Grow Your Business
Accelerate your Start Up Company in Buffalo Niagara
Increase in Startup Funding Accessibility
Streamlined funding processes and expert guidance have led to a significant 75% increase in startup funding accessibility in Buffalo Niagara, empowering entrepreneurs to secure the capital they need to fuel growth and innovation.
Expanded Coworking Spaces
With a 50% rise in amenity-rich coworking spaces, startups in Buffalo Niagara now have access to tailored workspace solutions that cater to their evolving needs, fostering creativity, collaboration, and productivity.
Enhanced Collaboration
Thanks to the collaborative ecosystem in Buffalo Niagara, startup success rates have seen a remarkable 60% boost. By fostering a culture of collaboration and providing tailored support services, the region has become a hotspot for entrepreneurial growth and innovation.
FIND START UP FUNDING FOR YOUR FUTURE
Live your Best Startup Life in Buffalo Niagara, an Entrepreneur’s Dream Culture
Empowering Success
Startup Dreams Take Flight
Toolkit
Our resources and services make it easier than ever to start a business here.
Invest Buffalo Niagara serves as a single point of entry for economic development inquiries and offers a comprehensive suite of client-driven project management services to companies and consultants evaluating the market area.
Startup Podcasts
You’re in good company and surrounded by strong startup resources. Hear from leaders in the startup ecosystem. We can make introductions.
Demographic Analysis
Explore our Buffalo Niagara demographics dashboard plus our Manufacturing and Technology specific data. We can also provide custom data.
Well-education Workforce
Buffalo Niagara benefits from 19 colleges and universities graduating 20,000+ annually. Discover your sources of talent.
Site Selection
Generate property data reports, and search commercial real estate listings. Our team can run a custom search for you and schedule tours.
Incentives
On top of the already low cost of doing business in Buffalo Niagara, the region offers qualifying businesses growing in WNY a number of incentive opportunities. We help companies through the application process.
Service Providers
Our region boasts a robust transportation infrastructure and benefits from strong utility partners who we are happy to introduce you to.
Startup Funding
You have the next big idea, but do you have the financial resources to make it happen? Our region works hard to connect entrepreneurs with the startup funding needed to bring their concept to fruition. The Buffalo Niagara entrepreneurial ecosystem has found a perfect balance between local funding resources and attracting outside venture capital. Plus, the region’s affordability – both for businesses and employees – helps to lengthen your runway. Here are some local startup funding resources:
Incubators & Accelerators
In Buffalo Niagara, these organizations vary in size and specialties, catering to the needs of diverse startups. Many have affiliations with local colleges and universities, offering access to research partnerships, funding opportunities, and campus resources. Some are even designated as START-UP NY spaces, providing a 100% tax-free incentive for a decade.
Coworking Spaces
Coworking spaces offer diverse amenities tailored to your needs including plug-and-play options for flexible office spaces, reliable WiFi, vibrant atmospheres, and ample coffee. Buffalo Niagara knows the importance of amenity-rich and community building spaces – and we have plenty of options.
Success Breeds Success
ACV Auctions became Buffalo’s first software unicorn, with a valuation over $1 billion, more than 1,000 employees, and a successful IPO on the NASDAQ in 2021. Another local tech company – Tackle.io, closed a $100 million Series C round of venture capital funding, bringing the company’s valuation to $1.25 billion as Buffalo’s second unicorn. 32 local startups raised private, growth-oriented capital in 2021.
Hear from Sallie Reid & Greg Borowski of ACV Auctions in a brief video. We discuss their growth and success, what advantages Buffalo offers them, and the WNY talent pool.

