The global entrepreneurship organization remains committed to helping the fastest-growing startups in Buffalo reach their full potential.
Six years ago, something unlikely happened.
A global entrepreneur support organization, Endeavor, set up shop in Buffalo based on the belief that it was an emerging technology hub.
Since that time, Endeavor has greatly expanded its global presence and supported numerous companies as they scaled to unicorn status, making Buffalo’s place in its global network a point of local pride.
Locally, Endeavor has supported successful startup founders across Buffalo and Rochester, including Jay McHarg, leader of breakout Rochester company AeroSafe Global; and Dave Salvant and Songe LaRon, cofounders of former 43North winner SQUIRE. One Endeavor-supported entrepreneur, Jon DeWald of HelixIntel, was recently profiled by Series B.
"Endeavor finds the highest-potential companies and helps them scale faster and bigger than they thought possible, then helps them become mentors and investors for the next generation of founders," said Alan Rosenhoch, managing director of Endeavor Northeast.
Endeavor Northeast board members include Harmac Medical Products owner John Somers; 43North Foundation VP of corporate connectivity John Gavigan (who was Endeavor Northeast's first managing director; UpVentures Capital principal Martin Babinec; LaRon of Squire; Great Lakes HSBC regional executive Greg Duval; EY Buffalo managing partner Marc Izzo; and attorney Rajat Shah.
Endeavor’s local chapters build relationships with high-growth founders, a process that culminates in national and international selection panels, giving them access to a global network of peers, highly curated services and Endeavor’s fund.
Now that work is evolving into a broader regional strategy, based partly on the success of integrating Indianapolis, Atlanta and Louisville into a single network. Endeavor’s Northeast chapter now covers Western New York, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
Each of those startup ecosystems has strengths and weaknesses, but together, they have a much deeper bench of talent, investors and potential customers, Rosenhoch said. Supported by the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation’s Springboard NY program, Endeavor is in the midst of a Tri-City Founder Series that brings founders from each of those cities into the other markets.
In Pittsburgh, ACV Auctions cofounder and active angel investor Jack Greco headlined a fireside chat around rapid growth. In Cleveland, Embrace Pet Insurance founder Laura Bennett spoke candidly about the ups and downs of leading a company that would go on to sell for $1.5 billion. The third leg will be in Buffalo on Aug. 25 and 26, with a workshop from Tackle CEO John Jahnke and a keynote from Jeff Valentine, the former CTO of CloudCheckr and now president of Innovative Solutions, both successful software companies in Rochester.
Most of the participants are not Endeavor companies yet. But that’s the point. Rosenhoch and Cameron Smith, Endeavor Northeast’s entrepreneur experience manager, are focused on building relationships years before a company is ready, so that when Buffalo, Pittsburgh or Cleveland produces its next potential unicorn, Endeavor is already in the room.
"The similarities between the three markets are inevitable," Smith said. "You can tell just by hearing founders talk about the struggles they're dealing with. They’re connecting on how to turn market gaps into inter-market opportunities and on the best ways to grow quickly.”
The past six years have brought major headwinds and seen tech paradigms come and go, but that experience has left the Endeavor team bullish about the future. AI is creating extreme disruption, which in turn means extreme opportunity. A company with strong market feedback will attract coastal investors, no matter where the founders are based.
Buffalo-based software unicorn ACV Auctions “is not an aberration,” Rosenhoch said. “You can scale a massive, industry-defining company in Buffalo. With Endeavor, you have a world-class organization whose sole mission is to help you do that.”
Related: How EY became an important part of Buffalo's startup movement
