State awards CenterState CEO $1.5 million for Grants for Growth program

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — CenterState CEO’s Grants for Growth program will use $1.5 million in state funding to manage technology commercialization and pre-seed stage company investment.

The money, from the New York State Innovation Venture Capital Fund program, will leverage the “support, mentoring and commitment” of the state-funded Innovation Hot Spots in Central New York, the North Country and Southern Tier regions.

The local funding is part of a total of $5 million that the state awarded to organizations in Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo. The state chose the three Upstate firms through a “competitive” process.

The office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the funding in a news release Thursday.

By joining forces, the fund will extend its reach to cover 22 counties of upstate New York, including regional sources of “innovation, incubation and commercialization,” plus research and technology transfer at institutions like Syracuse University, Cornell University, Clarkson University, and Upstate SUNY campuses, Cuomo’s office said.

This funding builds on Grants for Growth’s eight-year track record of supporting commercialization by “uniquely aligning” three of New York’s Innovation Hot Spots, Seth Mulligan, vice president of innovation services at CenterState CEO, said in the news release.

“The evolution and scale-up of this program would not be possible if not for the vision and commitment of New York State Senator John DeFrancisco, who has supported Grants for Growth since its inception. Now, with an even more robust network of academic partners, mentors and innovation resources, we are positioned to leverage the state’s investment to successfully launch even more new startups and create new, high-quality jobs across these regions,” said Mulligan.

As CenterState CEO describes it, Grants for Growth is a “unique seed program that supports innovative applied research projects between universities and industry to improve business competitiveness and create jobs,” according to a Feb. 2 CenterState CEO news release announcing the latest grant winners in the program.

The $50 million New York State Innovation Venture Capital Fund program supports the transition from ideas and research to marketable products or services; accelerates seed and early-stage business formation; provides investment funding for support; and attracts “high growth,” technology-based companies to New York, according to Cuomo’s office.

The state expects the fund to leverage at least $100 million in private capital to support “high growth” areas including advanced materials, clean technology, life sciences/biotechnology, and information technology.