What sectors does WNY Impact Investment Fund focus on?

WNY Impact Investment Fund focuses on Impact & Social Good, Sector Agnostic.

Where is WNY Impact Investment Fund located?

WNY Impact Investment Fund is headquartered in Buffalo, US.

WNY Impact Investment Fund

Impact investor

Buffalo · 17 people tracked

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Investment thesis

The WNY Impact Investment Fund pursues place-based social impact investing, backing Western New York companies that combine real commercial upside with positive regional benefits — creating local jobs, revitalizing factories, and improving quality of life in the Buffalo area. It backs founders building meaningful businesses that solve real problems, applying long-term discipline. The fund raised over $20M across two series (Series 1 at $8.15M and Series 2 at $12.55M) and reinvests into the community.

Invests inImpact & Social Good Sector AgnosticUnited States

Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.

Buffalo, US

Instruments

Equity

Founded

2017

AUM

$20M

Tracked investments

Team · 17 people

from the firm's website

Tom Quinn· Founding CEO· Buffalo, NY

Tom Quinn joined WNY Impact Investment Fund as its founding CEO in August 2017, where he led fundraising and built out the fund's due diligence processes around its social enterprise focus. He has founded and exited several companies, including one that had a Nasdaq IPO. He holds board roles with the Empire Discovery Institute, TechBuffalo, and Upstate Capital Association, among other regional organizations.

Brigid Doherty· Chair, Board of Directors

Buford Sears· Board of Directors

Carrie Frank· Vice Chair of Social Impact

Dan Miner· Coordinator, communications and investor relations

Dan Miner worked for 16 years as a journalist covering urban affairs and business. He previously served on the University at Buffalo's Startup Ventures team and as VP of storytelling at the 43North Foundation. At the Fund, he manages PR and communications while also contributing to portfolio analysis and due diligence.

Duane Connors· Director of Investments· Western New York

Duane Connors earned a bachelor's degree in Financial Analysis from the University at Buffalo and spent three years in wealth management and investment banking at State Street in Boston. After returning to Western New York in 2007, he handled Board reporting at HSBC before working at Kaleida Health as a Corporate Budget and Finance Manager and later Finance Director for Buffalo General Hospital and the Gates Vascular Institute. He currently serves at the WNY Impact Investment Fund, focusing on due diligence, ROI development, financial reporting, and operations, and is also founder and CEO of wellconnected, a Buffalo-based startup building data-based systems for the social care industry.

Erin Komorowski· Board of Directors

Glenn Jackson· Board of Directors

Heidi Burke· Director of Social Impact Analysis

Heidi Burke is the Director of Social Impact Analysis (also referenced as Senior Social Impact Analyst) at the WNY Impact Investment Fund, where she oversees due diligence to assess the potential social impact of client investment proposals, identify social outcomes and risks, and set reporting expectations. She currently works as a philanthropy analyst at the KeyBank Foundation and previously served as chief program officer at the Greater Rochester Health Foundation. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Sports Medicine from Mercyhurst University and a Master's Degree in Public Health from Emory University.

Martin Berardi· Board of Directors

Melissa Baumgart· Board of Directors

Michael Ulbrich· Board of Directors

Northrup Knox· Vice Chair of Business Impact

Pete Grum· Board of Directors

Ted Janicki· Board of Directors

Thomas Hunt· Board of Directors

Thomas Hyde· Board of Directors

What they invest in

from 6 of 14 portfolio companies

SaaS ×4Construction Tech ×2EdTech ×2Fintech ×2Advanced Manufacturing ×1AI & Machine Learning ×1Biotech ×1Circular Economy ×1

HQs:United States×6

Investments · 14 tracked

founders shown can be your intro path

3Am Innovations3aminnovations.comin 𝕏

Buffalo, US

Ryan Litt(Executive Officer, Director)Katie Sullivan(Executive Officer)Mel Passarelli(Executive Officer, Director)Patrick O'Connor(Executive Officer, Promoter)Tom Dalfonso(Executive Officer)

BoardDaniel J. DiPofi(Director)

Arbolgrowarbol.comin

Arbol is a student financial success platform that helps higher education institutions improve enrollment, retention, and completion by guiding students through financial aid decisions and requirements.

EdTechFintechSaaSBuffalo, US

Ben Andre(Executive Officer, Director)Osho Jha(Executive Officer)Siddhartha Jha(Executive Officer, Director)Philippe Heilberg(Executive Officer, Director)

Buffalo Filmworks

CAHill TECHcahilltech.comin

CAHill TECH develops aQuiRe, a mobile app platform with safety and skills training videos for construction workers.

Construction TechEdTechHR TechSaaSAkron, US

Carley Hill(Founder & CEO)in

Circuit Clinicalcircuitclinical.comin

Circuit Clinical describes its team culture, employee benefits, and hiring, but the page provides no concrete detail about its products or services.

BiotechDigital HealthHealthtechBuffalo, US

Kerry R. Hicks(Director)Jackie Kent(Director)Craig Lipset(Director)Katherine Sullivan(Executive Officer)Kevin Christner(Executive Officer)Deena Bernstein(Executive Officer)

CleanFibercleanfiber.com

CleanFiber manufactures cellulose-based insulation from recycled newsprint for the building materials industry.

Advanced ManufacturingCircular EconomyCleantechConstruction TechNew MaterialsBuffalo, US

Sami Rahman(CEO)Erik Gregory(Chief Financial Officer)Jonathan Strimling(Executive Officer)James Austin(Executive Officer)Marco Peterson(Executive Officer, Director)

BoardNoah Lerner(Director)

EcoVerde

Recycling and compost startup; the fund's first deal ($450K).

Ecoverde Organics

Lender Logixlenderlogix.comin 𝕏

LenderLogix builds LiteSpeed, a native Encompass extension with agentic AI that automates clerical loan-origination tasks such as document classification, eFolder organization, and condition tracking for mortgage lenders.

AI & Machine LearningFintechSaaS

Package Design Supply

The Rookery

Top Seedz

Maker of crackers and snacks; expanded production with a new line, recycled resealable packaging, and new flavors.

ViridiMar 2013

Lithium-ion battery company located in a formerly abandoned East Side building.

Chevy Chase, US

Joseph Warren(Executive Officer)

WNY Impact Investment Fund

Cloudflare Workers is a serverless platform for deploying functions and full-stack web applications that run across Cloudflare's global edge network.

Cloud ComputingDeveloper ToolsSaaS

Portfolio news

latest coverage across their companies

Picture This - BusinessWest

CleanFiber · businesswest.com · Jun 19, 2026

Frequently asked questions

What sectors does WNY Impact Investment Fund focus on?: WNY Impact Investment Fund focuses on Impact & Social Good, Sector Agnostic.
Where is WNY Impact Investment Fund located?: WNY Impact Investment Fund is headquartered in Buffalo, US.

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