ALBANY, N.Y. — An Ithaca startup won $50,000 in prize money in FuzeHub’s commercialization competition held Nov. 18-19 in Albany.
FuzeHub is an Albany–based nonprofit organization that works to help small- to medium-sized manufacturing companies in New York.
The Jeff Lawrence manufacturing-innovation fund, which FuzeHub administers, provided the award funding.
(Sponsored)
Think Your Employees Aren’t Using ChatGPT?
Think again. Survey data is consistent that use of ChatGPT and other “generative” artificial intelligence (AI) platforms is expanding exponentially. While difficult to quantify, surveys suggest that most employees in
Keeping Your Firm Secure on the Road to Digitization
By Dan Hernborg Sales Engineer With the looming threat of a potential recession and economic downturn, many professional service firms are looking to reduce costs and increase efficiency in preparation.
Halomine, Inc. of Ithaca is “developing antimicrobial products to tackle pathogens that are disrupting our food supply and health-care settings,” as described in a FuzeHub news release.
A firm from New York City won the $150,000 grand prize, while companies from Woodbury in Nassau County and three from Rochester also won $50,000 in prize money. During the competition, 18 finalists from across New York state pitched their products in front of a live audience. A panel of six industry experts selected the award recipients based on the commercialization potential of their technology.
“It’s exciting to hold this event every year. With additional funding, these companies can advance their commercialization strategies, which was one of the major objectives of the competition,” Elena Garuc, executive director of FuzeHub, said in the release. “Early stage commercialization is a critical stage in the startup process.” she added.
About the competition
The commercialization competition was launched in 2017 to support pre-revenue businesses at a “specific stage in their product development.”
The firms must use their award money to produce or improve upon a working prototype, to enable the company to pursue additional investments and customers, leading to commercialization of their product.
The competition is part of the Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund which supports activities designed to promote technology development and commercialization across New York State. The fund provides $1 million annually and is administered by FuzeHub, the statewide Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Center.
Lawrence, who died in 2015, was a top executive at the Albany–based Center for Economic Growth, the MEP Center for the Capital Region, and a supporter of New York manufacturing and entrepreneurial communities.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
