Binghamton University Foundation spotlight: Koffman Southern Tier Incubator, a foundation affiliate
An environment of excellence
Binghamton University is a premier public institution dedicated to enriching the lives of people in the region, the nation and the world through discovery and education. One of President Harvey Stenger’s goals toward realizing this vision is to develop an entrepreneurial climate and retain graduating students in our community. The Koffman Southern Tier Incubator (KSTI) has made significant progress in support of these efforts despite having been open for less than one year.
An environment of success
Since officially opening on May 5, 2017, KSTI has become 90 percent occupied by recruiting and accepting 34 companies into programs that will ultimately help graduate companies into the community. During their time at KSTI, companies are supported with business resources, mentoring, networking and investment opportunities. Our graduating companies will create numerous direct and indirect jobs, while also having tremendous economic impact on the region. We have already graduated one company, and are in the process of helping two companies raise nearly $1,000,000 in capital. Next year looks even more promising, with the possibility of seeing an estimated 10-12 companies graduate, and potentially helping other companies raise an estimated $10,000,000 in capital.
An environment of opportunity
In addition to offering a robust incubator program of education, mentorship and financing; the most successful university affiliated incubators have created investment entities that are closely tied to their endowment. To that end, the Binghamton University Foundation formed BingTech Ventures, LLC, a disregarded entity where the foundation is the sole member. This entity is viewed as the single most important component to the long-term success of the KSTI, a foundation affiliate. This allows for the incubator program to provide equity based investment into their program companies, which provides valuable capital during the start-up phase. It also creates strong interest from high-growth startups to participate in the program and attracts investors to participate in funding rounds. Ultimately, with a successful investment strategy and incubator program, the equity will provide healthy returns that will allow for greater investment in the future, resulting in a financially sustainable model. The Koffman Southern Tier Incubator is quickly becoming the hub of an effective entrepreneur ecosystem, which will be the foundation of a thriving start-up community.