Companies founded by students, faculty, alumni join START-UP NY

Five companies recently were approved for START-UP NY through their affiliation with UB.

The companies, which will start up or expand on or near UB’s campuses, expect to create 72 jobs and invest $3,698,500 in the Buffalo Niagara Region within five years.

Each company has ties to the university’s academic and research strengths, will collaborate with UB faculty researchers and offer internships, scholarships or jobs to students.

The five new companies are:

Abcombi Biosciences Inc.

Industry: Biotechnology
Capital investment: $1,860,000
Location: 73 High St., Buffalo
Square footage: 255
Expected jobs: 47

A graduate of UB’s Technology Incubator, Abcombi is licensing UB-created biotechnology to develop products that enhance vaccine efficacy and global accessibility. Abcombi founders include Charles Jones, who received a PhD in chemical and biological engineering at UB; Jonathan Lovell, assistant professor of biomedical engineering; and Blaine Pfeifer, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering. The company plans to offer UB students internships and hire graduates.

Buffalo Automation Group Inc.
Capital investment: $675,000
Location: UB Gateway Building, 77 Goodell St., Buffalo
Expected jobs: 5

A graduate of UB’s Technology Incubator and winner of the Buffalo Student Sandbox contest, the company was founded by three undergraduate students from UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. It is developing cutting-edge, self-navigation technology for boats and plans to offer UB students internships and hire graduates.

Healthcare Hub LLC

Capital investment: $1,068,000
Location: Olmsted Center for Sight, 1170 Main St., Buffalo
Expected jobs: 11

An existing business that is expanding, Healthcare Hub is a wholesale distributor of medical supplies and equipment. The company is creating a new and separate research and development division to create eco-friendly medical supplies. One of the company’s co-founders received and MD from UB’s Department of Family Medicine, while another completed the Allstate Minority and Women Emerging Entrepreneurs program at UB. The company plans to offer UB students internships and hire graduates, and collaborate with researchers from UB’s School of Engineering and UB’s New York State Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics.

Laboratory Integration Management Services Inc.

Capital investment: $50,000
Location: UB Gateway Building
Expected jobs: 6

The new software development company has developed a business-to-business platform to connect electronic health record systems installed at hospitals to external firms offering diagnostic genetic testing. The company plans to offer UB students internships and hire graduates, and collaborate with researchers from the Buffalo Institute for Genomics.

Snowberg Inc.

Capital investment: $45,500
Location: UB Gateway Building
Expected jobs: 3

Snowberg is a new software-development company focused on developing a website and mobile app called Ditoo that function as a social media-based e-commerce platform. It was founded by Mingcong “Alan” Zhang, an undergraduate student in UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The company plans to offer UB students internships and hire graduates, and collaborate with researchers from the engineering school and UB’s School of Management.

START-UP NY — SUNY Tax-free Areas to Revitalize and Transform Upstate New York — aims to spur economic development by enabling universities to identify areas where new and expanding businesses can operate for 10 years without paying New York State business, corporate, income, sales or property taxes, or franchise fees.

Since Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced the program, 59 companies, including the five announced here, have pledged to move or expand in the Buffalo Niagara region and work with UB to further their respective businesses. The 59 companies plan to create 1,851 jobs and invest $54,541,822 in the region.

Note: Since UB’s last START-UP NY announcement in September, two companies have withdrawn from the program: Clinical Support Services Inc. and Robb Surgical Devices. The planned investments and number of jobs expected from these two companies has been subtracted from the figures above.