News & Events

Inspiring moments from bold thinkers, dreamers and doers who make bettering the world their life’s work

Buffalo ranked among top 10 cities most supportive of startups
3/28/25
Thanks to programs like 43North and START-UP NY, Buffalo outranked major cities including Los Angeles, Charlotte and Boston.
With Empire AI, UB is helping people with ALS, improving medical imaging, boosting mental health resources and more
3/21/25
With the initial phase of Empire AI up and running at the Center for Computational Research (CCR), select UB researchers are employing the center’s powerful computers to develop technology that aims to ease the nation’s shortage of mental health professionals, improve medical imaging, and assist people with motor neuron diseases like ALS, amongst other efforts.
Science-Education-Day
3/19/25
Hundreds of high school students from across Western New York visited the North Campus on March 19 for Science Exploration Day. Presentations, tours and activities were led by UB researchers and representatives from local organizations. John and Jevon Whittington, stars of the Netflix documentary “You are What You Eat,” served as the keynote speakers. Both graduated from the Buffalo Public Schools and are nurses at ECMC and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, respectively.
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OUR STORIES

When businesses and universities collide, life-changing innovations are born. From developing novel materials to pioneering COVID-19 vaccine candidates, impacts made by UB startups, researchers and industry partners are as diverse as they are far-reaching.

The image shows a person using a laptop to browse a car sales platform. The screen displays listings for "Subaru WRX" vehicles, including images of the cars, their model years, and prices. The interface includes options to filter or sort the listings. A smartphone displaying the time (10:10) is placed next to the laptop on the table.
The founders of Guidesley and Refraction are raising funds
Refraction, a UB Cultivator company, is halfway to hitting its goal of $700,000 in pre-seed funding. Co-founder Jason Schwinger shares advice for fellow entrepreneurs seeking funding.
The image shows a business professional interacting with a digital interface. The interface features hexagonal icons, including lightbulbs symbolizing ideas or innovation and a central icon representing artificial intelligence (AI) with a microchip design. The person is pointing at the AI icon, emphasizing technology and innovation in a futuristic, conceptual setting.
Startups incorporating AI as it becomes all the buzz
With all the buzz, money and energy flowing into artificial intelligence, an increasing number of startups − including several we support − have adopted its use in their products and business models.
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3AM Innovations gets more Launch NY investment
Buffalo-based startup 3AM Innovations has received another $285,000 investment from Launch NY for its high-tech tracking system designed for first responders during emergencies.
UB chemist Chris Li has been named to the 2025 Class of Cottrell Scholars by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. Photo: Douglas Levere.
UB professor Li named Cottrell Scholar for lightning-inspired green ammonia reactor
Chris Li, a UB chemist developing a reactor for green ammonia synthesis, has received a Cottrell Scholar Award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA).
Peter Burakowski courtesy of Buffalo Business First.
Peter Burakowski recognized at IDEA Awards
Peter Burakowski, senior associate director of startup ventures at the University at Buffalo, was one of 20 individuals recognized in Buffalo Business First's annual IDEA (Inclusion Diversity Equity Awareness) Awards as a champion of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and community.
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Buffalo companies show VC funding is coming back
Western New York startups raised more than $147 million in 2024—nearly five times more than the previous year but still shy of the record capital raised in 2022.
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WBFO podcast: What's Next? | Elevating Black Businesses: Access, Empowerment, and Community Wellness
Shantelle Patton, founder of Cultivator portfolio company That Brown Bag, talks about evolving her Black-owned business directory and how mentorship, collaboration, and creative outlets are essential to entrepreneurs.
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Meet the 2025 Inno Fire Awards winners
Six Buffalo-area startups, all supported by various UB programs, have been named winners in the 2025 Inno Fire Awards.
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Launch NY commits up to $250,000 into auto e-commerce startup Refraction
Refraction, a UB Cultivator graduate, received $250,000 in funding from Launch NY. Refraction is a technology startup that has developed e-commerce software for used automotive dealers.
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WNY Impact Investment Fund announces $750K investment into 3AM Innovations
The Western New York Impact Investment Fund has invested $750,000 into 3AM Innovations, a BEP portfolio company.
The image shows a cross-sectional diagram of an axial flow compressor.
When Innovation Meets Collaboration: The Path to Sustainable Technology
In collaboration with UB's Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics, industrial processing equipment manufacturer S. Howes developed a next-generation thermal screw conveyor technology, offering significant environmental benefits by minimizing emissions.
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These five Buffalo startups are poised to make waves in 2025
See the five Buffalo startups named to Buffalo Inno's Startups to Watch list for 2025 — all of which have been supported by the University at Buffalo.
Three men stand smiling in front of a wall displaying a series of framed orange and green pennant-style banners. The banners appear to be related to an "Impact Investment Fund" with monetary values of $100,000 shown. One man on the left wears a brown checkered blazer, while the two others are dressed casually in fleece zip-up jackets (one dark, one light). They are engaged in what appears to be a check handover, with the man in the blazer presenting a check to the others.
WNY Impact Investment Fund makes $250,000 investment into Arbol
The Western New York Impact Investment Fund has invested $250,000 into Arbol, a graduate of UB's Cultivator startup program.
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HWI officially joins the University at Buffalo
Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute—now known as the University at Buffalo Hauptman-Woodward Research Institute (UB-HWI)—joined the university in January 2025 after the two entities finalized the legal transfer of HWI assets to the university. Specializing in structural biology research that is critical to understanding and treating disease, the move places the institute on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus within the university’s research and educational ecosystems.
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East Amherst’s Kulture Khazana breaks into Macy’s
Kulture Khazana, a Cultivator portfolio company, has finalized a deal with Macy’s to carry its products online and in 11 stores. The company’s creative line of toys, puzzles, and craft kits are designed to connect families and children to South Asian culture and celebrations.
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Five more startups complete UB's Cultivator program
In four years, 73 companies have participated in Cultivator, UB's early-stage startup program. See the latest to graduate from the program, along with other program progresses.
Y. Chris Li, with the department of chemistry (left), focuses his research on Electrochemistry. He is photographed with a student in a research lab in the Natural Sciences Complex in December 2024.
Taking a cue from lightning, eco-friendly reactor converts air, water into ammonia
Taking inspiration from how nature — including lightning — produces ammonia, a UB-led team has developed a reactor that produces the chemical commodity from nitrogen in the air and water, without any carbon footprint.
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2024: The year of AI at UB
As 2024 comes to a close, here’s a look back at what has been a year of AI at UB.
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IDEA Awards winners champion diversity, equity and inclusion in WNY
The winners of the sixth annual IDEA Awards stand out as champions of diversity and inclusion in their workplaces and in the community. This year's list includes Peter Burakowski, senior associate director of startup ventures at UB.
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POP BIO awarded $2.84M Phase II SBIR for seasonal influenza vaccine development
POP Biotechnologies Inc., a UB spinoff, received a $2.84M Phase II SBIR grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, to advance their novel influenza vaccine platform.
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For media inquiries, please contact:

Life Sciences, Advanced Manufacturing, Tech Transfer

Tracy Krawczyk-Schiedel
Assistant VP for Communications, Marketing & Digital Operations tracykra@buffalo.edu

Startups, Incubators

Jessica Szklany
Associate Director of Marketing Communications
 jszklany@buffalo.edu