OxiWear looks to grow local team, raise funds
OxiWear officially has a Buffalo space and is raising funds in preparation for going to market. The Arlington, Virginia-based startup, founded in 2019, has created a wireless, ear-worn pulse oximeter for continuous oxygen monitoring. CTO George Beckstein, who has been involved in the local startup community since 2017, joined the OxiWear team in late 2019 and has worked for the business from Buffalo since then.
Earlier this summer, the startup opened an engineering office in the Queen City at a HANSA coworking space on Ellicott Street downtown. The company, which employs 7 full-time workers, expects to add a few more local employees this year as it grows its compliance and engineering teams and begin making its medical devices.
OxiWear is currently raising a $3.5 million seed round and so far has closed about $2.55 million of it. The funding will help the business finish its clinical and regulatory testing requirements for U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance. In the meantime, the startup’s product is on the market as a consumer and fitness device.
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The Exchange at Beverly Gray rebrands, adds services and programs
From rebranding to getting nonprofit status to adding services and programs, it’s been a busy couple years for the Exchange at Beverly Gray. The entrepreneur service organization, located at 334 E. Utica St. on Buffalo’s East Side, is named after the late Beverly Gray, a Buffalo councilwoman who promoted entrepreneurship.
Since taking over in 2021 as executive director, Derrick Parson has spoken with over 100 entrepreneurs to refocus and rebrand the center. Updates include adding co-working space, expanding services and preparing to launch an entrepreneurial enrichment program.
“I’m a firm believer in you can’t make changes until you talk to people it affects directly,” Parson said. “We had to sit down and understand where we fit into the ecosystem.”
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