Launch NY led Exostellar's seed round. The company went on to raise tens of millions in institutional venture capital before existing recently in a sale to Qualcomm.
Launch NY scored another exit from its portfolio with the recent announcement that Exostellar has been acquired by Qualcomm.
Ithaca-based Exostellar, a Cornell University spinout, was founded in 2018 and expanded its management team to Buffalo, becoming a leader in cloud optimization
The deal marks the fourth consecutive year a Launch NY company was sold, following exits of Buffalo-based startups Patient Pattern (2023), Dimien (2024) and Verivend (2025).
Launch NY is the most active seed investor in New York State and backs high-growth startup companies out of several different vehicles, including nonprofit and forproit funds and its Investor Network.
“Launch NY has not wavered in its crucial role establishing Upstate NY as a viable place to build high-growth startup companies,” said Marnie LaVigne, Ph.D., President and CEO of Launch NY. “As the first institutional investor who led Exostellar’s seed round, we are proud to have supported Hakim and co-founders Robbert van Renesse and Zhiming Shen, as first-time founders solving a big problem. This is exactly the kind of outcome we strive for, backing founders with transformative ideas and helping them scale into companies that attract global attention and acquisition.”
