# Launch NY

> Launch NY is a VC fund in Buffalo backing Software and Health Care. See 197 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Buffalo, United States
- Total investments: 197
- Last investment: Jun 2026
- Lead investor: 56%
- Last fund: Feb 2019
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/launch-ny
- X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/Launch_NY
- Website: http://www.launchny.org/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/launch-ny-1036796123011680

Launch NY is a U.S. Treasury-designated Community Financial Institution (CDFI) and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit venture development organization, providing pro bono mentoring and capital access to high-growth potential startups across Upstate NY. The mission is to identify, support and invest in high-growth, high-impact companies, and catalyze theentrepreneurial culture in the 27 counties comprising the western half of Upstate New York.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Launch NY. Shizune tracks 5 team members at Launch NY. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/launch-ny?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $50k–$2.2M |
| Pre-Seed | $81k–$1.3M |
| Convertible Note | $13k–$585k |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | 21 | 11% |
| Health Care | 18 | 9% |
| Food and Beverage | 11 | 6% |
| SaaS | 10 | 5% |
| Manufacturing | 9 | 5% |

145 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Convertible Note | 75 | 38% |
| Seed | 38 | 19% |
| Pre-Seed | 9 | 5% |
| Series A | 5 | 3% |
| Venture - Series Unknown | 5 | 3% |

10 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 96 | 49% |
| Canada | 1 | 1% |
| Denmark | 1 | 1% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Al Culliton | Entrepreneur in Residence | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/al-culliton |
| Marnie LaVigne | President & CEO | 88 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/marnie-lavigne |
| David Thiemecke | Entrepreneur In Residence | 1 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/david-thiemecke |
| Ed Bizari | Entrepreneur In Residence | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ed-bizari |
| Kate Brodock | Entrepreneur In Residence | 6 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/kate-brodock |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Ognomy Sleep | Ognomy Sleep provides virtual sleep apnea care services that connect patients with sleep medicine specialists through telehealth appointments, home-based sleep testing, and ongoing treatment support. The company offers a digital care platform designed to help diagnose and manage sleep apnea through consultations, at-home evaluations, andpersonalized therapy options. Ognomy Sleep supports treatments such as PAP therapy, oral appliance therapy, Inspire implant therapy, and weight management options related to sleep apnea care. The platform also works with healthcare providers through referral services that support patient coordination and follow-up care. | $20M | Series A | Jun 30, 2026 |  |
| CryoBio | CryoBio is an agricultural biotech company that provides biological solutions that allow crops to withstand sub-zero temperatures without damage. | $1.3M | Pre-Seed | Feb 12, 2026 |  |
| SelectFI Lending Solutions | SelectFI leverages proprietary Predictive Lending™ analysis to prequalify customers for financing using an auto dealership's existing lenders. The platform uses soft pull technology and lender guidelines to prequalify a customer for their vehicle of choice, and give dealerships fast, accurate quotes from each of its lenders without impactingthe customer's credit score. The software reduces dealership expenses for hard credit pulls, greatly improves efficiency for their internal F&I teams, and helps dealerships remain compliant with FTC regulations for fair lending. |  | Seed | Dec 02, 2025 |  |
| Nara | Nara provides a mental wellness app that combines therapy sessions and self-care tools for ongoing mental health support. |  | Convertible Note | Oct 03, 2025 |  |
| P1ston | P1ston is a SaaS company that builds a platform that will shift the status quo of customer-supplier workflows. |  | Convertible Note | Sep 30, 2025 |  |
| Fret Zealot | Fret Zealot is a LED accessory for a guitar that shows where to put the fingers to play anything.Fret Zealot allows anyone to learn quickly and intuitively without the constant distraction of looking at books, videos, or sheet music to find out where to put their fingers. Anyone can concentrate on technique and findingtheir style right from thestart. |  | Convertible Note | Sep 08, 2025 |  |
| Retrn Bio | Retrn Bio is a sustainability company that provides upcycling of agro-industrial waste to produce biodegradable plastics. |  | Convertible Note | Aug 29, 2025 |  |
| For Bitter For Worse | For Bitter For Worse prepared without alcohol, complex cocktails prepared with love. establishing a culture that is healthier and more inclusive. |  | Convertible Note | Jul 02, 2025 |  |
| Arbol | Arbol is launching an insurance marketplace that connects weather exposed agricultural entities with capital providers like insurers and asset managers. Arbol’s parametric insurance platform removes information asymmetry and reduces administrative costs by leveraging objective data from satellites and weather stations. | $100K | Convertible Note | Jun 27, 2025 |  |
| BetterMynd | Online therapy for college students | $125K | Convertible Note | Apr 30, 2025 |  |

10 of 197 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Excell Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/excell-partners) — VC Fund, 8 deals together
- [New York Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/new-york-ventures) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Rochester Angel Network](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/rochester-angel-network) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [University at Buffalo](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/university-at-buffalo) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Bemis Manufacturing](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bemis-manufacturing) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Buffalo Angel Network](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/buffalo-angel-network) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

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## FAQ

### What does Launch NY invest in?

Launch NY invests primarily in Software, Health Care and Food and Beverage startups, most often at Convertible Note and Seed stage. Most of the 197 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Launch NY's check size?

Launch NY typically joins rounds of $50k–$2.2M at Seed, $81k–$1.3M at Pre-Seed and $13k–$585k at Convertible Note. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Launch NY participates in.

### How do I contact Launch NY?

Public channels for Launch NY include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at Launch NY?

The team at Launch NY includes Al Culliton (Entrepreneur in Residence), Marnie LaVigne (President & CEO) and David Thiemecke (Entrepreneur In Residence). The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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