Continuing its tradition of innovation, the Madden School of Business at Le Moyne College is proud to welcome the teams of StartFast 2016!

In its fifth year of operation, StartFast Venture Accelerator is the number 1 venture accelerator in Upstate New York and one of the top 50 in the world. Over the past four summers StartFast has recruited, invested in, mentored, and helped launch twenty-four  (24) companies that have received millions of dollars in funding.  From the end of May until mid-August, mentors from around the country will work with this year's five new StartFast companies to make them investor-ready.This year's StartFast Teams are:

  • AppLink - the easy way to present mobile applications to meetings and conferences.
  • Cloudguide - empowering museums and other tourist destinations to delight visitors with official smartphone tours.
  • SongCat - professional, affordable, online music and demo production.
  • Luxe Route - the online destination for the discerning shopper.
  • ParkMi - discovering available parking spaces in real time.

Dolphin Tank, on the LeMoyne College campus, is a key StartFast event.  Dean of the Madden School of Business, Jim Joseph says, "All of you have seen the television show 'Shark Tank'.  But dolphins are not sharks.  They are smarter, more playful, more supportive and more fun."  At 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 1st, the Madden Advisory Board and Le Moyne College trustees will meet this year's five StartFast companies and offer them assistance, mentoring and more. Dean Joseph again, "We are pleased to announce that we have six (6) Lead Dolphins:

  1. Jochen Becker, CEO of Marquardt North America
  2. Mark Byrne, EVP & Treasurer of Byrne Dairy
  3. Laila Kobrossy Audi, Executive in Residence at Le Moyne College
  4. Mike Madden, Founder of Black Eagle Partners
  5. Laura Miller, General Manager of Darco Manufacturing, Inc.
  6. John Zogby, author, pollster, and Director of the Keenan Center.

For more information about Dolphin Tank or an invitation, contact the Madden School. For more information about StartFast contact Kathryn Cartini of Peacock Media.