Promptous CEO Josh Jackson, ’17 (Maxwell, international relations) and ’19 (iSchool, information management) and COO Phillip McKnight, have been accepted into Startup Boost NYC, a global tech startup accelerator that works with great early stage entrepreneurs to prepare them for seed investment and revenue, putting them on a scalable revenue trajectory. Promptous is a self-funding dental benefits platform that allows employers to save 30% on dental coverage through custom dental plan creation using blockchain and smart contract technology, without the need for a third party benefits administrator.
Jackson founded Promptous as a student at Syracuse University, and worked with McKnight to build a team of SU students and industry advisors, incubating it in the LaunchPad at SU Libraries. After graduation, he launched it as a full-time venture based in both the Syracuse and NYC-metro areas. The team is currently working with OneGroup, a leading risk management, insurance brokerage and employee benefits firm based in Syracuse, on a beta project while Promptous is participating in Startup Boost.
“Working with Startup Boost is an exciting way for us to help founders who are looking for a program between a Techstars Startup Weekend and a Techstars mentorship-driven accelerator program,” says David Brown, founder and co-CEO of Techstars. “We are excited to partner with them to help entrepreneurs succeed.”
Startup Boost is the next step for the Syracuse team on their journey since graduating from the LaunchPad at SU Libraries. “Startup Boost NYC takes a mentorship driven approach,” says Jackson. “The program pairs founders up with a diverse set of mentors who are seasoned entrepreneurs and investors. These mentors are industry veterans who are able to quickly identify and help accelerate the areas of business that need the most attention. Promptous is proud to be a member of the Fall 2019 NYC cohort.”
As a new Tech Garden member, Promptous was also recently awarded a $25,000 Grant for Growth through a CenterState CEO seed program that supports innovative applied research projects between universities and industry to improve business competitiveness and create jobs. The grant will help support the roll out of the beta project with OneGroup in Syracuse.
Grants for Growth gives companies across the 12-county CenterState, New York region greater access to the extensive resources available at educational institutions, and universities and research centers gain additional capacity to transfer the latest knowledge and skills to targeted industry clusters. It is administered by The Tech Garden in downtown Syracuse.
About Startup Boost
Startup Boost is supported by global ecosystem partners that include Techstars, GAN and F6S. Techstars runs 47 mentor-driven accelerators in 15 countries, and has funded 1977 startups, of which 209 have been acquired or IPO’d, generating $25 billion in enterprise value. GAN is a highly curated community of independent accelerators, partners and investors. F6S is a platform for more than a million tech founders, and considered the premier platform for investors to find startups, and for startups to be discovered.
About The Tech Garden
The Tech Garden’s mission is to stimulate high-tech entrepreneurship, foster the development of emerging growth companies, and support technology commercialization throughout the region. Start-up technology businesses are offered business plan assistance, mentoring and marketing advice, targeted referrals, networking opportunities and state-of-the-art office space from which to grow their businesses. The Tech Garden is an affiliate of CenterState CEO.
About CenterState CEO
CenterState CEO is a regional business leadership organization, chamber of commerce, and economic development strategist, based in Syracuse, New York. We represent members of all sizes and serve as the primary business resource and catalyst for development in a twelve-county area. We advocate for smart business, facilitate regional growth and promote community prosperity through results-driven partnerships, planning and problem solving. www.centerstateceo.com
Photo: Josh Jackson (third from left) and Phil McKnight (fifth from left) with other teams at Startup Boost NYC.