43North gets state funding to keep the competition on track

The state has renewed the funding of 43North’s $5 million annual contest and a chunk of its operational costs.

The Empire State Development board of directors this week committed $30 million to 43North, which is embarking on its ninth competition later this year.

It’s enough funding to keep the competition going for at least the next several years. The state continues to be the largest financial supporter of Buffalo’s first substantial accelerator program that attracts world-class entrepreneurs to grow their startups in Western New York.

Finalizing the funding, which was never guaranteed to 43North, has been a work in progress for months, according to Colleen Heidinger, president at 43North.

At the start of 43North, funding would come annually from the state, which wanted to see progress before providing more money to the program, Heidinger said.

The latest state funding will cover three more rounds of a competition that awards five companies each with $1 million, as well as the subsequent accelerator program year that will result from the 2025 competition. 

It also provides 43North with some, but not all, of its operational costs. That is where other partners of 43North, such as the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, have come into play.

“This is big,” Heidinger said. “The state purposely did not fully fund us at the beginning. They wanted us to go out and raise support from the community, and as difficult as that was at the beginning … there are plenty of partners in Buffalo that have jumped on this bandwagon from the start and committed to the success overall.”

The funding agreement shows that the state trusts and supports the work being done by 43North, Heidinger said. The prior funding agreement with the state also covered three 43North competitions.

43North has invested in more than 60 startups that have gone on to raise more than…