Z80 Labs

Co-founders Jordan Levy and Ron Schreiber lead investment decisions. Both previously worked together at SoftBank Capital, where they gained early-stage venture experience before spinning out to launch Z80 Labs in Buffalo. Dan Magnuszewski, co-founder of portfolio company ACV Auctions, previously served as Managing Director and remains closely associated with the firm's startup operator network.

Deal flow flows through two primary channels: the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, where Z80's offices and startup tenants are physically co-located, and the 43North startup competition, a 501(c)(3) affiliate chaired by Jordan Levy. 43North awards $5 million annually in non-dilutive funding to early-stage companies willing to operate from Buffalo, creating a structured pipeline of ventures that transition into Z80's portfolio.

Z80 Labs was the first venture fund capitalized through the Innovate NY Fund, an Empire State Development program that directs state economic development dollars into local venture funds. This makes New York State a foundational backer, tying Z80's investment mandate to Buffalo-based job creation alongside its venture-return objectives. The structure functions as a public-private partnership unique among seed-stage US venture firms.

Z80 Labs concentrates on pre-seed and seed-stage technology companies. The firm deploys initial checks into startups operating at the earliest stages of commercial development, typically while founders are still building initial product and go-to-market capabilities from the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. The firm does not publicly disclose typical check sizes or follow-on reserve strategies.

No explicit exclusion list is publicly available. The portfolio's known concentration in enterprise software, AI/ML, mobility, and blockchain suggests the firm avoids capital-intensive sectors such as biotech, hard tech, and traditional manufacturing that fall outside its software-and-platform investment lens.

Z80 Labs seeded ACV Auctions in 2014 alongside co-founder Dan Magnuszewski, who served as Z80's Managing Director during the startup's early years. ACV's 2021 Nasdaq listing, which valued the wholesale vehicle marketplace above $4 billion, represented a historic venture exit for the Buffalo technology ecosystem and validated Z80's thesis that institutional returns could originate from upstate New York.

Z80 Labs does not operate its own philanthropic foundation. However, co-founder Jordan Levy's board involvement with 43North — structured as a separate 501(c)(3) entity — creates an operational philanthropic adjacency. 43North functions as an independent non-profit startup competition while serving as a de facto deal-funnel and ecosystem partner for Z80.