Bringing transformative projects to Buffalo's East Side with catalytic capital

Buffalo’s East Side is often filtered through the lens of "low-income census tracts" or "underserved zip codes."

At the Western New York Impact Investment Fund, we see a vital piece of the region’s economic machinery that simply requires a lead partner to help ignite its next chapter.

This is the underpinning of a conscious effort over the past seven years to play a leading role in bringing economic vitality back to the East Side. When we say lead, we mean sourcing, diligence and catalytic capital.

To date, the WNY Impact investment Fund has invested in five East SIde projects totaling $5.2 million, creating life-changing jobs and turning moribund facilities into thriving industrial campuses.

Leading with First-Money-In Capital

By being the first to the table with significant capital, we’ve provided the confidence necessary for Buffalo’s East Side to reclaim its industrial and commercial prominence.

• Viridi: The Fund's $2.9 million investment across four rounds has anchored a green-tech innovation campus in a Delavan Avenue facility that once housed American Axle, driving both workforce development and neighborhood revitalization. Viridi has become a force in the global push toward electrification. Its workforce development subsidiary, GreenForce, recruits directly from the surrounding neighborhoods and provides wraparound support during training and employment.
• Buffalo FilmWorks: Our $750,000 equity investment in Buffalo FilmWorks transformed an empty factory shell at the intersection of several Buffalo neighborhoods, including the East Side. That facility is now a premier film production hub that has brought a new, high-growth industry to the neighborhood.
• Package Design & Supply (PDS): Through a $750,000 debt investment, we supported a critical industrial employer, reinforcing the neighborhood's stability and retaining local jobs.
• The Rookery: Our $300,000 equity commitment will help spur a modern medical device innovation hub on Northland Avenue, a project clustered with several other exciting startups, creating the potential for future investments from outside firms and high-quality jobs. The Fund also invested $500,000 in Garwood Medical Products, which was housed in the same space now occupied by The Rookery.

The Mandate for Impact

As a pioneer in place-based investing, WNYIIF is built for this work. We’ve raised more than $20 million from the region's most prominent foundations and corporate leaders who share our belief in Buffalo’s total resurgence.

By deploying this capital into the heart of the East Side, we're putting our belief in Buffalo into action. We provide the first-money-in that signals to the rest of the market that these neighborhoods are essential to Western New York’s future success.