Startup CEL graduates first class of early-stage entrepreneurs

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The first cohort of early-stage entrepreneurs graduated from the new Startup CEL program offered by the University at Buffalo School of Management’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL).

The Startup CEL program provides specialized support to young, innovation-driven companies to help build more effective teams and navigate the complex pathway to commercializing their product or service.

The program was launched this winter in partnership with Ignite, the business development program of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) Inc., and UB’s New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences (CBLS).

On June 3, the CEL celebrated graduation for five of its programs at the UB Center for the Arts.

Representing 25 area companies, the 48 Startup CEL graduates are: Matthew Austin, Michael Austin and Tanveer Singh Dhillon, Smart Buffalo; Michael Bernhardt; Cara Casal, Peter Casal and Ryan Kessinger, PCJ General Contracting; Thomas Conde, Douglas Scouten and Sarah Scouten, Illuminating Diagnostics LLC; Eric Conrad, Carrie Fick, Michael Moretti and Christina Pearl, Ghostknow.com.

Also, Angel Davis and Lauren Washington, KeepUp; Steven Davis, Protoscale; Clark Dever, Paul Lee and Chris Mastin, Syrindicare; Kathleen Gaffney, Kasey Shea and Roger Shea, Artsgenesis Creativity; Charlie Goehrig, Jacqueline Stitts and Larry Stitts, Golden Cup Coffee; Oscar Hanyang Xu and Hayden Ren, EcoBreeze.

Also, John Hogenmiller and Mike Saraf, Adiabatic Solutions; Christian Johnson and James Johnson II, Beautiful Brains LLC; Kevin Keane, QPM LLC; Jeff Kryszak, K-TECHnologies; Randy Kryszak, Raysons Technologies; Josh Miller, Henry Raess and Mike Zak, GroOperative; Justin David Miller, Radar 20 LLC; Michael Miller-Mercer, 911 Next.

Also, Jonathan Moscato, Programmable Equipment Co. LLC; Bill Rader, Efferent Labs; Vladislav Sandler, HemoGenyx LLC; Jude Scinta Magness, Promotional Communication; Daniel Shani, Energy Intelligence Inc.; Peeyush Shrivastava and Chandan Srivastava, Genetesis; and Jenny Tcharnaia, triMirror.

“We were excited to launch this program and are thrilled with the first year’s results,” says Tom Ulbrich, executive director of the CEL. “Startup CEL fills a gap in the ecosystem by helping early-stage, innovation-driven entrepreneurs clearly define their business model, seek early customer validation and build a pathway for long-term success.”

Established in 1987, the CEL provides participants with individualized and interactive education in entrepreneurship. More than 1,300 CEL alumni employ more than 22,000 Western New Yorkers, and their businesses are worth more than $2 billion to the local economy. For more information, visit mgt.buffalo.edu/cel.

The UB School of Management is recognized for its emphasis on real-world learning, community and economic impact, and the global perspective of its faculty, students and alumni. The school also has been ranked by Bloomberg Businessweek, the Financial Times, Forbes and U.S. News & World Report for the quality of its programs and the return on investment it provides its graduates. For more information about the UB School of Management, visit mgt.buffalo.edu.