Launch NY to use $1M grant for technical assistance for startups

BUFFALO — Launch NY will use a $1 million state grant to provide a new State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) technical-assistance program. Empire State Development (ESD) awarded the money through ESD’s NY Ventures division, the agency announced on Oct. 29. The grant is funded through New York’s allocation from the U.S. Treasury State Small Business Credit Initiative. It will provide hands-on support to early-stage startups across New York to help founders strengthen business operations, improve financial readiness, and position their companies to attract investment capital, ESD said. Entrepreneurs interested in applying for the technical-assistance program can visit launchny.org/ssbci-ta. “Empire State Development is proud to support Launch NY with this $1 million investment in expanding access to critical technical assistance that helps entrepreneurs across our state turn bold ideas into high-growth businesses,” Hope Knight, president, CEO, and commissioner of Empire State Development said in the announcement. “By providing startups with professional legal, accounting, and financial advisory services, we’re removing the barriers that too often prevent innovative companies from securing the capital they need to grow. This initiative ensures more New York founders can successfully navigate the path from idea to investment, creating jobs and driving economic growth statewide.” Launch NY’s selection as the grant recipient recognizes its position as a long-time investor in the Upstate ecosystem and its network built over years of working with businesses of the future. The organization’s “extensive experience and proven track record make it the ideal partner” to identify and coordinate the legal, financial, and accounting services that will support selected startups statewide, ESD contended.

“Based on our experience delivering pro bono mentorship to more than 350 startups annually — and over 1,850 since 2012 — we know that preparing these businesses to raise equity capital is one of their biggest challenges,” Marnie LaVigne, Ph.D., president and CEO of Launch NY, said in the ESD announcement. “This program offers the first widely available, hands-on resource for founders to receive the legal, accounting, and financial guidance necessary to become investment-ready.”

Program specifics

Starting in November, Launch NY’s technical-assistance program will provide expert services to pre-seed and seed-stage companies across multiple industries. Through this initiative, companies will receive professional assistance with developing investment term sheets, evaluating purchase agreements, setting up banking relationships, and creating financial models for investors — “the kind of support that is critical to early-stage growth,” ESD noted. Through the technical-assistance program, founders will be able to access professional expertise in three key areas. They include legal services focusing on business-formation filings, contract development, employee agreements, ownership transfers, and equity fundraising transactions. They also include accounting support, such as financial-software implementation, pro formas, bookkeeping practices, and investor presentations. In addition, the program offers expertise in financial advising, such as fundraising strategy, banking-relationship development, small-business program applications, and financial modeling.

About Launch NY

Launch NY is the only nonprofit venture-development organization and U.S. Treasury-designated Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) serving startups across 36 upstate New York counties. Since 2012, the organization has supported nearly 1,860 companies that have raised more than $1.5 billion in capital, generated more than $275 million in annual revenue, and created more than 9,600 jobs. More than 70 percent of Launch NY’s portfolio companies are located in low-income neighborhoods, “reflecting its mission to drive inclusive economic growth through mentorship and capital-access programs” — including its Entrepreneur-in-Residence initiative, Founders Go Big program, Emerging Cleantech Opportunity (ECO) Incubator, and InvestLocal Financing programs, as described in the ESD announcement.