Z80 Labs, Buffalo's first Internet-focused technology incubator, supported by Softbank Capital, The Buffalo News, Campus Labs, PC Business Solutions and Synacor, today announced that Decision Pace, a business intelligence (BI) web service that cuts months of work down to hours by rapidly modeling, creating and distributing highly evolved, actionable and best practice portal content, has raised $1 million in funding by Richmond Capital Partners, Z80 Labs and various angel investors.

The funding will be used by Decision Pace to innovate and break through into new growth markets as the company further develops its BI data visualization products, services and technologies. Decision Pace automates the on-demand transformation of raw data from any source into real-time, relevant visualizations, which is quickly published to websites, devices or email. With a fast production time, Decision Pace can save businesses considerable cost in IT software and resources, while producing superior results.

"Decision Pace has a unique advantage in two very large software markets: business intelligence and development tools," said Jay Moeller, co-founder, Decision Pace. "According to IDC, the SaaS segment of BI market is growing more than 30 percent per year compared to 10 percent for BI in general. Decision Pace provides a particularly desirable model by allowing companies to keep their current data on their secure servers, avoiding the need to process, load and pay for data to be redundantly stored in the cloud. Also, Decision Pace's SaaS model includes a marketplace so clients can purchase pre-built applications supplied by Decision Pace, partners or even the clients themselves. We're thrilled to have the vital backing of Richmond Capital Partners, Z80 Labs and others."

Having earned validation in the legal industry, Decision Pace at its core is designed to handle the needs of any industry. In addition to targeting Value Added Resellers (VARs) and developers, the company is situated to quickly integrate with and sell products to a wider customer base, resulting in a robust pipeline. Industries include accounting, health insurance, manufacturing, logistics and Internet software.

Decision Pace's funding also points to the overall success of Z80 Labs and transformation of Buffalo and Western New York into a thriving startup community. To date, Z80 Labs lends its support to tech startups including Decision Pace, GradFly, CrowdBouncer, CoachMePlus and Sale Diem.

"The $1 million investment in Decision Pace represents a huge step toward building a successful, technology-focused ecosystem in Buffalo, which will in turn attract and keep elite talent in the area," said Jordan Levy, co-founder of Z80 Labs, partner at Softbank Capital and Synacor chairman. "Z80 Labs is proud to support the growth opportunity ahead for Decision Pace as they continue to develop their products and position in the marketplace. We believe in Jay, Alan and their vision."

"We are extremely excited about Decision Pace's unique approach to business intelligence. Decision Pace simplifies what is otherwise a time- and money-consuming process, allowing a company's in-house finance and accounting staff to rapidly create unique and insightful data visualizations," said Kevin Christner, Managing Partner at Richmond Capital Partners.

Z80 Labs Mission
Z80 Labs' mission is to serve as a catalyst, transforming Buffalo and Western New York into a technology hotbed. By creating an environment that gives entrepreneurs exposure to industry leaders typically available only in New York City or Silicon Valley, Z80 Labs kick-starts entrepreneur-driven tech businesses within an accelerated environment, bolstering the local economy.

Z80 Labs' main focus is on digital media, mobile and Net-based companies, providing valuable support across a wide range of service areas to help Buffalo-based entrepreneurs grow into self-sustaining businesses.

In addition to Z80 Labs co-founders Jordan Levy and Ron Schreiber of Softbank Capital, several luminaries have committed to help the incubator including Brad Feld, Foundry Group; Bijan Sabet, Spark Capital; Eric Hippeau, Lerer Ventures; Roger Ehrenberg, IA Ventures; Woody Benson, Prism VentureWorks; Mo Kaufman, Spark Capital; Jonah Peretti, Buzzfeed and co-founder of The Huffington Post; Jordan Cooper, Hyperpublic; Dan Porter, OMGPOP; Mark Pincus, Zynga; Gary Ginsberg, Time Warner; Mike Perlis, Forbes Media; Jim Spanfeller, Spanfeller Media Group; and Andrew Siegel, Advance Newhouse.

Additionally, the Z80 Labs Investment Committee will serve as a selection committee, meeting regularly to review and accept top applicants. The founding committee is Jordan Levy; Ron Schreiber; David Kimelberg, CEO of Seneca Development Corporation; Ron Frankel, president and CEO of Synacor; and Eric Reich, co-founder and CEO of StudentVoice.

For more information or specifics about how to apply to Z80 Labs, please visit Z80Labs.com.

More About Z80 Labs
Z80 Labs, launched in summer 2012, is Buffalo's first Internet-focused technology incubator, providing entrepreneurs the ability to build new and innovative tech companies in Buffalo, New York. Startups invited to locate in Z80 Labs are given a wide array of services including office space, tech support, collaboration tools, weekly education programs, specifically-assigned mentorship teams, access to the Z80 Speaker Series, amenities and infrastructure from local companies, as well as expert advice from renowned industry advisors. Z80 Labs is funded by Softbank Capital, with additional funding from SCP Incubator via a grant from New York State and ESD. Corporate support is being provided by The Buffalo News, Campus Labs, PC Business Solutions, and Synacor. Z80 Labs is located in The Buffalo News headquarters in downtown Buffalo.