Applications for the annual Grow-NY food and agriculture business competition are open to high-growth agrifood startups through May 15.
State & National Entrepreneurial Programs
Our state and national entrepreneurship programs create connections for startups to access the funding, mentorship, and networks needed to commercialize their innovations. These initiatives help bridge the gap between academic discovery and market-ready technologies, accelerating the launch of successful startups.
Grow-NY Business Competition
Business competition growing an enduring food and agriculture innovation cluster
Interior Northeast I-Corps Hub (IN I-Corps)
Taking innovation from the laboratory to the marketplace
Northeast Regional Food Business Center
Helping farmers and food businesses access new markets and available resources
Northeastern Dairy Product Innovation Competition
Competition for innovators using raw milk and/or dairy ingredients
NSF Engines Development Award: Upstate 2.0
Transitioning Upstate New York to a climate-smart economy
Southern Tier Startup Alliance (STSA)
A member organization of business incubators in the Southern Tier
Impact
Our programs bring entrepreneurs together in a community of innovation.
$18 million+ awarded to startups through competitions, grants, and follow-on funding
Over 150 regional courses for tech innovators
Over 200 businesses started and supported through our programs
Regional and National Partners
We partner with dozens of regional and national organizations to bring our programs to life and support innovators at any stage of their entrepreneurship journey.
News in State & National Entrepreneurship Programs
Applications open for seventh annual Grow-NY competition
Empire State Development Announces Selected Finalists for Round Six of Annual $3 Million Grow-NY Global Business Competition
Inventing a new product that you can hold in your hands and bring successfully to an eagerly awaiting market is sometimes likened to childbirth: If we knew from the outset how hard it was going to be, fewer of us would do it.
Dairy Competition Winner Awarded $200K Grant
Laura Mack, the owner of an independent ice cream parlor called lu•lu Ice Cream in Vergennes, Vermont, won a $200,000 Existing Dairy Processor Expansion Grant from the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center (NEDBIC) in November.
I-Corps Alumni Make Humanitarian Impact in Ukraine
Safe Pro AI, co-founded by Binghamton University alumni Jasper Baur and Gabriel Steinberg, is a Safe Pro Group company leveraging AI and machine learning to detect, label, and map mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO).
Grow-NY Winners Aim to Make Regional Economic Impact
Hypercell Technologies of Peachtree Corners, Georgia, was named the $1 million grand prize winner of the fifth annual Grow-NY Food and Agriculture business competition. Six other winners split a combined $3 million in awards.
Governor Hochul Announces Round Five Winners of the Grow-NY Food and Agriculture Business Competition
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced Hypercell Technologies, of Peachtree Corners, Georgia as the grand-prize winner of this year’s Grow-NY business competition.
Grow-NY Startups Enrich Robust Agri-Food System
The startups battling for $3 million in prize money in the fifth annual Grow-NY Food and Agriculture Business Competition aren’t just bringing revolutionary innovations to market that could change the way we feed our planet – they are enriching the region’s robust agri-food system, too.
Empire State Development Announces Finalists for Round Five of $3 Million Grow-NY Global Food and Agriculture Business Competition
Empire State Development (ESD) and Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement (CREA) today announced the 20 finalists selected to take part in year five of Grow-NY, a food and agriculture business competition focused on enhancing the emerging food, beverage, and agriculture innovation cluster in upstate New York.
Trio of Innovators Named Winners of Inaugural Northeastern Dairy Product Innovation Competition
Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement (CREA) and Northeast Dairy Foods Research Center (NDFRC) announced that lu.lu Ice Cream, Oakfield Corners Cheese LLC, and Terra Firma Farm have been named winners of the inaugural Northeastern Dairy Product Innovation Competition.