Another great opportunity for Western NY entrepreneurs as Deputy Consul General Nick Astbury came to Buffalo to talk about the 2015 Great Tech Awards. This is the 3rd annual Tech Awards and its a little like the 43North Competition in certain ways. The biggest difference is that there is no money for winning, but what the winners get is a way to expand their business into the UK and beyond.
First let me introduce you to Nick Astbury the Deputy Consul General of the UK based in New York City. He was in town to promote this great competition, with one of his media consultants Tricia Edwards.
How did this happen you ask? Well one of Nick's colleagues found Infotech WNY and asked if we could meet with media and interested companies so he could explain how the Tech Awards works. Peter Ronca our Chairman got right to work on it and contacted the BNMC and DIG to meet up there to show Nick how innovation is driving Buffalo's growth.
Last year the Tech Awards received 150 Entries for the following categories:
CleanTech, EdTech, FinTech, Health, Lifestyle, and Media.
With 3 Winners in each category, there is a lot of opportunity to take your business global!
You can find out more about the full competition at the link below (their main website) for the 2015 Tech Awards. If you are a winner the prize is a trip to London to meet and learn all the aspects of growing your business in the UK. Financial, Legal, and other support services will be made available to help get your business up and running. Check the website for all the details.
Dave Bertola of Buffalo Business First came to interview Nick and lots of photos were taken. Let me tell you that he loved the BNMC Space and was very impressed by how quickly Buffalo has grown. He was here last year promoting this event, in just one year he has seen so much change, which is very exciting!
Pat Whalen and Jessica Edwards gave a quick tour of the Innovation Center and they made the tour shine, here they are with my friend Steve Raines!
Nick was able to tour 43North and Z80 Labs and could see how busy the innovation center is and it acts as a hub of activity!
After the tour we sat with Nick and Tricia and they explained in more detail about the contest.
The contest is looking for companies that are established and are looking to expand beyond the US. New companies or companies that are just starting up aren't ready for this contest but the best way to look at it is that every new company must be thinking that their product is Global worthy, so this competition will help you propel your company to the next level!
Brandon Dever of HeadsUp Display had applied last year to the Tech Awards and gave great insight into the opportunities that they gained from being apart of it. He explained that being a part of this event helped open doors to other markets including the UK and Mexico and the connections he made throughout were invaluable. He strongly urged anyone that has a company and is thinking about expanding outside of the US to apply this year.
Here was a prototype of the Heads Up Display.
A great competition with unlimited potential, and Buffalo looking great on a global level. With the opportunity to grow your business to an International company, this is another way to show that Buffalo continues to move in the right direction.
If you need to know more, send me an email at peterjcimino@hotmail.com
