'Tides Are Changing' for LI-Based Tech Startups
Venture capitalist Dave Calone says he sees a bright future for startups in Huntington.
Venture capitalist David Calone was among the speakers addressing a crowd of over 200 Long Island start ups and investors at the Paramount Wednesday. The event was sponsored by the Suffolk Industrial Development Agency and County Executive Steve Bellone.
Calone, whose newest venture Accelerate Long Island invests in technology coming out of Brookhaven and Stony Brook, said the tide is changing for emerging technologies in Long Island. He sees a bright future for the area's "innovation market."
"Every big company started as a small company," he said. "What we need on Long Island are more small companies. That's our goal to create a dozen new companies on LI so that they grow to be the biggest employers in this region and country."
See the attached video for his full speech.
Rich Foster of Launch Pad and LI Angels Network, Marc Lesko of Accelerate Long Island, Mark Fasciano of Canrock Ventures, and Peter Goldsmith of LISTnet also spoke at the event.
The meetup was the first of its kind organized by new Suffolk IDA Executive Director Anthony Manetta.
"Supporting startups in Suffolk County is very important to the economic growth of our County," said Manetta. "Having this event here in Huntington village at the Paramount certainly showcases the vibrant downtowns that startup and early stage companies are looking for."
Suffolk Executive Steve Bellone called the Paramount representative of what is needed to create of growing economy.
"This downtown is a model for what we need to do everywhere [in Suffolk County]," he said. "...We need to once again become a place where businesses want to be."
Eric Alexander of Vision Long Island in Northport said the meetup represents a fresh and dynamic new approach from the Suffolk IDA.
"You're bringing economic development on the governmental to connect it to a local downtown, bringing entrepreneurs that want to be in a downtown to connect with each other, and bringing investments to local businesses which will grow the economy," he said. "On top of that, you're really strengthening a downtown area."
Local tech all-stars CooCoo and WorkMarket, both based out of Huntington, received several shout outs for their efforts to make Huntington's downtown an epicenter of tech start ups on Long Island.
Among the other start ups present at the event were Premiere Solar Solutions of East Northport, Lookout Learning of Glen Cove, Vascular Simulations of Stonybrook, and Liquid Text.
Resource agencies in attendance included the LI Forum for Technology, the LI Development Corporation, LISTnet, Fair Media Council, and the Small Business Development Center at Stony Brook University. Government agencies present included theEmpire State Development Corporation, Suffolk Department of Labor, NY Power Authority, LIPA, National Grid, and the Small Business Agency.
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