"Innovation NY Network" & The Angel Investor Tax Credit
In his State of the State Address, Governor Cuomo put forward a progressive agenda to make New York a model for equality, innovation, education and technology. I look forward to working with him and his administration to enact meaningful campaign finance reform, provide equality for women and raise the minimum wage for working New Yorkers.
Although New York has world-renowned academic institutions, we do not successfully bring ideas from these schools to the marketplace. To facilitate this transfer of ideas, the Governor announced the creation of an “Innovation NY Network,” which partners venture capitalists with leaders in higher education. He proposed creating “innovation hot spots” – tax free zones to ensure that new technologies developed in New York are commercialized here. Also, he announced a $50 million venture capital fund to provide grants to successful start-ups.
Encouraging new businesses to thrive is something I have long promoted, as the sponsor of an Angel Investor Tax Credit, which provides tax breaks to individuals who invest in start-ups, so companies that develop in New York remain here. We need to make sure start-ups can get off the ground. One way to do that is to encourage investment.
Other states that have angel investor tax credits have seen start-up investments rise by over 500%. We must achieve similar successes here in New York, or we are going to see talented people invent the next Google or Facebook in other parts of the country. Our economy must diversify and - to do that - we must attract talented people to live, work and grow businesses in New York.