43 North

43North is an accelerator program founded by Empire State Development and the State of New York. The program hosts an annual startup competition, investing $5 million per year to attract and cultivate high-growth companies in Buffalo, NY. 43North portfolio companies also receive free incubator space in Buffalo for one year, guidance from mentors in related fields, and access to other business incentive programs such as START-UP NY. To date, 43North has invested $35 million in 59 companies, created over 1,000 jobs in the Western New York region and nearly 3,000 globally, and has a portfolio valuation of over $4 billion. 43North's portfolio has gained traction in recent years, including notable growth by ACV Auctions, which achieved "unicorn" status in 2019 and went public, listing on the Nasdaq in March 2021; Squire, which closed a series C in 2020 at a $250 million valuation. LabCorp supported Circuit Clinical's latest raise. 43North operates with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul, Empire State Development, the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, and several other sponsors.

Program
In its main program, 43North runs an annual competition that results in awarding $5 million to a group of eight companies, including a $1 million investment as the top award. The application period occurs every spring and lasts approximately two months. They accept applications from entrepreneurs all over the world, ages 18 and older, and are open to multiple industry sectors. Interested applicants apply online by filling out an online application.

The competition has three rounds of judging: an online written application, a live video pitch, and an annual pitch event for the final 20 companies in October at Shea's Performing Arts Centre.

One first-place winner receives an equity investment of $1 million; the runner-up receives an equity investment of $650,000; the third-place winner wins an equity investment of $550,000; and the five other winning teams are awarded equity investments of $500,000. All winners receive workspace in 43North's business incubator located on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus [4], tax incentives through the state of New York, guidance from mentors and leaders in their field, media coverage, and connections [5 in exchange for 5% equity.

Portfolio companies
As of 2021, 43North had invested a total of $30 million in 51 companies from the life sciences, software, manufacturing, clean tech, and consumer products industries. Its 2015 $1 million grand prize winner, ACV Auctions, whose app allows dealers to instantly buy and sell wholesale inventory, has raised more than $300 million since winning the competition and is Buffalo's first tech unicorn. The most recent Series D funding round raised $93 million in December 2018 that followed an earlier 2017 venture funding raise that had totaled $15 million, and was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, a $4 billion venture capital firm. This Series B funding builds on the $5 million in venture capital that ACV Auctions secured in 2016; that Series A round was led by Tribeca Venture Partners, with participation from SoftBank Capital NY (SBNY), Armory Square Ventures and Rand Capital (Nasdaq: RAND).

Finals judges
43North has used judges help determine the winners since its inception. Notable judges include: American broadcast news correspondent Luke Russert served as the 43North Finals Emcee in 2016, and Megan Smith, the 3rd Chief Technology Officer of the United States (U.S. CTO) and Assistant to the President, serving under President Barack Obama, served as the keynote speaker.
 * Tim Draper
 * Gary Vaynerchuk
 * Michael Lazerow
 * Ambarish Mitra
 * Esther Dyson