Thank you all for joining our recent MARL on MAIN held at Great Lakes Gaming Lounge at Innovation Square May 4, 2023.
We had over sixty people from the Rochester community including founders, students, downtown Rochester residents and Mayor Evans. The purpose of MARL on MAIN is the following:
The Frederick Douglass Susan B. Anthony Bridge connected to the Golden Gate Bridge represents economic inclusion and deal flow. Together with you we are strengthening our relationship with Silicon Valley to contribute to work already happening here in Rochester. We do that by creating a concierge experience with VCs we fly to Rochester to spend a few days with the entrepreneurship community:
- Engaging Silicon Valley investors to meet curated companies that are looking for seed and follow on funding
- Amplifying the robust Rochester startup ecosystem
- Supporting ideation and helping get organic ideas into a shareable structure — MARL Think Entrepreneurship ™
Opening remarks from Mayor Evans included:
“This is where the next great thing will happen, when you meet folks to transform the world. When you put venture capitalists in the room with the people that have the ideas that spark a vision and collaborate, you not only transform people’s lives and those businesses, but you transform cities. We have to be able to support our ecosystem that is currently here in Rochester, but also see how we can bring out outside partnership. Connection between opportunity for investment here and the capital out West has long pasted. It is high time that Rochester imports financial resources and exports its ideas.”
So far, we have brought Yashwanth Hemaraj from Benhamou Global Ventures and our most recent guest VC Nilesh Trivedi of J-Ventures Fund.
Conducting the fireside chat was Olivia Goldstein of Upsate Venture Connect.
We are so very appreciative of Evan Gallina of Gallina Development who has an inspring vision of downtown Rochester -including Innovation Square that now houses alost 400 students. Getting students at the heart of the city interacting with local businesses is a great way to accelerate job opportunities for these graduates.
Presenting startups included the following:
NextCorps’ Brandy Young Ph.D. of Certainty Analytical Labs, a boutique CBD testing firm. You can read more about Certainty Analytical Labs as there were recently featured in Forbes.
Rochester Institute of Technology Venture Creations’s Nicki Brugler of ENDOGLOW, manufactures of fluorescent medical devices used during minimally invasive surgeries (MIS).
University of Rochester’s Ain Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation’s Michael Giardino of Quizard AI, a study platform incorporating artificial intelligence for college students with already over 100,000 downloads.
We believe that entreprenurship requires inspriation and art and the aesthetic are imporant aspects of innovation. This session, our featured artist was Gabrielle Peck of The Free Art Collective.
The MARL Accelerator team is thrilled to bring MARL on MAIN to Rochester two times a year. Mark your calendars for October 12th, 2023 where will will curate another bridge building experience.
Closing the program was MARL Accelerator Founder Prakash Goswami, “I lived here in Rochester, New York, for twelve years. My daughter was born at Strong Hospital. I loved living here and see so many good things happening. My philosophy is that we need to continue connecting the dots. It is our hope that MARL on MAIN opens your mind to all the many ways we can collaborate to build this bridge between the Frederick Douglass Susan B. Anthony Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge. We look forward to working with you.”
