LaunchPad Lift Spotlight: Aviate Audio
This piece was originally published on the Techstars blog. View here.
Highlights of student-led ventures participating in LaunchPad Lift, part of the Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars entrepreneurship program.
It was late one night in the winter of 2017. A blizzard raged outside, but the windowless engineering lab at the University at Buffalo provided a peaceful haven from the storm. After months of research and experimentation in their lab, Shane Nolan and Ryan Jaquin finally had a breakthrough and created something new. Airpatch was born — a small, wireless device that lets guitar players control their pedals and musical effects with the touch of a finger, expanding the functionality of the electric guitar.
Airpatch brings together Shane and Ryan’s passions for music and technology. As longtime musicians, they were looking for musical applications for their school electrical engineering project. Airpatch was the answer, and with this initial piece of technology, they founded Aviate Audio.
Shane, Ryan, and their team started out as electrical engineers at the University of Buffalo, but with the support of their startup community, they have become entrepreneurs. Aviate Audio has already won first or second place in several competitions, including the UB Panasci Technology Entrepreneurship Competition, NYS Business Plan Competition, Buffalo Bright, and UB Bulls Launch.
Since beginning the Blackstone Launchpad powered by Techstars Lift program, Aviate has been paired with Techstars mentor Vadim Gordin.
“The Lift program has been extremely meaningful to our team,” said Shane. “There have been real results, impacting our operations such as a major decision to bring our product assembly and quality assurance in-house as a result of the advisement of our mentor. This is leading us on a path to delivering a higher quality product with less capital.”
Shane and Ryan have found many parallels between entrepreneurship and music. Both require growing your audience, and they have found a similar energy, grounded in creativity and passion, in the joy of making something from nothing.
During their participation in the LaunchPad Lift program, Aviate Audio has successfully achieved a number of important goals. They launched a crowdfunding campaign, exceeded their goal, and got some great press around their product and company. They are also making a public product debut at the National Association of Music Merchants trade show in Nashville, TN — and they point to critical guidance from their mentor, Vadim, for putting them on this path.
“What’s most important to our team is the connections we are making in the program,” said Ryan. “We are excited that connections with the Lift cohort and the broad Techstars and Blackstone communities will continue to support valuable outcomes for our company long after this Lift cohort ends.”
Shane and Ryan happily report that creating a music products company is fulfilling both the musical and professional dreams of the team.
