The 43North Foundation is making targeted investments in the future of Buffalo through entrepreneurship.
One of those investments is Radial Ventures, a venture studio designed to create, support and scale new high-growth startups in Buffalo.
Led by CEO Dan Magnuszewski, CTO Mike Canzoneri and a talented team of engineers and designers, Radial debuted in early 2025 and expects to launch a steady stream of new companies every year.
Makeoff started with a problem – electrical contractors spend countless hours developing estimates to win work. One missed sentence in a blueprint can turn a profitable job into a loss.
That problem evolved into a question - “They’re spending all this time on these bids, how can we make sure they win them?”
And this summer, the startup company brought an answer to the market.
Makeoff leverages generative AI to read bid specs and blueprints, then creates tailored estimates that address every aspect of the bid.
The platform also provides “value engineering,” which means suggestions outside of the bid specs that often tip the balance to a winning bid.
The idea for Makeoff came from entrepreneur Will Zacher, who first started the AI company for financial management and accounting. One of that company’s customers was an electrical contractor who wanted to explore how AI could help his business.
Makeoff can provide in minutes what takes contractors days or weeks in the current process.
“Makeoff takes a process that is expensive, frustrating and risky and makes it intuitive, incredibly accurate and affordable,” Zacher said. “We’re creating a competitive advantage for our customers by enabling them to bid lower in ways their competitors can’t .”
Radial Ventures is a new venture studio in Buffalo led by Dan Magnuszewski, the cofounder and former CTO of ACV Auctions, along with a team of experienced software engineers and designers.
The venture studio’s proprietary market validation and research tool assesses ideas based on the perceived problem, marketability and market size. It then brings disruptive products to the market with an MVP in preparation for growth rounds.
Powered by the 43North Foundation, Radial’ s goal is to leverage the recent success of Buffalo’s startup economy to create a substantial increase in the volume of high-quality software startups in Buffalo.
“We’ve got many proof points that you can build a successful, scalable tech startup in Buffalo,” Magnuszewski said. “Radial is taking that belief to a new level by building more companies, getting them to the market faster and then supporting them as they scale in Buffalo.”
Launched this year by Zacher and cofounders Cody Bellitto and Morgan Lewis, Makeoff’s initial go-to-market strategy runs through trade organizations that serve electrical contractors. The company has secured partnerships with such organizations across the U.S., using them to introduce its solution to individual customers.
Makeoff officially moved into sales mode in August and already has a growing roster of paying customers. They’re not just impressed by the speed of the tool but also…
Its accessibility: Anybody with a passing knowledge in electrical bids can use Makeoff, which immediately generates high-quality estimates and then provides a chatbot to tailor the bids and value engineering in an easy and intuitive way.
Its accuracy: Makeoff doesn’t misread bids, which is a major problem in the industry as contractors respond to complex and technical documents.
So back to that original question - “They’re spending all this time already, how can we make sure they’ll win these bids?
The answer, it appears, is that you’d have a scalable solution that helps customers grow their business.
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