Launch NY’s latest investment builds on mentorship and technical assistance behind the Buffalo startup’s rise
When Makeoff first came to Launch NY, it was an early-stage startup with a promising idea. Today, the Buffalo-based company is landing contracts with national commercial contractors, backed by a new investment from Launch NY.
Makeoff is building an automated bid review platform for commercial electrical contractors. Errors buried inside complex project estimates are easy to miss and expensive to fix once work is underway, contributing to an estimated $6–15 billion in rework annually across U.S. commercial and industrial electrical projects.
Makeoff’s AI platform serves as a quality-assurance layer for estimators, reviewing project plans across multiple disciplines to flag discrepancies that often slip through during the bidding process.
Founded in 2025, Makeoff has already put that approach to work in the field through three paid enterprise pilots, with several more in the pipeline. The company has identified over $24 million in estimating errors across the projects it has reviewed, including one case where its platform caught a $500,000 error on a historical bid.
Makeoff joined Launch NY’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) program in July 2026. Alongside the mentorship, Launch NY led a full due diligence process covering the company’s financials, team, capitalization, and intellectual property. Makeoff’s founders participated in practice pitch sessions, taking feedback from the EIR on the narrative and deck structure before presenting to Launch NY’s Investment Committee.
“Launch NY got us investor-ready,” said Will Zacher, co-founder and CEO of Makeoff. “Working through the seed fund application with their team forced us to tighten our model and defend every assumption in it. We’re a better company for having done it.”
Through Launch NY’s Technical Assistance (TA) program, Makeoff also received legal, accounting, and financial advice to help shape a capitalization structure that prepares the company for future investment and growth.
With the latest investment from Launch NY, Makeoff plans to improve risk detection within its platform and expand into switchgear vendor quote leveling, a feature that lets contractors compare multiple vendor quotes across a subset of an electrical project.
Makeoff continues to be supported by Radial Ventures, a venture studio backed by the 43North Foundation. The investment reflects a meaningful collaboration between Launch NY and the 43North Foundation, two organizations working to strengthen the region’s startup ecosystem.
“The Makeoff team has built something that solves a real, expensive problem for electrical contractors, so we were pleased to partner with Radial Ventures in supporting Makeoff," said Marnie LaVigne, PhD, President and CEO of Launch NY. “Watching the company grow into one serving national commercial contractors is exactly the kind of outcome Launch NY aims to help create.”
As part of Launch NY’s portfolio, Makeoff is also included in the Launch NY Investor Network, providing exposure to accredited investors and opportunities for additional angel investment and strategic connections.
The Launch NY Investor Network is the only digital platform dedicated to connecting accredited investors with startup investment opportunities exclusively located in Upstate New York. Accredited investors can participate for free, with no fees unless they make an investment. Investors interested in accessing curated deal flow from the region’s most promising startups can learn more and join the network at: https://launchny.org/investors/invest-now.
About Launch NY: Launch NY is the only nonprofit venture development organization and U.S. Treasury-designated Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) serving and directly funding startups exclusively in Upstate New York. Its mission is to identify, support, and invest in high-growth, high-impact companies that catalyze job and wealth creation across the region.
Since 2012, Launch NY has mentored over 2,020 companies that have gone on to raise more than $1.5 billion, generate more than $450 million in annual revenue, and support more than 10,500 jobs. Nearly 70% of its portfolio companies are in low-income neighborhoods.
Launch NY delivers pro bono mentorship through its Entrepreneur-in-Residence program, Founders Go Big program for underrepresented founders, Emerging Cleantech Opportunity (ECO) Incubator, and Technical Assistance program, preparing entrepreneurs for investment through its InvestLocal Financing Programs and Investor Network. Launch NY is the most active seed investor by volume of transactions in New York State and ranks among the top five nonprofit seed funds in the country
