SUNY Cortland student startups land $45K from local businessman
What's the deal? Six student startups at SUNY Cortland split $45,000 in funding from Adam Weitsman, owner and CEO of Upstate Shredding-Weitsman Recycling, after pitching their business ideas at the university's Innovation Day in early May.
Weitsman served as a judge for the event, where students presented ventures they developed through SUNY Cortland's entrepreneurship minor. After hearing the pitches, he approached James Wilson, the economics lecturer who emceed the event, with an offer.
"He walked over to me and said, 'I'd like to do something nice for your students,'" Wilson said.
The top three startups each received $10,000, and the remaining three got $5,000 apiece. The winners included Next Life Junk Removal, a recyclable-materials collection business; Rockwood by Vinci, a luxury furniture venture combining woodcraft with stone elements; and Shred Air, a personal fan with an automated dust-cleaning system.
The $5,000 recipients were Throwing Shade, a beach rental service in North Carolina; Scrap Fit, which makes workout equipment from junkyard leftovers; and Motion, an app that lets users bet on themselves to hit personal goals.
Why now? Innovation Day caps the academic year, giving students a stage to present work developed over months of coursework. Two of the startups — Next Life Junk Removal and Scrap Fit — also advanced to the state level of the New York Business Plan Competition, suggesting the programme is producing viable ideas.
SUNY Cortland recently opened an Entrepreneurship Centre where at least one winning team plans to continue development.
What could go wrong? A $10,000 or $5,000 cheque is a meaningful boost for a student project, but it's a fraction of what most startups need to reach market. Translating classroom ventures into sustainable businesses requires far more capital, mentorship, and operational grit — none of which a single prize guarantees.
The signal: Universities are increasingly positioning entrepreneurship programmes as launchpads rather than academic exercises. When a local business figure spontaneously funds student ventures on the spot, it signals growing confidence that campus-born ideas can translate into real companies — and that the talent pipeline runs through places well beyond the usual startup hubs.
"That level of support is enough to truly propel these businesses further," Wilson said. "It was something I think rarely happens in these types of situations, and it truly elevated the experience."
Read more: wbng.com
