NY Venture Association Forum January 14, 2026

This in person event will be held at the University at Buffalo Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences. Those who can't be there in person may participate via Zoom. Get ready to network, learn, and connect with fellow entrepreneurs and investors in the vibrant startup community. Register and be part of this exciting event!

Presenters:

GoodBread - Noa Simons, CEO & Co-founder

GoodBread is building a next-generation small-business lending platform that combines innovative underwriting technology with a scalable Lending-as-a-Service model. We underwrite based on real-time business and household cash flow, credit history, and contextual data—without relying on blunt credit score cutoffs or rigid time-in-business rules. This approach allows us to more accurately price risk, expand access to capital, and maintain strong repayment performance while serving entrepreneurs overlooked by traditional lenders.

Beyond direct lending, GoodBread powers loan programs for partners—including CDFIs, ESOs, and mission-aligned institutions—through a modular Lending-as-a-Service offering. We provide end-to-end infrastructure: underwriting, application flows, decisioning, servicing, reporting, and borrower engagement tools. This enables partners to launch and scale small-dollar loan programs quickly and efficiently without building internal lending technology.

A core pillar of our model is the creation of regional loan funds designed for impact-oriented investors. These funds deploy capital locally, leverage trusted community partnerships for origination, and benefit from GoodBread’s centralized underwriting and servicing platform. The result is a repeatable, data-driven model that generates sustainable returns, strong social impact, and proprietary underwriting insights—positioning GoodBread as both a lending operator and a durable fintech platform.

Visit https://goodbread.net for more information.

Nara Therapy - Joshua Onoh and Perez Willie-Nwobu

Nara Therapy is a B2B mental health platform built for employers and organizations. The company helps employers support employee mental health beyond traditional therapy and standard EAP offerings.

Nara is delivered through employer-sponsored wellness benefits and Employee Assistance Programs. The platform brings together clinician-led therapy, AI-supported between-session care, and simple outcome tracking in one system. Employees have access to support outside scheduled sessions, while employers receive high-level visibility into engagement and utilization without access to individual health data.

Most workplace mental health benefits are underused and difficult to evaluate. Therapy alone is often not enough, and employers lack insight into whether their programs are effective. Nara addresses this gap by extending care between sessions and improving engagement, which leads to better outcomes and stronger benefit utilization.

The platform is easy to deploy and requires minimal operational effort from employers. Nara works directly with licensed providers and gives them tools that reduce administrative work and support consistent patient follow-through.

Nara has early traction, including an active provider network, strong user feedback, and initial employer-facing partnerships. The team brings experience across healthcare, technology, and early-stage company building.

Visit www.joinnara.com for more information.

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Host or Publisher Western New York Venture Association