BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — M&T Bank, one of Western New York's largest employers, brought entrepreneurs together for an innovation expo and 7 News gives you an exclusive first look.
The expo is a celebration of WNY's innovation as leaders gathered to tell the next chapter of the M&T Tech Hub story and demonstrate M&T's focus on purpose-driven innovation to support small businesses and underserved communities.
"This is really a way of collaborating what we can learn from each other", said Jonathan Kolozsvary, Director of New Ventures for M&T Bank. "There is a lot of energy because of the space and what it was created for. Those collisions of how we work together."
GrowGrade and Nota, a pair of startups launched by M&T Bank, presented to those in attendance at the innovation expo.
Both startups focus on solving issues for real people.
GrowGrade is a free tool that helps small and medium-sized businesses learn more about their value. "We realized that over ninety percent of businesses don't know their value", said Ryan Dobos, Head of Growth for Growgrade. "Primarily what we are offering on the platform is a free business valuation,"
Nota is a cloud-based banking solution designed for small law practices.
"We found that the legal community, small practice attorneys are underserved by the banking industry,", said Paul Garibian, CEO of NOTA. "We really hope that we help them spend more time practicing law instead of being constrained by some of the financial constraints that are hindering their success. As a result we hope that translates to better legal services for the community."
Growgrade and Nota, two Buffalo startups thinking big in an ever growing Western New York tech industry.
"I think there is such good momentum," added Kolozsvary. "With this wave of technology we will have the ability to be creative in ways that we might not have been before."
