MCC Daily Tribune
Chancellor King Celebrates Winners and Participants of SUNY Startup Summer School Demo Day
Startup Summer School Demo Day Provides Education, Training, and Seed Funding Opportunities for Over 200 SUNY Entrepreneurs
Albany, NY – State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. celebrated the success of the SUNY Startup Summer School Demo Day (S4), a competitive program designed to showcase the most promising technologies and startups on Thursday. This year’s participants included 222 SUNY students, faculty, and staff, from 30 different SUNY campuses, with 15 teams selected for the demo day event.
The SUNY Startup Summer School, now in its sixth year, offers entrepreneurial education and training to help students and faculty secure the initial funding needed to get their technology to market. All S4 participating teams will continue to receive coaching and mentoring from successful entrepreneurs and seasoned executives included in SUNY Venture Advisors to support business development and commercialization.
“SUNY is the home to groundbreaking and life-saving research, and our campuses are filled with talented and innovative researchers ready to apply what they learn in the classroom into real life solutions for our society’s most complex issues,” said SUNY Chancellor King. “The SUNY Startup Summer School Demo Day is an opportunity to showcase innovators from throughout the SUNY system, and provide support for these entrepreneurs to unleash their full potential. Congratulations to the three winners of this year’s Demo Day, and to all of the participants for being a part of this challenging and competitive program.”
SUNY Trustee Courtney Burke, Chair of the Research and Economic Development Committee, said, “SUNY innovators help power New York State, and we are proud to support the next generation of entrepreneurs through programs like the SUNY Startup Summer School Demo Day. Congratulations to the winners and participants in this year’s program. We look forward to providing a launching pad for even more SUNY innovators and researchers through initiatives that help them bring exciting ideas to market to help improve lives and move New York State forward.”
As part of the program, three teams were selected to win a total of $100,000 in startup seed funding. The S4 winner for 2025 was “REMIX” from Binghamton University, which received $50,000. The two additional winners were “sxRNA” from University at Albany and “Vasocure” from SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, and each received $25,000. The selected startups are:
- REMIX, Binghamton University – $50,000
- Led by Binghamton University Assistant Professor Dr. Jayson Boubin, REMIX is developing a real-time hyperspectral imaging technology that enables rapid processing of high-volume remote sensing data, with initial applications in humanitarian landmine detection and broader potential across ecology, agriculture, prospecting, and energy sectors.
- sxRNA Technologies, University at Albany – $25,000
- Founded by University at Albany Professor Dr. Scott Tenenbaum, sxRNA Technologies is commercializing a groundbreaking RNA nanoswitch platform that enables RNA therapeutics to be activated only in targeted cells by using structurally interacting RNA “locks” and “keys,” offering a versatile platform with the potential to target and treat a wide range of diseases including cancer and Alzheimer's.
- Vasocure, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University – $25,000
- Founded by SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine Dr. Moro Salifu, Vasocure is a novel therapeutics company with over 60 drug candidates in nephrology, cardiology, and oncology that had developed the world’s first peptide to directly treat neointimal disease and atherosclerosis.
Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger said, “Assistant Professor Boubin has done tremendous work at Binghamton since he joined us in 2022, and I am proud to see that his REMIX project was selected as the winner of SUNY’s Startup Summer School Demo Day. Jayson’s innovative work is happening at the intersection of autonomous drones, machine learning models, and problem-solving in fields including agriculture, landmine detection, and infrastructure inspection. Our faculty are constantly making discoveries that make our world a better place and I am excited to see that Jayson is being recognized and supported as a leader in research and scholarship by SUNY.”
University at Albany President Havidán Rodríguez said, “At the University at Albany, we are deeply committed to advancing research that benefits the public good, including work that drives meaningful improvements in human health. By integrating RNA science and nanotechnology, sxRNA Technologies exemplifies the power of interdisciplinary innovation to unlock new possibilities for treating diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s. This startup is yet another example of the far-reaching impact of UAlbany’s faculty, staff, and students. SUNY’s generous investment will help support this groundbreaking approach, which has the potential to transform how we confront some of the most pressing medical challenges of our time.”
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University President Wayne Riley, M.D., MPH, MBA, MACP, said, “Downstate is proud to be a leader in innovation across health sciences research and entrepreneurship. The selection of Dr. Moro Salifu and the Vasocure team by SUNY’s Startup Summer School highlights the kind of bold, translational thinking that drives progress in patient care and public health. Their recognition reinforces the critical role academic medical centers play in developing novel therapeutics that serve our communities. We thank Chancellor King and the SUNY Research Foundation for supporting pathways that move academic discoveries toward real-world impact.”
In addition to the capital received from the S4 TAF Catalyst Investment, REMIX, sxRNA Technologies, and Vasocure will receive support from SUNY to identify grant-funding opportunities and write strong proposals, allowing the teams to continue commercializing their technology. The companies will also receive business mentoring support from SUNY’s entrepreneurs-in-residence to further develop their business models and go-to-market strategies.
The winners were selected by a panel of business leaders from across the state. This year’s panel of judges included:
- Olivia Goldstein – Chief Executive Officer, Upstate Venture Connect
- Seth Mulligan – Chief Operating Officer, Griffiss Institute
- Zachary Pecenak – Director, NY Ventures Innovation Venture Capital Fund, Empire State Development
- Patty Rechberger – Innovation Fund Manager, FuzeHub
- Shelby Schneider – President and Chief Executive Officer, Upstate Capital Association of New York
- Sonya Smith – State Director, New York Small Business Development Center
The SUNY Research Foundation provides SUNY's state-operated campuses with an infrastructure of people, technology, and processes that enables faculty to write and submit grant proposals to agencies, foundations, and companies; establish contracts and manage funding awarded to run campus-based research projects; protect and commercialize intellectual property created within those projects; and establish partnerships.
About The State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.16 billion in fiscal year 2024, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum.
Veronica Chiesi Brown
Community Relations
08/08/2025