Synacor was one of the few tech companies of its size based in Buffalo, New York, and its work carried other companies' names. Cable and telecom firms used its software for their customer home pages, email and logins. Subscribers saw their provider's brand. Synacor made money from ads and search on those pages. It was a quiet business, and it filed to go public in 2012, fourteen years after its founding.

Partner Instead of Build

Synacor was founded in Buffalo in 1998. It grew by serving internet providers that wanted their own branded portals without building them. Its early customers included regional cable and telecom firms. The bet was that these companies would rather partner than build, and that the portals would draw enough users to earn steady ad revenue. Synacor also offered login tools that let subscribers reach online video.

Buying Zimbra

Synacor priced at $5 a share in February 2012. It later bought Zimbra email software to widen its products, and many providers around the world came to use that email platform. Revenue fell as customers changed their portal strategies. In 2021 Centre Lane Partners bought Synacor and took it private, ending nine years as a public company. Synacor continued to serve internet providers.

Cover: Head of a Buffalo, from Die Zweite Thierfolge, Johann Christian Reinhart. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a buffalo (Buffalo, NY).