Rochester imaging giant; the optics/photonics legacy under upstate NY's photonics cluster.

Kredit Academy is a white-labeled credit card and financial education platform designed for financial institutions and brands, helping organizations deliver engaging, trackable financial education that drives community impact and measurable results. The company is headquartered in Buffalo, New York.

SelectFI is an automotive artificial intelligence company headquartered in Buffalo, NY (875 Hopkins Rd) that delivers predictive lending insights and instant customer financing quotes to auto dealerships. The company has announced new funding rounds to expand its AI-powered dealership financing platform.

ACV Auctions is a Buffalo, NY-based digital automotive marketplace and data services platform that enables dealers to source used vehicle inventory through online auctions. The company expanded its Buffalo operations with support from New York State, reinforcing its position as a leading dealer-to-dealer wholesale marketplace.

AlbaNYlabs LLC is a CLIA-certified, high-complexity molecular diagnostics laboratory based in Albany, New York, providing COVID-19 and other molecular testing services. The company operates out of 260 Washington Avenue Extension, Suite 101, Albany, NY.

BosonQ Psi (now operating as BQP) is a Syracuse, NY-based quantum computing software company whose platform leverages quantum approaches for system optimization, physics simulations, and large-scale AI/ML workloads on high-performance computers. Backed by Armory Square Ventures, BQP was named Upstate Capital's venture deal of the year for 2025.

CleanFiber is a Buffalo, NY-based manufacturer of high-performance cellulose insulation made from recycled corrugated cardboard boxes and other clean fiber sources. The company operates a state-of-the-art production facility in Buffalo with annual capacity of over 3 million bags of insulation. CleanFiber's liquid-enhanced manufacturing process produces what it markets as the purest and best-performing cellulose insulation available.

Southern-Tier materials-science leader — optical fiber and Gorilla Glass (the cover glass on most smartphones).

Edenesque is a Buffalo, NY-based plant-based dairy startup that produces chef-crafted products including pistachio milk and oat milk blends designed for coffee and culinary use. The company relocated its headquarters to Buffalo following investment from Launch NY, which invested $175,000 in April 2024. Edenesque is a mission-driven brand focused on premium plant-based alternatives.

FoodNerd is a Buffalo, NY-based, woman-owned food startup producing organic, nutrient-dense snack puffs made from 100% fruits, vegetables, and sprouted seeds targeted at toddlers. The company closed a $7.5 million Series Seed round and, as of 2025, operates a 30,000 sq. ft. FDA-registered production facility in Clarence, NY.

The largest INDEPENDENT pure-play semiconductor foundry in the US — a merchant foundry that fabricates for others rather than for itself; HQ Malta NY (Capital Region). Specialty technologies, advanced packaging, and classical-quantum integration (cryogenic CMOS). The independence is the point: the open foundry the whole ecosystem can use, the overlooked-critical manufacturing layer rather than a captive fab. Anchor of the NY Tech Valley semiconductor cluster.

HeronAI is a Buffalo, NY-based AI company that connects fragmented business data and automates financial reporting, transforming Excel and QuickBooks exports into ready-to-use dashboards and action-ready insights. The company was a 2024 43North competition winner.

Drone defense and airspace awareness platform. Revolution + DFJ Growth + Booz Allen Hamilton investor. Raised $65M Feb 2025. Detects, tracks, and identifies drones — national security and critical infrastructure.

International Business Machines; quantum computing recipient ($2B Trump admin grants May 2026)

LenderLogix is a point-of-sale and borrower experience platform built for Encompass, the mortgage origination system, serving hundreds of lenders across the country. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Buffalo, New York, the company was ranked among the fastest-growing companies in the 2023 University at Buffalo Fast 46.

Memory & storage semiconductor maker (HQ Boise ID). Building a $100B megafab complex in Clay NY near Syracuse for next-generation high-bandwidth memory — the upstate-NY semiconductor cluster, American chip manufacturing the coastal lens overlooks.

Albany NanoTech Complex — the public-private epicenter of US semiconductor R&D. Houses the CHIPS for America EUV Accelerator and serves as the bridge where IBM and partner firms prototype cutting-edge designs on 300mm wafers. Anchor of the NY Capital Region (Tech Valley) semiconductor cluster.

Offerwell is a Buffalo, NY-based real estate technology company that provides brokerages, MLSs, and agents a shared operating layer for listing, showing, offer, and follow-up workflows. The company graduated from UB's Cultivator program and raised pre-seed funding in 2023 to expand into Rochester and Syracuse markets.

Ovitz is a Rochester, New York-based ophthalmic technology company that provides the world's first automated higher-order aberration (HOA) correction system for vision improvement. The company manufactures portable ophthalmic equipment that diagnoses individuals with abnormal vision and produces customized wavefront-guided contact lenses to neutralize higher-order aberrations across the entire optical system.

Phlotonics is a Rochester, NY-based biosensing company developing advanced photonic sensor platforms for real-time, label-free biomolecular detection to support biomanufacturing and drug discovery. In 2025, the company was awarded a $1.1 million AIM contract to advance its biosensor technology.