NY Crossroads targets high potential and under-served pre-seed founders seeking growth, access to capital, and community.  Programs will draw on and learn from successful venture competitions and accelerator programs including those operated in Central and Western NY such as 43North, Grow-NY, Genius NY, and Luminate.  Our goal is for 50 great startups to fill their first round of funding in the Hudson Valley in the next five years.  

NY Crossroads addresses a critical gap in the early stage startup journey.  Founders come from different backgrounds and face different challenges in life.  It is an uneven playing field.  One founder may begin with $25,000 of life savings and limited access to friendly capital, whereas another may have access to $500,000 from friends and family and an extensive network.  NY Crossroads recognizes the inequity amongst founder opportunities.   We have structured our programs and weighted rubrics to advance startups that reflect our community values including our focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

We find companies with diverse and compelling founder teams, and with scalable business models at the pre-seed stage.  The companies we work with have a minimum viable product and compelling and positive customer engagement, even if they are pre-revenue.  Recent graduates of credible regional, national, or even international accelerators are likely candidates, provided they are open to anchoring in the Hudson Valley for a minimum of 12 months if they win the Venture Competition.  

Twice annually NY Crossroads will accept 50 participants into a twelve week, fully remote, acceleration program with focus on progressing investor preparedness.  During this program, NY Crossroads will actively promote the “Live - Work - Play” ethos of the Hudson Valley and all of the reasons it’s a great place for founders.   The program will be delivered through web based platform interactions as well as group and individual video conferences.   Each cohort will be a competitive engagement that will graduate 20 of the initial 50 participants.  10 of the 20 graduates will be invited to participate in the Venture Competition.  

The NY Crossroads Venture Competition will be a two day in person event in Hudson Valley including: a venture showcase and judging event for the finalists, experiences and activities promoting the live-work-play ethos of the region, and convening of the regional business and investment community in support of the startup ecosystem and investment syndication.  The events will culminate with selection and offer by NY State of (1x) $500,000 and (4x) $250,000 investments to the winners, each of whom was selected by an independent investment committee, unaffiliated with NY Crossroads.  

During their 12 month commitment to the Hudson Valley, winners will benefit from grants, programs, and community engagement to accelerate growth.