Launch New York (Launch NY), Upstate’s venture development organization and seed fund, has announced Promptous as its 30th Limited Partner (LP) Fund Portfolio Company, making an investment to help launch the venture which started at Syracuse University in 2018 by iSchool students working with the Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars at SU Libraries.
CenterState CEO and The Tech Garden also announced funding to Promptous this week through its new Fund of Funds program. The Tech Garden created the funding vehicle as a streamlined program sourced from multiple pools of funding managed by CenterState CEO and The Tech Garden. It is designed to assist local startups with initial funding on the path to commercialization and offers an opportunity for follow-on investment with less risk to assist on their journey from concept to commercialization. The funding helps startups accomplish projects such as customer discovery, product development, validation and manufacturing that ultimately supports each startup’s ability to go to market.
Promptous is a Syracuse-based insurtech company that administers Policy Hero, a SaaS mobile and web platform. Currently with over 260,000 dental access points nationwide, the app helps to streamline enrollment, coverage and reimbursement processes for companies providing dental benefits to their employees. According to Promptous, employers can save up to 30 percent on dental benefits by cutting out insurance premiums.
Since graduating from Syracuse University, Promptous has also been an incubation member of The Tech Garden where it also received a seed investment from CenterStateCEO. It is working closely with OneGroup, a Syracuse-based firm that is one of the largest risk management, insurance brokerage and employee benefits companies in the northeast, led by SU alumnus Pierre Morrisseau who has helped mentor the Promptous team.
“Upstate New York’s startup community is vast, and Launch NY represents such a diverse slice of the innovation and ingenuity that’s helping to shed our ‘Rust Belt’ stigma,” said Dr. Marnie LaVigne, President and CEO of Launch NY. “Promptous is yet another example of what can happen when the can-do spirit meets savvy, yet impact-driven investors who know that you can do good while doing well in a community we love. Promptous adds another promising tech industry player, grown right here, to our new economy.”
“We are grateful to have been identified by LaunchNY, CenterState CEO and The Tech Garden as a high-impact startup and receive their support,” said Josh Jackson, Co-Founder and CEO at Promptous. “They have helped to buoy us at our earliest stages, and we are proud to be a portfolio company of the program.”
Launch NY’s for-profit Limited Partner (LP) Fund debuted in April 2019 and is designed to co-invest alongside Launch NY’s nonprofit Seed Fund, ultimately doubling the capital available for Launch NY client companies. Promptous is the 30th company in the LP Fund portfolio and the 57th company in the nonprofit Seed Fund portfolio.
These financing programs are offered through Launch NY’s #InvestLocal platform, which also supports deal-by-deal investments from accredited investors into these portfolio companies through its Investor Network, also offering Qualified Opportunity Funds with special tax incentives for investments in eligible businesses in the designated low income Opportunity Zones.
Promptous was among nearly 30 Launch NY portfolio companies exhibiting at the first Launch NY Virtual LP Summit on June 29 featuring Launch NY LPs and Investor Network subscribers.
For more information about Launch NY visit www.launchny.org
Tech Garden members are eligible for funding opportunities that include: Up to $10K Ignition Grants; GENIUS NY; Clean Tech Center grants up to $25K in pre-seed funding; seed funding, which typically takes the form of a convertible debt note between $25K and $100K; and expansion investments through match funding opportunities, which can help incentivize investors by offering a match on their investment in return for equity or convertible debt up to $100K before startups are exclusively seeking follow-on funding opportunities.
To learn more about membership and The Tech Garden’s funding opportunities visit, www.thetechgarden.com.