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

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

VICTOR, N.Y. — When Samantha Taylor launched Olive Speech Therapy , in 2022, she was not just starting a private practice. She was rethinking how families experience speech-language services and how clinicians are supported in delivering them. Today, Taylor leads a growing team of eight speech-language pathologists serving families across the Rochester region. In 2025, she expanded her impact further with the launch of the Empowered Parent Network, a community-driven platform

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Business owners, procurement leaders, and public-sector buyers gathered Wednesday at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center for the 2026 Upstate New York Supplier Engagement Summit, a full-day event focused on expanding access, visibility, and opportunity for diverse suppliers across the region. Hosted in downtown Rochester, the summit brought together minority-owned, women-owned, and service-disabled veteran–owned businesses with representatives from loc

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. — When Stephanie Williams launched Family Concierge  in 2022, she wasn’t setting out to build just another nanny service. She was responding to a gap she had experienced firsthand . One that left both families and caregivers navigating a fragmented, often frustrating system with little guidance or long-term support. Based in Rochester, Family Concierge operates in the nannies and household staffing sector, providing families across Western New York with highl

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. — By the time Connor Peters graduated college at 19, he had already launched a business, managed IT systems, and identified a problem he couldn’t ignore. Today, as CEO of Locke , a Rochester-based cybersecurity company founded in 2022, Peters is building software designed to solve one of the most persistent and overlooked challenges in modern IT, identity. Peters grew up in Geneseo, New York, and earned his Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems f

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

BROCKPORT, N.Y. — After spending more than a decade teaching English to students around the world, found herself ready for a new challenge. Today, she is the founder of VerbaVista , an early-stage EdTech company launched in 2025 that aims to help English-language educators plan lessons more effectively using technology built by teachers, for teachers. LaScala-Lodato’s path to entrepreneurship was anything but conventional. A native of Port Jefferson, New York, she earned a ba

Rochester, N.Y. - From CES to Davos, a handful of global conferences shape what business will look like next. Rochester founders should be paying attention. Each year, thousands of executives, policymakers, founders, investors, and technologists converge at a small number of global conferences. These are not trade shows in the traditional sense. They are agenda-setting forums, places where industries align, capital finds direction, and narratives about the future of business

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A new wave of Rochester's startups is redefining what innovation looks like in the region. Long known for its legacy in imaging, optics and precision manufacturing, the region is now leveraging that foundation to build a modern startup ecosystem, one anchored by a growing network of incubators and accelerators designed to help founders turn ideas into companies. For executives, emerging founders, investors and business leaders looking to understand where inn

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — In a startup ecosystem often defined by accelerators, incubators, and capital programs, Springboard NY  occupies a different and increasingly important role. Rather than backing individual startups, Springboard NY invests in the infrastructure around entrepreneurship, helping regions like Rochester build stronger, more connected innovation economies. Launched as a regional initiative serving Western New York, Springboard NY focuses on ecosystem-building: fun

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Long before venture capital became a mainstream career path, Pavan Kumar Tallavajhula was building startups at the edge of the internet’s first wave. Today, as a partner at 3pmVentures , Tallavajhula brings nearly three decades of global operating, investing, and advisory experience to Rochester’s growing startup ecosystem. Founded in 2018, 3pmVentures focuses on early-stage startup investing and strategic advisory, drawing on Tallavajhula’s background in te

Rochester, NY - Founders navigating the early stages of company building are often encouraged to “join a program.” But not all programs are created equal and choosing the wrong one can cost time, equity, control, and credibility. Incubators, accelerators, and venture studios each play a distinct role in the startup ecosystem. At their best, they compress learning cycles, reduce execution risk, and expand access to capital and customers. At their worst, they monetize founder a

ROCHESTER, N.Y.  — In an era when most clothing worn in the United States is produced overseas, Rochester stands apart. Once known globally as a center of precision optics and imaging, the city also holds a lesser-known but increasingly rare distinction: it remains one of the last U.S. cities with the infrastructure, labor force, and institutional knowledge to produce men’s clothing. While the modern fashion conversation often centers on New York, Los Angeles, or Paris, Roche

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Connected Know is launching the Connected Know Business Book Club, a new monthly series designed to convene Rochester-area founders, executives, operators and growth-minded professionals for structured conversation, networking and shared learning. The series will debut in January 2026 and is hosted in partnership with Serendipity Labs Rochester at Innovation Center as part of a six-month venue and community collaboration. The book club will be held in per

Rochester, N.Y. — As more small businesses compete for attention in an increasingly crowded digital landscape, Hannah Lavigne has built a business around helping brands stand out with clarity and intention. As the owner and head designer of Sage James Creative , Lavigne works with entrepreneurs and small businesses to translate their ideas into cohesive websites, branding, and digital identities. Founded in 2019, Sage James Creative is a website design and branding studio ser