As the 43North startup competition moves to its final event this October, the work of building a brighter future for Buffalo will get bigger, bolder and more ambitious.
43North started with an idea — that Buffalo can be a place for talented founders who want to build businesses that change the world.
Over the past 15 years, that idea became a reality. We’ve proven that great companies can start, scale and stay here.
Now it’s time to take that reality and turn it into a forceful engine of positive change for the entire community.
Today, 43North is announcing that this year’s Finals event at Shea’s Performing Arts Center in early October will mark the culmination of its annual startup competition.
However, this is just the beginning of 43North’s impact on the community, via the 43North Foundation’s $100 million commitment to Buffalo. This commitment will bring new strategies that are suited for Buffalo’s next era of growth, building off the momentum 43North created.
Regarding the competition. Five selected companies will relocate to Buffalo in January 2027, and the 43North team and the entire Buffalo community will do what we’ve become known for nationally: welcome them with open arms and surround them with the support, resources and neighborly spirit they need to thrive professionally and personally.
43North Finals have always had an amazing ability to put everybody at the center of its story — from the nervous backstage energy to the thousands of people who show up every year.
I remember sitting on the Shea's stage in 2014, watching Jordan Levy host the first competition. I was working as a staff writer for Buffalo Business First, exploring the underlying cause behind Buffalo’s renewed sense of momentum.
Watching people try to convince Buffalo to adopt their startup was a Big Moment, an inversion in our sense of place.
That first event had 300 people in the audience as opposed to the 3,000-person sellouts that have since become the norm. It had none of the polish of the productions that would follow.
But there was an undercurrent of incredible energy, like Buffalo was entering a bigger game with higher stakes, and it was doing so with a self-assuredness and confidence I hadn’t seen before.
It was a moment where people started to believe, where I started to believe, that entrepreneurship was more than a side bet on Buffalo’s future. It was, and still is, the thing that will determine whether we leave this city better than we found it.
43North is an incredible story in economic development. In total, it will invest in more than 80 companies, which have thus far created nearly 1,000 local jobs and about 3,000 globally.
It propelled ACV Auctions to its $3.8 billion IPO in 2021, creating a new layer of civic leadership and wealth in Buffalo.
And the proceeds of its successful companies seeded the 43North Foundation, a transformational, once-in-a-lifetime investment into Buffalo's future. The Foundation is introducing new strategies designed for the next round of community growth.
Think about that for a minute. New York State’s investment in 43North is recirculating through the community for a second time without any additional public subsidy. It’s an incredible economic development outcome.
The Foundation’s investment pillars include:
Radial Ventures: The Foundation’s venture studio is building new high-growth companies that are rooted in Buffalo. Radial is staffed by some of Buffalo’s most successful executives, engineers, and designers.
TechBuffalo: Introducing a holistic approach that will create a high-caliber talent pool to fill the jobs of tomorrow. That includes everything from its AI partnerships with public and private universities; creating educational pathways with the Golisano Institute of Business and Entrepreneurship to convening the region’s leading technologists through the Tech Advisory Council.
Series B, the Foundation’s storytelling arm, will make sure that people understand the opportunity at hand. This omnichannel strategy across the seriesbuffalo.com website, email newsletter and social media is already pulling in thousands of eyeballs from around the U.S. on a monthly basis.
Corporate connectivity: Through a new corporate engagement program, the Foundation is pulling established businesses off the sidelines and into the fight for the city’s future.
Each of these strategies are active and poised to create incredible impact in Buffalo.
We’ve made great strides in forging Act One of a dynamic innovation economy, with hard proof that cutting-edge companies can start, scale, and stay here. We’ve layered past commonly-told stories such as ACV and Odoo (which went from 1 employee to more than 400 over the past five years) with a surging cluster of insure-tech commandos; an exciting collection of consumer product startups; and numerous software firms that are growing in the AI era by solving real problems.
Watching the final 43North competition this October will be a stark moment for me. From covering this as a member of the media, to cultivating and crafting the story on behalf of the 43North Foundation, I’ve spent my career working on this subject because I believe it will change this city.
That vision extends beyond entrepreneurship and tech, to a dynamic engine of new enterprise that throws open the door to an era of opportunity and growth.
So here’s what 43North has done. It has wiped away old excuses and assumptions, and given us a start in building a brighter future for Buffalo.
It has created a template for the belief that will drive a new era of growth here.
Our next act. Our second chapter. Our Series B.