Resource Guide
Your success is our success, we don’t stop until you win!
From bustling retail hubs to cutting-edge tech centers, experience unprecedented growth unlike anything seen in over 50 years. Our comprehensive guide provides essential insights including transportation access, demographics, workforce trends, real estate comparisons, industry-specific data, and beyond. Dive into the excitement and uncover a world of opportunity in Buffalo Niagara.
HOW WE HELP
We've made it simple and painless to grow your business in Buffalo Niagara.
The team of professional economic development consultants at Invest Buffalo Niagara provides free and confidential services to companies considering the Buffalo Niagara region.
Book a Discovery Call
Determine if your company is right for Buffalo Niagara.
Let us Manage your Start up Expansion Project
From research to ribbon cutting -- we’ve got you covered.
Find Success in Buffalo Niagara
Our services don’t end there. Upon expansion or relocation, we are here to provide connections to hiring agencies, media contacts, and more to help ensure your success.
Wins & Success Stories
See Buffalo Niagara Success Stories
Success Story

Avanti Advanced Manufacturing
Victory Manufacturing is a Canadian injection molding company based in Waterloo, Ontario. Their U.S. expansion, Avanti Advanced Manufacturing, set up shop in Buffalo Niagara in 2011. The new operation manufactures detectable tactiles, construction products, and customized injection molding projects with the capability to go from concept to prototype to end-product with significant speed. Avanti Advanced Manufacturing specializes in mandatory safety installations including raised bump floor warnings for the visually impaired, stair grips and new, glow in the dark exit door signs that last much longer than battery operated versions. The new division started with six injection molding machines and has already expanded to nine. The company has also added sand blasting, powder coat and painting, and laser engraving capabilities, as well as a CNC router.
Success Story
Plug Power
Plug Power is a fuel cell company that is “reimagining the energy ecosystem.” The company is building an end-to-end hydrogen power ecosystem including hydrogen production, storage, and delivery with the goal of assisting in the clean energy transfer and decarbonizing the modern economy. Plug Power’s fuel cells will enable the adoption of zero-emission freight transport and logistics handling equipment. The company already had operations in the Albany, NY area and was looking to expand its production capabilities further.
Incentives: Excelsior Job Tax Credits, IDA Tax Abatements, NYPA: Hydropower Allocation, WNY Power Proceeds Program
Success Story

Microart
Microart, a company out of Markham, Ontario, manufactures circuit boards used in the aerospace, medical device and electronics industries. The company has a growth mindset, which has allowed the Canadian headquarters to grow to 279 employees and helped drive the need for a U.S. expansion. Acquiring a U.S. company was Microart’s preferred way to start their U.S. operations and they identified a company in Buffalo that was well suited to their operations and needs.
Success Story

Surmet Ceramics
Surmet is a Massachusetts-based advanced materials manufacturer with operations in Buffalo. The company produces high-tech transparent ceramic powders and coatings used in aerospace and defense applications. Surmet was investing in new technology and equipment in order to consolidate its forming and heat-treating capabilities into one location where it would produce transparent ceramic windows, lenses and armor. For this expansion of capabilities, space, and workforce, Surmet considered several options including Buffalo Niagara and at its headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts.
Incentives: Empire State Development Excelsior Jobs Tax Credit award, New York Power Authority expansion/retention power allocation, Erie County IDA sales tax abatement
Success Story

GoGoPak
GoGoPak is an Oakville, ON family owned company specializing in the sale of retail packaging and promotional products. The company has $1-2M in annual sales with services including custom printing solutions on packaging products such as bags, boxes, tissue paper, ribbon, labels, and string tags. In 2018, they were looking to the U.S. for expansion for various reasons. The high employee and power costs in Canada, their high percentage of U.S. sales and raw materials, bridge issues and delays for importing U.S. raw materials and sending orders to U.S. customers were all factors in their consideration of a U.S. facility. GoGoPak was also looking to bring the outsourced manufacturing for both their Canadian and U.S. orders back in house for better control over the product quality.
Success Story

Larkin Express Logistics
Larkin Express Logistics is a startup third party logistics (3PL) company, providing traditional 3PL logistics services, focused primarily on connecting shippers with carriers (truck owners). The team in Buffalo will include business development, operations, and account management professionals. The Larkin Express Logistics equity holders have experience starting and growing 3PL companies in the past. Several of the project decision makers are based in Knoxville, Tennessee, which was strongly considered for the company’s location. However, Buffalo Niagara’s talented and dedicated workforce helped convince decision makers that the project should be in Buffalo. The company has leased 2,500 square feet of office space in the City of Buffalo and expects to hire over 50 people.
Blog
Top stories & updates in the Buffalo Niagara region
3 Reasons Food Processors Thrive in Buffalo Niagara
22 January 2025
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