Startup Labs wraps up

SYRACUSE — The first edition of Startup Labs Syracuse wrapped up this month with the program’s Demo Day.

The event took place Feb. 7. The five final teams in the competition pitched to a panel of judges in a public event. They are competing for a total of $350,000 in cash and prizes.

The money includes a $150,000 cash prize and the Market Ready Award presented by Eric Mower + Associates, which will provide a suite of marketing and branding services valued at $50,000. The finalists already received initial investments of $30,000 each.

The competition drew 97 initial applicants.

“For us the mentorship has been phenomenal,” says Dan Cody, chief operating officer at SnagMobile, LLC of Delmar. “The program has helped us identify where we can break barriers to entry.”

SnagMobile is a mobile app that allows users to order and pay for food and drinks at live events without leaving their seats. The company launched its app in two minor league baseball stadiums last summer.

The company is also working to deploy its technology at venues like golf courses, hotels, and casinos. The hotel market, Cody says, probably holds the most potential for SnagMobile now.

Stadiums are more of a seasonal business and SnagMobile’s leaders believe there’s demand for mobile payments among hotel guests.

“This market is completely new,” Cody says. “We need to prove ourselves.”

He expects two or three leaders to emerge in the space in the next 12 to 18 months. The idea is for SnagMobile to be one of them.

CenterState CEO unveiled Startup Labs in September as the successor to the Creative Core Emerging Business Competition, which began in 2007 and awarded a total of more than $1 million to area companies over the course of six competitions.

The final teams moved into the Tech Garden in downtown Syracuse in January to begin a 22-day program of working with more than 50 mentors and advisers to advance their ideas.

The competition’s prizes will be presented at CenterState CEO’s annual meeting on April 8.

Syracuse is the first U.S. city to host the Startup Labs program, which grew from the Startup Weekend program. That effort brings together entrepreneurs in weekend-long events around the world aimed at developing new business ideas. The Tech Garden has hosted the events in the past.

Startup Labs is based in Seattle and has run its program in Turkey, Taiwan, Mexico, Brazil, and India.

Startup Labs is partnering with CenterState CEO and Excell Partners of Rochester to bring the program to the region. Each partner invests an initial $50,000 to start the program. An additional $200,000 of support is provided by the competition’s 10 private sponsors including lead sponsor, National Grid.

Other major sponsors include M&T Bank and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

“When you work by yourself, you can become stubborn and get stuck in your own head,” says Bea Arthur, founder and CEO of Pretty Padded Room, one of the other finalists. “It’s been interesting to get feedback.”

Pretty Padded Room, based in New York City, provides online therapy. The service launched two years ago and its group of 10 therapists work with an average of 30 to 50 clients a month.

Arthur says she now wants to deploy the technology platform she’s created for the business to other therapists.

“This is super scalable,” she says.

Telemedicine and distance therapy are growing spaces and Arthur wants to make her business a major player in the space.

Startup Labs, she says, is helping figure out how to get there.

“Programs like this help you focus and put your next steps into action and give you insight into what investors are looking for,” she adds.

Contact Tampone at ktampone@cnybj.com