CrowFly, LLC                                                                                      John Bair, Founder/CEO

     10,000 times a year, injured individuals sell their future settlement payments for immediate cash. But selling a structured settlement is hard. There are no price controls in place, no innovation, and no visibility into options or pricing. The current market is inefficient, outdated, and controlled by a handful of market makers who buy settlements for a steep discount and put as much markup as possible on the assets for end buyers. As a result, both sellers and end buyers make less money and often question the market's intentions.

     CrowFly is the first online marketplace transforming the way structured settlements are bought and sold. We aim to creatively destruct and dramatically transform what can be an abusive industry that today transacts approximately $2 billion worth of business.

     We directly connect buyers to sellers, improving outcomes for all parties. Through digitizing the assets and automating the required data collection, we reduce hassle and waste, allowing both sellers and buyers to receive significantly more money for the asset. Learn more at www.crowfly.com. 

     CrowFly intends to be a catalyst for Buffalo to attract other FinTech companies. We are currently semi-finalists in the local 43North competition. We have self-funded to-date, and our experienced management team is dedicated to making the venture successful.

Empire State Brands                                                                       Chris LaCorata, President

     Empire State Brands is a vertically integrated grower, processor and packaging enterprise providing quality hops, malted barley, wheat, rye and other grains ingredients to the craft brewery, distillery and bakery industries. ESB will initially serve the key markets in Western NY, Erie, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, New York State and ultimately the eastern U.S.

     ESB significantly contributes to agricultural competitiveness in Chautauqua County through the diversification of crop lines beyond dairy and grapes. ESB's vertical design and farmer partnering model looks to support farmers from the seed in the ground to harvest. Farm operations cost are substantially reduced by transferring portions of harvesting and handling activity such as drying, baling, pelletizing, malting, milling and packaging to the ESB facility.

     The ESB facility is believed to be the first in the nation of its kind. This uniquely engineered facility combines the operational elements of several industries into one streamlined low cost model and combines the supply chain elements of what is today separate operations.  We will repurpose a vacant food processing plant exited by a large processor.

     ESB's founders have extensive consumer product manufacturing and distribution experience. This project is the output of more than 15 months of effort and more than 25 separate work sessions with local agricultural experts, farmers, and brewery/distillery operators.  A third party consultancy with deep industry expertise completed a comprehensive feasibility study proving the concept. The project is supported by local government and economic development agencies.