Rochester Business and Startup News
Upstate Technology, Innovation & Business Coverage

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — In a regional economy increasingly driven by experience-based businesses, Elvio’s Coffee is emerging as one of Rochester’s more distinctive lifestyle concepts, blending specialty coffee, live music and cultural programming into a single community-focused brand. Founded by Rochester musician and entrepreneur Elvio Fernandes, the café has quickly positioned itself as more than a traditional coffee shop. Located on Empire Boulevard near Irondequoit Bay, Elvio’

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For Chukwuebuka Mgbenka, the idea behind MoneyPigeon did not come from theory, it came from lived experience. As an immigrant navigating financial transactions between the United States and Nigeria, Mgbenka encountered persistent friction when trying to spend money across borders in emerging markets. Today, as CEO of the Rochester-based fintech startup founded in 2022, he is working to solve that problem by building a platform designed to make cross-border s

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A Rochester-based startup is solving one of the internet’s most persistent friction points: passwords. Locke , led by CEO Connor Peters, has announced the release of Open Passkey , a new, 100% free, open-source library designed to make passwordless authentication simple to implement across nearly any application. Alongside the library, the company is also launching Locke Gateway, a free, "backendless" authentication server that allows developers to deploy se

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — After more than a decade in the tech industry, Kyla Brown is applying her product mindset to a new challenge: fixing how people shop online. As the founder of Closet OS, a Rochester-based fashion technology startup launched in 2025, Brown is building a platform designed to make personal style more intuitive, personalized, and efficient. Closet OS sits at the intersection of retail, fashion, and technology, aiming to modernize an e-commerce experience that B

Rochester, N.Y. - Rochester’s next generation of founders, investors, and operators gathered this past Saturday at Fairport Brewing Co. for Start-up and VC Night, an event hosted by the Simon School Venture Fund (SSVF) , Net Impact , Uncorked, and the Simon Entrepreneurs Association (SEA). Designed as both an educational forum and a community-building experience, the evening delivered a strong signal: Rochester’s innovation economy continues to gain momentum, driven by access

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Upstate Venture Connect (UVC) has announced the eight founders from seven high-growth Upstate startups selected to participate in its first Founder Roadshow of 2026, a curated delegation heading to Michigan Tech Week in Detroit this May. The “Upstate to Detroit: Founders Roadshow” will bring a cohort of venture-scale companies into one of the Midwest’s fastest-growing innovation hubs for a multi-day immersion designed to accelerate growth, unlock capital,

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Long before he was building software for manufacturers, Steven Smith was already experimenting with entrepreneurship. As a child growing up in Greece, New York, he built haunted houses and arcade-style attractions in his grandmother’s basement and charged family members admission. “ It was probably the first time I realized you could build something and people would actually pay for it, ” Smith said. Today, Smith is the co-founder and CEO of Perdix Software

ROCHESTER, NY — The winners have been announced and leaders across the region’s technology ecosystem gathered to celebrate innovation, collaboration, and impact at the 2026 GREAT Awards , TechRochester’s annual recognition of the individuals, teams, and organizations shaping the future of technology in Greater Rochester. The GREAT Awards, short for Greater Rochester Excellence and Achievements in Technology, highlight the companies, researchers, students, and innovators using

As Women’s History Month begins, women's business and leadership groups are strengthening mentorship, leadership, and professional connections across the region. ROCHESTER, NY — As Women’s History Month begins and International Women’s Day approaches on March 8, several organizations across Rochester are helping women expand their professional networks, develop leadership skills, and create new opportunities in business and community leadership. International Women’s Day is

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Three Rochester-area founders will represent the region on the global stage as finalists in the 2026 Startup Grind Pitch Battle Royale , an international startup competition spotlighting emerging companies from around the world. The global finals take place March 4, with U.S. viewing times at 11 a.m. ET (8 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. CT). International broadcast times include 4 p.m. GMT and 9:30 p.m. IST, underscoring the event’s worldwide reach. Competing in the fina

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Invest NY Ecosystem Dashboard , an open-access data platform powered by Dealroom, now provides founders, investors, ecosystem builders and economic leaders a unified source of intelligence on startup activity, investment patterns, innovation assets and growth trends across Upstate New York. The platform aggregates company profiles, investor activity, transactions and ecosystem statistics and presents them in an interactive web dashboard at investny.org/

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For decades, professional networking has centered around conference rooms, cocktail receptions and carefully exchanged business cards. But across Rochester, a growing number of professionals are building meaningful business relationships in far less conventional settings on tennis courts, walking trails and inside boutique fitness studios. The shift reflects a broader change in how professionals think about community. Rather than transactional introductions,

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Rochester’s startup and innovation ecosystem isn’t just being built in offices and coworking spaces. It’s being broadcast. Across Spotify feeds, FM airwaves, and independent platforms, a growing group of Rochester-based podcast hosts are shaping conversations about business, leadership, equity, food systems, crime, culture, and community. Some are hyper-local. Others are gaining national attention. All are contributing to how the region tells its story. Her

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Upstate Venture Connect (UVC) is taking Upstate founders on the road this spring, launching a series of immersive roadshows designed to connect Upstate New York entrepreneurs with investors, customers, and corporate partners in some of the country’s most active innovation hubs. The nonprofit will lead curated delegations to Detroit (May 18–20), Boston (May 27–28), and New York City (June 2–4), aligning each trip with major tech and startup weeks in those ci

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — More than 20 Rochester-based startups will take the stage Feb. 19 at NextCorps for the local round of the Startup Grind Pitch Battle Royale , a global competition that gives early- and growth-stage founders a shot at international exposure and a trip to the Startup Grind Global Conference in April. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. EST at NextCorps, 260 E. Main St., and will also be available virtually. Founders will compete across three categories Idea, Develop

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — As the global race to commercialize nuclear fusion accelerates, Rochester’s innovation community is convening to examine where Western New York fits in a rapidly scaling, capital-intensive industry. On Friday, March 13, industry experts, technologists, and regional manufacturers will gather at NextCorps on the sixth floor of the Sibley Building for a full-day workshop titled Manufacturing for the Fusion Industry: Targets. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.

Buffalo, N.Y. — Brown and White Ventures has announced an investment in Finta , an AI-powered workflow platform designed to modernize how private companies raise capital and manage relationship-driven deals. The investment will support Finta’s efforts to scale its end-to-end dealflow infrastructure, which automates many of the most time-consuming aspects of private capital formation, including prospect research, investor outreach, warm introductions, and pipeline managemen

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — As government and defense agencies continue to prioritize resilient domestic supply chains and diverse vendor participation, the Monroe County Upstate NY APEX Accelerator is playing an increasingly central role in helping regional businesses access public-sector contracting opportunities. The APEX Accelerator, formerly known as the Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), is a federally supported program designed to help companies compete for federal

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Long before artificial intelligence, semiconductors, or advanced manufacturing became buzzwords, Rochester was already shaping the way the world sees, measures, and understands light. That work continues today through optics and photonics, industries that remain foundational to Rochester’s economy, workforce, and long-term relevance, even if they rarely make headlines. What Optics and Photonics Actually Mean At its core, optics is the science and engineerin

Rochester, N.Y. - Raising capital is often framed as a milestone, an announcement-worthy achievement marked by press releases, congratulatory posts, and celebratory headlines. But for most founders, the reality is far less polished. Capital raising is not a single moment; it is a prolonged, operationally demanding process that tests clarity of vision, depth of preparation, and personal resilience. For early-stage founders, particularly those outside major venture hubs, unders