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It’s a business dream come true. It happened in Syracuse, with the help of a business accelerator program.
Six Syracusans formed a startup company in 2014 at the Tech Garden, a business program run by CenterState CEO, in downtown Syracuse. Today their company employs more than 200 people and has offices in San Francisco and New York City.
The company raised more than $225 million in funding, with investors estimating the value of the company at $1.05 billion. It’s the Tech Garden’s first unicorn, a term that describes a privately held startup valued at over $1 billion. The company, Density, provides technology to allow building owners to count and track how many people come into their businesses by using sensors and software to county people coming and going.
They grew rapidly in seven years and just moved into a 21,000-square-foot facility. Density manufactures its own equipment and has customers in 32 countries.
Garrett Bastable, vice president of operations, said the facility allow the company to expand its production capacity and he foresees housing future offices, labs, warehouse, and its shipping and receiving center within the facility, he said. “Syracuse was where Density was founded and where we’ve grown, and will continue to grow,” he said.
Gordon said the company is hiring in Syracuse for its manufacturing operations, hardware and software engineering, marketing, sales and other positions.
The founding members of Density are Andrew Farah, Robert Grazioli, Brian Weinreich,, Steve VonDeak, Ben Redfield, and Jordan Messina. Several of the founding members are Syracuse University graduates.
The Tech Garden has helped entrepreneurs from all backgrounds move their businesses forward. It was formed in 2005, with the mission to stimulate high-tech entrepreneurship, foster the development of emerging growth companies and support technology commercialization throughout the region. Start-up tech businesses get business plan assistance, mentoring, marketing advice, targeted referrals, networking opportunities and state-of-the-art office space from which to run and grow their businesses.
The Tech Garden is run by CenterState CEO, Central New York’s chamber of commerce and business strategy and leadership organization. It is also home to several other business resources including Launch New York, the Small Business Development Corporation, and the WISE Women’s Business Center. Learn more about how the Tech Garden can help build your business.