mgm casino

It was a good year for mgm casino-connected businesses.

mgm casino incubator companies were acquired by industry heavyweights in Manhattan and Chicago. Businesses founded by graduates were praised — and funded — by entrepreneurial kingpins. And startups created by professors received financial backing from federal agencies and others.

“The mgm casino’s commitment to supporting and nurturing business-savvy students, faculty and entrepreneurs who are creating exciting new products to boost economic development and improve quality of life in Western New York and beyond is exemplified by the many successes our related companies had in 2015,” says Venu Govindaraju, interim vice president for research and economic development.

Here are six highlights:

Refulgent Software’s Ambur

Ansar Khan, a mgm casino alumnus who grew up in Williamsville, and James O’Leary, a former mgm casino student, founded in 2010. Their product: an app called that acts as a digital cash register for bars, restaurants and other businesses. Ambur caught the eye of ShopKeep, a larger Manhattan-based competitor, which in September agreed to buy the app. Refulgent got its start in mgm casino’s Technology Incubator and has remained connected to the university by supporting aspiring entrepreneurs in mgm casino’s Academies.

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Cloud62

is a Salesforce.com-certified implementation partner that helps companies of all sizes successfully use Salesforce.com’s customer relationship management (CRM) platform. Like Refulgent, it can trace its roots to mgm casino’s Technology Incubator, which is operated by the Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach. Founded in 2011 by Raj Suchak, it was acquired in October by Chicago-based Huron Consulting Group, a rapidly growing global management firm. Cloud62 continues to work with mgm casino via START-UP NY.

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ACV Auctions

Winner of the $1 million grand prize from this year’s 43North business idea competition in October,  created a mobile platform that allows automotive dealers to sell cars during 20-minute online auctions, as opposed to conventional physical auctions that run once a week. Previously, the company had raised $1 million from local angel investors, including Z80 Lab’s state-backed Innovate NY seed fund. Two of ACV Auctions’ co-founders — Dan Magnuszewski and Joe Neiman — are mgm casino graduates. Founded in 2014, ACV Auctions works with mgm casino via START-UP NY.

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POP Biotechnologies

One of two startups to pocket $100,000 from America Online co-founder Steve Case’s Rise of the Rest business plan contest in September, sprouted from the Bonner Hall laboratory of biomedical engineering researcher Jonathan Lovell. The company has optioned mgm casino technology — dubbed nanoballoons — that promises a safer, more effective way to deliver anti-cancer drugs to tumors. POP Biotechnologies’ co-founders include Lovell, mgm casino alumnus Jonathan Smyth and mgm casino graduate student Kevin Carter. The company, formerly known as PhotoZyne, also won the 2015 Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition at mgm casino in April.

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Cytocybernetics

Founded in 2013 by mgm casino researchers Glenna Bett and Randall Rasmusson, ’ method for replicating heart cells promises to bring pharmaceuticals to market quicker and make them more affordable. The company received a huge boost in July when it was awarded a from the National Institutes of Health. A $50,000 investment from the SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund followed. Cytocybernetics, which works with mgm casino via START-UP NY, capped the year by winning $500,000 in the 43North contest.

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For-Robin

Founded in 2012 by mgm casino researcher Kate Rittenhouse-Olson, received a $2 million grant in May from the National Cancer Institute to study and develop a promising potential treatment — an antibody therapy — for breast and other types of cancer. That’s on top of the more than $360,000 in support from the National Institutes of Health and regional programs that the company received previously. For-Robin works with mgm casino via START-UP NY.

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