The startup scene in United States

Ithaca’s startup ecosystem includes Rev: Ithaca Startup Works, an incubator and startup workspace. Rev says Cornell University, Ithaca College, and Tompkins Cortland Community College created it together in 2014, and describes membership for academic and nonacademic founders across sectors. [100041, 100042, 100043]

Cornell supports distinct venture pathways through the Center for Life Science Ventures, which invites life-science companies with Cornell or non-Cornell intellectual property to apply, and Praxis, which focuses on early-stage Cornell engineering, digital, and physical-science startups. The Center for Life Science Ventures requires an intellectual-property license to be in place for its application package; Praxis is for Cornell-affiliated startups. [100073, 100074, 100078, 100080]

Examples of Ithaca-linked companies include Rosie, which Instacart described in 2022 as founded in Ithaca in 2013 and offering branded e-commerce websites and mobile tools for independent grocers; Instacart announced its acquisition of Rosie on September 7, 2022. Dimensional Energy identifies Ithaca as its founding location and headquarters; its official timeline records a $20 million Series A in 2023 and its first technology license in May 2025. [100056, 100057, 100058, 100063, 100065, 100066, 100067]

Cornell reported that Qualcomm acquired Exostellar in March 2026. Launch NY described the company’s early development as spanning Buffalo and Ithaca and said it provided seed capital, mentorship, and strategic guidance. Separately, Cornell reported plans for REEgen and RETRN Bio to scale up at SouthWorks on South Hill; the report described the scale-up as planned, not completed occupancy. [100050, 100054, 100055, 100061]