists also included Crowsnest Labs and Regattable. CenterState CEO provided each finalist an initial $20,000 investment and they completed a 22-day program that the organization describes as “intensive.”
CenterState CEO, lead sponsor National Grid, and 11 private sponsors invested $260,000 in cash and prizes to support the growth of the three finalist companies, CenterState CEO said.
In addition to the Startup Labs announcement, CenterState CEO also honored four local organizations with its “Business of the Year” awards.
The local office of Dallas, Texas–based AT&T, Inc. (NYSE:T) won in the category of community involvement; WCNY, Central New York’s member-supported public broadcasting company, won in the nonprofit category.
CenterState CEO also honored Morse Manufacturing Co., Inc. of DeWitt in the less-than-50-employees category and Northland Communications in the more-than-50-employees segment.
Northland Communications has offices in both Syracuse and Utica, according to its website.
The program also included remarks from Gov. Andrew Cuomo; a keynote address from Ben Baldanza, president and CEO of Miramar, Fla.–based Spirit Airlines (NASDAQ: SAVE); and Robert Simpson, president of CenterState CEO.
Baldanza is a native of Rome in Oneida County and a graduate of Syracuse University.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
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