Antonio Civitella '91, a Siena College graduate and founder and president of the New York BizLab business accelerator, is providing Affiliated Company scholarships to four startup companies led by Siena students.
The BizLab Affiliate Program allows companies to access BizLab resources such as BizHub advisers, BizLab events, limited use of the start-of-the-art conference room and access to the Capital Region Chamber. The BizLab Affiliate Program has an annual value of $3,000. Civitella, who is also the president and CEO of global logistics software company Transfinder Corp., will waive the fee for the four companies for one year.
The teams of students are working on startups that range from a solar company providing solar-powered products in a one-for-one model to simultaneously provide solar electricity in developing countries, to a mobile teaching app to assist instructors and students as they learn complex repetitive maneuvers such as dance moves or karate steps.
The students have advanced their ideas during their studies in entrepreneurship with additional assistance from The Siena College David ’73 and Christine Spicer ’75 Stack Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Stocchetti Summer Accelerator. Now, they have an opportunity to work with professionals, service providers and their peers in a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at the New York BizLab. The BizLab provides expert services through experienced mentors and industry leaders to help the startups scale their projects up to sustainable small businesses.
“The New York BizLab is a great incubator program, and Siena has had student teams work with them in the past,” said Matthew Cusack '89, executive director of the Stack Center. “Having the BizLab support these four teams with full scholarships is incredibly generous — and I think also an endorsement of the quality of work coming from our Siena students. These are serious startup ideas with a real chance of success.”
Civitella said he was impressed by the four companies when judging pitches at the conclusion of the six-week Stocchetti Summer Accelerator program that took place on Siena’s campus earlier this month.
“It is exciting to see the great ideas these students have come up with,” Civitella said. “I am also gratified to see that these students have the technological backgrounds to actually build their products. Helping these students is precisely why I started the BizLab, so we can provide opportunities to the best and brightest students coming out of our local colleges.”
Rick D’Errico, managing director of the BizLab, said the four companies, Sundial, TeachMe, LiftOff and Bizi Media Co., all showed promise.
“The New York BizLab exists to help startups grow smart and grow fast,” D’Errico said. “Our stable of advisers and our events that are specially tailored for startups are resources that will now be available to these four companies.”
Capital Region Chamber President Chuck Steiner added, “The Capital Region Chamber is pleased to partner with the Bizlab in the development and growth of small business and entrepreneurship in our region.”
The BizHub advisers operate out of an office within the BizLab. The BizHub team of advisers is comprised of: CFO for Hire; Deb Best Practices; HR Resolved; Lavelle & Finn; Marvin and Company; Phillips Lytle; Pinnacle Recruiting; and UHY LLP.
