热点大瓜

Lauren Washington joined UB’s Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships (BEP) this week as senior associate director of startup ventures, but she’s already a familiar face to her new colleagues.

Washington’s relationship with the Buffalo startup community began more than a decade ago when her startup at the time, KeepUp, was among 43North’s first season of winners in 2014.

That win set her on a path to become an accomplished entrepreneur and CEO with a passion for empowering decision-making in seed investing. She co-founded a company called Black Women Talk Tech, which has grown to become what’s believed to be the largest conference in the world for Black women tech founders. It has expanded to include Black Men Talk Tech and a nonprofit arm, Talk Tech Association.

Her experiences exposed a huge need for unbiased funding, so she co-founded Fundr, a platform that leverages data and artificial intelligence for smarter investing. Washington will continue to oversee that company as she works at UB, giving her a real-time perspective on what startups are facing in today’s business climate.

At UB, she’ll be running BEP’s Cultivator program, which provides mentorship, co-working space and investments of up to $100,000 to early-stage startups from Western New York, regardless of previous affiliation with UB. Since launching in 2021, more than 70 companies have participated in the program.

“BEP’s economic impact in the region is due to the people who work tirelessly to make programs such as Cultivator an asset to the Western New York startup community,” says Per Stromhaug, senior associate vice president for economic development. “Lauren’s entrepreneurial background and personal experiences in the program will strengthen the program even further, and I am very excited to bring her on board and back to our region.”

Washington — who has also coached and mentored other startups, including serving for the past two years as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Cultivator — steps into the position previously held by Peter Burakowski, who will be shifting to a leadership role for BEP’s startup ventures team, which includes Cultivator, START-UP NY and the Western New York Incubator Network (WIN).

“Lauren Washington is an incredible entrepreneur, community builder and mentor for founders, and we are very excited to have her join BEP’s startup ventures team,” says Burakowski. “I can’t wait to see how she applies her wealth of startup experience to take Cultivator to the next level.”

Akruti Babaria, founder of Cultivator portfolio company Kulture Khazana, sought guidance from Washington as her children’s toy and game company skyrocketed to success.

“Lauren asks insightful, challenging questions that help uncover the heart of the issue,” says Babaria. “For example, when defining a customer persona, her deep questioning led to a vivid, well-defined character that anyone can picture and understand.”

For Washington, joining UB to fill this role feels like the right fit at the right time.

“I’ve spent 10 years as an entrepreneur, and in that time I’ve always been passionate about helping other founders in every way, from informal advising to ecosystem building,” says Washington. “When I realized this role combined those passions and experiences and served a community I have felt deeply connected to, it felt like an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I see this less as a new beginning, and more of a homecoming.” 

In her new post, Washington will manage relationships with key partners within the university and the local entrepreneurial ecosystem, as well as bring in new partners from outside of Western New York, with an eye toward driving economic impact in the region.

“I’m really looking forward to expanding on the incredible groundwork that has already been done,” says Washington. “Cultivator has made a big impact in such a short amount of time and created a uniquely valuable program for early-stage companies. This is the perfect time to take stock of what we’ve accomplished and plan for future growth. I couldn’t be more excited to facilitate the program into its next phase.”