Tuesday, April 9th, the Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars is hosting a Fireside Chat with Dr.Marnie LeVigne, CEO of LaunchNY. The event will be from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the LaunchPad at Bird Library.
LaunchNY is a venture development organization and seed fund whose mission is to “identify, support, and invest in high-growth, high-impact companies, and catalyze entrepreneurial culture to drive job and wealth creation in Upstate New York.” The fund provides $25,000 to $100,000 in investment capital to companies who meet Launch NY’s criteria and have been working with a Launch NY Entrepreneur-in-Residence for at least three months.
Dr. LaVigne has spent more than 25 years in both the private and public sectors creating new products and start-up businesses, driving innovation and economic growth in high-tech industries. Her passion for working with start-ups took root from her experience launching health informatics businesses with colleagues in the 1990’s, which resulted in growing two different firms with more than 100 employees and two initial public offerings.
Before her current position, she led economic development efforts involving work with hundreds of firms at the University at Buffalo as Associate Vice President for Economic Development from 2012 to 2014, Director of Business Development from 2005 until 2012 at the NYS Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences, and the UB Center for Advanced Biomedical and Bioengineering Technology. Dr. LaVigne also spearheaded product development initiatives for larger corporations in managed care (e.g., Aetna), pharmaceuticals (Bristol-Myers Squibb), medical devices (Welch Allyn), and medical informatics (GE and WebMD).
Dr. LaVigne has a Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, both from the University of Rochester. She is an editorial board member for Disease Management, and a member of the Board of Directors for Buffalo Angels, Insyte Consulting, New York State Economic Development Council, Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, and Western New York Venture Association.