43North year two winners set up shop in Buffalo

Startups to operate out of the 43North incubator on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus 

43North has announced the winning companies from the competition's second year have officially begun operating out of the 43North incubator at 640 Ellicott St., on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. 43North is part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's visionary "Buffalo Billion" initiative.

"Buffalo's entrepreneurial ecosystem is pleased to welcome another impressive array of 43North winning companies who will take advantage of the momentum, excitement and vast business support that our region has to offer," said John T. Gavigan, executive director of 43North. "We will help these startups through a combination of funding, guidance and mentorship, to ensure the greatest chance of success."

The year-two winners span a wide variety of industries and innovate technologies, including smartphone applications, medical technologies, sports training, professional services, data analysis and advanced manufacturing.

•ACV Auctions 

Hometown: Buffalo

ACV Auctions is a live wholesale marketplace for dealer-only automobile auctions.

•CleanSlate 

Hometown: Toronto

The CleanSlate UV system is a tabletop rapid device sanitizer for improved infection control.

•CoachMePlus 

Hometown: Buffalo

CoachMePlus manages data that coaches and athletes use to optimize athletic performance.

•Cytocybernetics 

Hometown: North Tonawanda

Cytocybernetics has developed novel technology to improve drug safety screening.

•Disease Diagnostic Group (DDG) 

Hometown: Boston

DDG is focused on screening, tracking and diagnosing highly infectious diseases that benefit from ultra-low cost and rapid early-stage diagnosis, potentially saving millions.

•Infonaut 

Hometown: Toronto and Buffalo

Infonaut save lives by preventing hospital-acquired infections, which kill more people annually than breast cancer and car accidents combined.

•Painless1099 

Hometown: Richmond, Virginia

Painless1099 helps independent contractors (think: freelance designers and real estate agents) save for tax season.

•Plum 

Hometown: Waterloo (Ontario)

Plum is a turnkey Cloud software solution using modern behavioral science plus predictive analytics to instantly identify high potential applicants for success and fit.

•Qoints 

Hometown: Toronto

Qoints helps brands and agencies evaluate the performance of their digital campaigns by comparing against industry benchmarks.

•Voiceitt 

Hometown: Jerusalem, Israel

Talkitt aims to revolutionize the way people who have speech disabilities due to various motor, speech and language disabilities communicate, enabling them to use the most natural means there is: Their own voice.

All 43North winners are required to locate in Buffalo for a minimum of 12 months.

43North has allocated $4.5 million of its available $5 million to the 2015 winners. 43North will utilize the remaining monies throughout the year for follow-on funding for its winning teams and marketing. The additional funds are available because Ithaca-based 43North finalist Uma Bioseed was unable to facilitate a move to Buffalo at this time.

Learn more about the 2015 43North winners at www.43north.org/2015winners.

43North is the world's leading startup competition and awards $5 million in cash prizes to some of the best entrepreneurs and startups from around the world. 43North winners also receive free incubator space in Buffalo for one year, guidance from mentors in related fields, and access to other business incentive programs such as START-UP NY. 43North operates through the support of Cuomo's "Buffalo Billion" initiative and grants of $6 million from the New York Power Authority and $1 million from Empire State Development. Additional support comes from National Grid, EY, the State University of New York at Buffalo and several other sponsors. For a full list of sponsors and more information about 43North, visitwww.43north.org.