Management entrepreneur honored at Forbes Under 30 Summit

By Kevin Manne

By Kevin Manne

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Lindsay Macaluso, a University at Buffalo MArchitecture/MBA student, was recognized at the 2016 Blackstone Launchpad Under 30 Showcase, part of the Forbes Under 30 Summit in Boston, for her startup MemoryFox, a cloud-based platform for capturing, securing and sharing family oral history.

Macaluso founded the company with fellow UB MBA Chris Miano. The pair received an all-expenses-paid trip to attend the summit, where they pitched the Blackstone Charitable Foundation for additional prize funding and were featured by Forbes throughout the conference.

“When we think about the many different people and departments from across campus that have helped Lindsay and Chris along the way, it is a testament to the support system that is quickly developing for our UB entrepreneurs,” says Tom Ulbrich, an assistant dean in the UB School of Management and executive director of its Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. “Through Blackstone LaunchPad, we will continue to direct students, faculty and staff to the best resources available to meet their needs.”

MemoryFox began as a concept for the 2016 Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition (Panasci TEC), where Macaluso and Miano finished as semifinalists.

Over the past six months, the team has taken full advantage of the entrepreneurial ecosystem at UB, earning third place in this year’s Buffalo Student Sandbox contest and participating regularly in the Blackstone LaunchPad at UB.

Panasci TEC was created by the UB School of Management and the UB Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach, and is funded with a $1 million endowment from the late Henry A. Panasci Jr. to facilitate and promote the commercialization of UB-generated technologies.

Hosted by the School of Management’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, the event brings together UB students from science, technology, business and other disciplines to maximize their potential and create viable businesses in Western New York.

The Buffalo Student Sandbox contest is run by Blackstone LaunchPad at UB and the Western New York Incubator Network and is the culmination of the eight-week Buffalo Student Sandbox summer program, in which student entrepreneurs gain valuable knowledge about starting a business through coursework and connections to experts at UB and in Western New York.

Blackstone LaunchPad at UB is a university program funded by the Blackstone Charitable Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Initiative. The LauchPad helps students, faculty, staff and alumni develop entrepreneurial skills and mindsets.