ESD programs aimed at introducing innovative New York State businesses to global markets and helping them grow have made a difference for a startup that’s growing its client base well beyond its Finger Lakes headquarters.
Rochester-based sayhii has developed an employee-driven SaaS platform that, by increasing and facilitating employee engagement, helps companies better address attrition and productivity and drive meaningful workplace change.
Seven NYS companies, including sayhii, joined a Global NY multi-sector trade mission to Australia in March – and sayhii has already made some valuable connections, including two new partnerships that, as founder and CEO Amy Gurske posted on LinkedIn, “are more than transactions—they're bridges to new markets, local expertise, and long-term resilience for the businesses sayhii serves.”
“Global expansion isn’t just about reaching new markets—it’s about finding the right people to help you do it,” says Gurske. She also credits support from ESD's Global State Trade and Expansion Program (STEP), without which, she told the trade mission organizers, “none of this would have happened.”
Gurske was joined by Josh Simpson of Mohawk Valley-based Ruby Lake Glass and Trevor Smith of New York City-based software company Dirac, who have also shared with Global NY how the connections created during the trade mission have already benefited their businesses. The delegation had more than 50 meetings in Sydney and Melbourne with local companies, trade officials and industry leaders.
In addition to Global NY, sayhii has received critical support from ESD’s New York Ventures division through its Community and Regional Partner Program Fund. Through this initiative, Buffalo-based Launch NY and Rochester-based Upstate Biotech Ventures recognized Gurske's vision and invested in her company. ESD had allocated $5 million to each of these organizations, enabling them to identify and support founders like Gurske helping innovative businesses launch, grow, and thrive right here in New York State.
“When employees have the right tools for engagement, they can reach and exceed their goals,” Gurske says. Thanks to Global NY and NY Ventures, New York employees and businesses are reaching their goals at home and around the world.